Timothy Kline: Thoughts and Reflections

Once upon a time, there was a creature called Man...

Once upon a time, there was a creature called Man.

Now Man, having been created as the last of all God’s living beings—given a conscience and awareness unparalleled amongst all other earthly creatures and forms of life, was then given dominion over the Earth and over all of the things that existed upon it—from the plants to the animals. And God stepped back from His Creation to see what Man would do with such a wondrous and incomparable gift.

In his inestimable wisdom, Man immediately began to kill and to dominate and to destroy. And his-story began.

So, here we are, now, at the close of another year—2008 CE, to be exact. By some calendar reckonings, we are approximately seven thousand years into our “civilized” existence. And my, how far we have come in that time.

It seems somehow appropriate to look back over this past year, to look at our collective “triumphs” before we break out the champagne, party favors, treats, and ritualistic “new year resolutions” and pat ourselves on each other’s back for what we’ve accomplished. It seems all the more fitting—now, more than ever—as we prepare to enter a time of absolute uncertainty and mounting tensions throughout the world.

Here in the United States of America, we’ve seen our share of troubles as Wall Street turned to us for financial aid—and we gave it to them, no questions asked, no conditions given. We dutifully signed away what remaining illusional rights we had remaining, and agreed to become the indebted slave-class to the rich and the powerful. How that will continue to play out remains to be seen. We gave them money, and in return, they are slashing our jobs and repossessing our homes—and then asking our government for more money. Poverty, unemployment, and homeless numbers are rising at an alarming rate—and still the American people lack the motivation to do anything more than whine and complain about it. Nobody is leading a march on Washington D.C., nobody is demanding much of anything except that they have lower gas prices so they can drive to sports events, the latest Hollywood blockbuster, the malls to buy more things, and the list goes on.

See, in spite of all our whining and complaining, the bottom line is that we really don’t care much about what is going on with anyone else—we’re concerned only with our comforts and delusional “standard of living.”

Something like 20+ million people tuned in to see who won Dancing With the Stars. Some 31 million people tuned in to see who won American Idol this year—and 97.5 million called in to make sure that David Cook won it! Another 97.5 million people tuned in to watch the 2008 Super Bowl. And that’s not to mention the millions of people who tune in faithfully to their favorite television shows every week, right on cue.

Did we really care about violence in Kenya?

One has to wonder, then, with just those three shows garnering so much attention and zeal on the part of people across America, where all that zeal and watercooler talk was as the horrendous, heart-wrenching images started coming out from Kenya. Hundreds of people were being killed while hundreds of thousands were left homeless by rioting and tribal killings. Reports of rape and other forms of savagery likewise made their way into the headlines and television news. The majority responded with nonchalant shrugs.

Appeals to the international community, including the United States, fell on deaf ears as it became painfully clear that unless there was oil fields to be harvested, or some other exploitable resource, there simply was no motivation for anyone to do much more than offer complacent pity for those enduring unimaginable pain and suffering.

And amidst it all, there was no discernible interest to be found in the same population of the same people who felt absolutely compelled to call in to a television show to declare who they wanted to see win one of the most popular singing television programs of our generation. To put it simply: we just didn’t care about the problems going on in Kenya. We had bigger issues to contend with in the showdown between David Archuletta and David Cook.

Some might argue that Kenya is clear on the other side of the world, that it’s simply too far away for us to care. Now, if it was something that happened a little closer to home, maybe then we could care a little bit more about what was happening… maybe even care enough to actually do something about it. At least that is the reasoning cultivated by some who live among us.

Did we really care about the struggles in South America?

So where, then, were the self-centered, ego-centric people of America in March of 2008 as Amazonas state policemen expelled 200+ members of the Landless Movement from their homes located on the outskirts of Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon? The distressing drama unfolded in our evening news broadcasts, as well as cable news networks. Yet we, the people, seemed perfectly content to go about our lives, more concerned with the rising cost of gasoline.

It never ceases to amaze me how utterly and wilfully ignorant a nation can be, all the while continuing to operate under the delusion that it is the greatest nation on earth, a beacon of hope to everyone else. Maybe it was true, once upon a time, but the level of inaction and disregard for the plight of others across the world is a clear and incontrovertible proof that it is true no longer.

It takes something of enormous magnitude to grab our attention today—and then, only to hold that attention for a few days, at most.

Take for example the natural catastrophe that occurred this year in China. Much like the massive tsunami that destroyed an incredible number of people in 2006, the earthquake was of sufficient enormity so as to grab our attention, if only long enough to say to ourselves and each other, “How terrible! That’s so sad!” before we once again returned to our slumberous state of consumption, tv watching, video game playing, and retail purchases.

70,000 lives were lost in China in May 2008

The ironic thing is that earthquakes happen every day somewhere in the world. They just don’t “warrant attention” from us unless the numbers announced as to how many people died or were maimed is high enough to justify our attention. For example, estimates place the number of people killed in that May 2008 earthquake in China at around 70,000 people. Once we attach a big enough number to an event, we then can place importance on it—albeit a momentary importance.

There simply isn’t enough time and space to go into the numerous other tragedies happening across the world. There are so many that it can be overwhelming to contemplate the plights of our human brothers and sisters—at least to those of us who actually take the time to think about such things for longer than the 2-minute space alloted in our evening news segment.

But we are the last remaining few. The majority simply do not want to be bothered with others’ problems because they have their own—like how they’re going to pay for all those Christmas gifts they bought for their kids, who have already set them aside and started pining for new stuff.

Many are placing their hopes in a new administration

Others are placing their hopes in a new presidential administration as Barack Obama ascends to the highest seat of power in the United States of America next month. They hope that help will be coming their way, that he will be able to set matters straight and restore a nation that has lost its way.

In watching his speech in Chicago on election night, I couldn’t help but take note of the optimism and hope that flooded the faces of the onlookers as he spoke to them, promising change and hope for a better future, albeit with what amounted to blood, sweat, and tears. The throngs were enamored of this man in that moment in time—not only because it was the first time that an African-American was on the way to becoming the president of the nation, but also because he was able to touch hearts in his every speech.

If, somehow, all of this finally motivates a slumbering nation to rouse to action and actually do something—not only about their own direction, but in regards to the plight of others across the world who are far less “fortunate” than we are—I will go to my grave relieved when my time comes.

Unfortunately, Man has established a long and unmistakable record of maintaining the status quo in his ineffable determination to drive himself to nothing less than absolute extinction—with nothing less than God’s own stepping in to prevent it.

2008 has proven to be one of the most defining years ever in exhibiting how far we’ve managed to come as a species, with record-level disregards for suffering and tragedy, willful rewarding of greed and corruption, an ever-increasing tolerance for violence and immorality, and a startling disconnection with what it once meant to be human.

It’ll be even more interesting to see what 2009 brings.