Pope Francis Invited a Down Syndrome Child to Play in the Popemobile

That title sounds funny, but it really happened.

While cruising around in his car, Pope Francis noticed someone different within the large crowd. I think that I would have a hard time noticing any single person in a large group like that, but Francis observed that a 17-year old boy with Down Syndrome was standing near the road, and he wanted to stop. He approached the teen and embraced him, and then he let the kid sit in his chair in the Popemobile and spin around! The crowd loved it.

Check out the pictures and the rest of the story, here.

Tears and Presents and BBQ

This past week my brother and sister-in-law adopted a beautiful little girl, making my parents first-time grandparents and making me the proudest aunt ever!

Adoption is an important metaphor in the New Testament, introduced to us by the apostle Paul. It is not surprising that Paul, the lawyer, is the first and only biblical writer to employ the term uioqesia --- to be made, or established as a son. Paul takes the very prolific concept of followers of God being children of God one step further by contrasting our newfound sonship with our one-time slavery:

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:14-17; see also Galatians 4:4-7)

As slaves to the inherent moral standard which belies our own fears and messed up desires (we all know murder is wrong and yet we all experience murderous thoughts and feelings), we have no legal standing, no rights, no righteousness---we're not to be trusted. As sons, and the gendered metaphor is important here,* we have... everything: inheritance, authority, belonging. 

Madilyn's birth mother bravely chose adoption knowing it was the only way her child could have an abundant, promising life. In the same way, our spiritual adoption into God's family is our hope and our salvation.  

Somewhat curiously, Paul's adoption metaphor focuses on the experience and gains of the adopted. What I experienced last weekend was a glimpse into what God the Father feels when we choose his family, which we see perhaps most vividly in Luke 15. Months of waiting, yearning, hoping and anticipating culminated in many, many tears of joy---and presents and a BBQ feast!---the day my brother and his wife held this precious little girl in their arms, kissed her face, changed her clothes and her name, and welcomed her into the family with love spilling out of every pore. This is God's disposition toward us all.

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*It's only rather recently that daughters have the same legal status and standing as sons, and in many places around the world, this is still not the case. In the first century, it was certainly not the case, and yet Paul says that those in Christ are all sons, all in right standing, all in line to inherit, all legal representations of the Father, all equal. This is why Paul also famously (or infamously) says:

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

Angelina Jolie's Body Exposes the Hypocrisy of Hollywood

Angelina Jolie is the kind of celebrity I like. She's a talented actor who has done more charity work that almost anyone I can think of. Jolie has visited war-torn parts of the world (where rich people seldom go) to personally deliver aid to the needy, and she's made it her life's work to bring the plight of refugees to our attention.  (Also, it's cool that someone named a spider after her.)

Recently, some decisions she made about her body made huge waves - even though it wasn't really any of our business - and the fallout has been very revealing.

After being told that she was at a high risk for a certain type of cancer, Jolie decided to have her breasts surgically removed. This was the biggest news story of that week, for some reason. I'm sure that at the end of the year everyone will remember what happened to her breasts, but most people will have forgotten that another actress mailed ricin to the president and the mayor of New York. I digress.

A wave of immature responses came next. Fans of Angelina Jolie's body, who were not interested in being decent, made it clear that they weren't interested in her without her breasts. She was no longer going to be as attractive to them, and they were not ashamed to broadcast their disappointment as if they were personally being deprived of something. To these people, her value as a human being was found entirely in her sex appeal.

Next came the defenders. In support of Angelina, responses were written to counter these sorry attitudes. Their message was clear: Angelina Jolie does not exist to be your own personal aphrodisiac.

And that's what I find odd.

I agree that it's detestable to criticize Jolie for this. Her surgery was necessary and she is not required to get the approval of her most childish fans before taking care of her health. But the entertainment industry has asked us to view her as a sexual figure every time she's been presented to us. (Remember when 'Beowulf' was released and all we saw in the trailers was her naked body?) It's the same with every other famous woman, too. Hollywood makes its living exploiting female sexuality, and now they're telling us not to think of an actress as a piece of meat.

It's the entertainment industry that has trained us to see celebrity women for their sex appeal. How can we value Angelina Jolie as a person if she's only presented to us as a sexual icon? It's no surprise that people reacted so selfishly to her decision - that's exactly how Hollywood expects us to value women.

Is it Even Possible to Keep Gay Kids From Joining the Boy Scouts?

As you may have heard, the Boy Scouts have decided not to ban homosexual kids from the joining their ranks. Some religious groups are angry about this, but I don't think it's logical to do anything else.

I was a Boy Scout for a few years. People think it's a dorky group, and maybe it is in some ways, but how often do young boys get a chance to build huge fires or make things using knives and axes? Sometimes we just explored the woods and ate burgers that we grilled ourselves. For once, grownups were handing us dangerous tools and telling us to get into trouble (safely). Our leaders encouraged us to meditate on the beauty of the wilderness and find God's truths in it.

But one thing that didn't come up was our sexual orientation. There's no demographic test for joining the Scouts, and no one ever asked if we preferred the company of men. Why? Because it wasn't relevant to what we were doing. Enforcing this ban means grown ups would have to sit down with kids and ask all of them about their sexuality. Does that seem like something you would want to do? Do you think that local volunteers from you neighborhood have any business asking your adolescent children about their sexual feelings?

That sounds horrifying. Bear in mind that the Boy Scouts also ban atheists and agnostics from joining, but this rule is not enforced and scouts are never required to state their religious beliefs to their superiors. Young people are usually confused about a lot of things, including sexuality and religion, and the Boy Scouts is a place where they can learn life skills and be exposed to Christian teaching - even if they don't have everything in their life figured out.