Shaun Groves
Yesterday I posted numbers without words and my reasons for doing so were far less political and dubious than what some readers assumed.
I was simply counting.
The number of Americans who took the subway to work one September morning and never rode it home. The number of soldiering sons and daughters, friends, fathers and mothers whose chairs sit empty at kitchen tables today. The number of men born into another belief, another politic, another tongue than my own who’ve sacrificed all for a cause they thought just. The number of children, men and women deleted in the crossfire.
Every face shaped by the fingers and thumbs of God. Every soul welcomed by heaven but tethered here to flesh and flags. Every corpse a child once. Raised on Al Jazeera or Sesame Street. Reared to salute a nation’s colors and follow a holy book’s God/god. Fighting for friends or anger, freedom or justice or revenge, college tuition or eternal life. Buying fish at the market or waiting to use the copy machine. Every one a person – a child once. A child of God always.
When children die – even grown up ones – they deserve to be counted. They are the image of God. We are all conduits through which God drips His illuminating stilling character into our dark bustling sliver of space and time. We all matter. We are all counted.
God has fingers enough for this. Do we?
Have we spent all our fingers counting the reasons we’re right, the unjust acts of the enemy?
I hope not.
Count with me. Because every person matters. More than whatever else we could be counting today.
Veretax says:
Bingo! Shaun you’ve hit the nail on the head. Every life is sacred and important, that’s why in the post yesterday I mentioned my angst at the Main Stream Media talking up Iraq Casualties yet missing even more alarming statistics here at home like the deaths caused by alcohol related car crashes. I could have pulled out other numbers of course, but the point is the same. The MSM doesn’t care about life, they care about profits and ratings. If they cared about life you’d hear more about things like this.
Ted says:
I don’t think anyone who posted here yesterday wants to BE right. I think everyone who posted here yesterday, regardless of their view, wants to DO right. We might disagree on what that is, but I don’t think anyone here was overlooking the amazing horror that those numbers add up to. I personally wish none of those people had ever died.
Texas in Africa says:
I heard a sermon earlier this year in which the recurring anthem was “We like to generalize; God likes to particularize.” I wonder if our reaction would be different if we knew the particulars of each of those lives that is represented by a number – a name, a face, a family.
jwise says:
The whole thing seems numbingly staggering, Shaun. We can get idealistic and develop plans to change the world, to begin spreading peace and grace, but then the mortgage payment is due, our bosses demand another ten hours this week, and “church activities” suck us dry.
It took Jesus 3 years with 12 men to change the world. He had a 3 year plan and implemented it perfectly. In America, the call to discipleship is all but forgotten. It’s been replaced by multimedia worship services, encouraging sermonettes, and Starbucks at the door. Megachurches burn through millions of dollars every week to support the staff necessary to entertain our ADHD video-driven minds.
How do we even begin? How do we unplug from world’s chains, or worse, the “pseudo-church” and its myriad requests? How do we put together a 3-year plan that involves pouring our lives into twelve men, knowing that Jesus’ call to discipleship is not merely the “best” solution to these problems, but the -only- solution.
I think we all agree these deaths are horrifying. Some of us think we never should have been in Iraq. Some think we should stay there. Some change their mind daily. Darfur, abortion, euthenasia, murder, school shootings. There’s no quick fix for any of these problems. The long term solutions require that we die every single day for the rest of our lives and commit ourselves to loving and training men and women to love and train men and women to love….. How do we get there from here? THAT’S the question I need answered.
Aaron says:
Great post, Shaun!
MamasBoy says:
The point that everyone needs to be counted is very well taken. I remember listening to people in grad school complaining about a local church that put up crosses for each person who died in 9-11 and included crosses for the hijackers. May local people were offended, but I didn’t see how Christians could do any different if they wanted to be like Jesus. Each soul is precious, and we are called to love and pray for our enemies.
I think the reason many people interpreted your post with only numbers and no words to be political was that you stuck to the deaths trumpeted by Democrats and completely left out those trumpeted by Republicans, as several people pointed out. The selective inclusion of the deaths of certain people and not others leaves the impression of bias and political motives, whether or not the impression is accurate.
MB
travis Spencer says:
thank you. serious. We ALL need to hear this.
We need to hear the WHY behind the numbers and the questions.
WOW. We are reading red letter christians in a small group i am part of. We’re sharing your post in this group.
Shaun Groves says:
MB, I understand, sort of, where you’re coming from but…
After our Republican president held a press conference to announce that the 4000th soldier had died I paused, told Becky the bad news, and then I wondered out loud how many civilians had also died, and how many insurgents. I wondered without CCN, MSNBC, FOX or any other mainstream news in our home (we don’t have cable). Without the New York Times, Washington Post or any newspaper in our home (we don’t subscribe).
I looked for the numbers on-line, starting with government sites (Republican administration), and found a wide range of opinion about what those numbers are. I chose the numbers that were least dramatic, and deemed most accurate by the consensus of use. One source, for instance, says the number of civilians killed in Iraq is closer to 600,000 – almost half of those being children. If I wanted to be partial to the anti-war crowd I’d have used that number. One source says the number of insurgents killed is only 40,000. If I wanted to make our surge look ineffective I’d have used that number. Instead I chose numbers used most often by both our government and the media – as represented on-line. I was as fair as I could be. I am biased, as we all are, but I worked to keep that out of the post. It is as difficult to read unbiasedly as it is to write that way – I think we’re discovering that here now.
Any list must be finite. There was no manipulation or purposeful limitation of the list in order to push a political point of view on my readers. I simply counted the people killed by this conflict on all sides who were on my mind yesterday morning.
DawnB says:
What I find interesting with yesterday’s post is that you displayed four simple pictures, yet we all “saw” something different. If we can’t even see the same thing in four little pictures, how can we ever expect to see eye to eye on matters of life and death; such as power, religion, economics, wealth, existence, peace.
Lives will continue to be destroyed on a daily basis, not because they don’t matter, but because when we look onto the face of another person, we all “see” something different. And the devil is in the differences.
When Christ comes, there will be peace; not because war is an impossibility, but because we will, for once, see the world, each other, reality through ONE set of eyes – not 4.5 billion sets of eyes. We will stand in agreement because we will all be of one mind and see the same thing. Do lives matter? Yes. But what matters more is the mind of Christ. Because without that, we all remain clouded in the chaos of our own tunnel vision.
Shaun Groves says:
Brilliantly said, Dawn.
Princess Leia says:
Shaun, thanks for this explanation. I have to admit that I judged you incorrectly yesterday when you posted the numbers. Whatever my opinions on the war are, it’s always good to keep in mind the fact that God created every single life that has been lost and that He created them for a purpose – perhaps “only” to be among this number, probably much more.
Another number to add to the list: there’s a sidebar widget out there that lists the number of abortions in America since the beginning of the Iraqi war. That one is staggering – almost 6.5 MILLION!!!!
It doesn’t at all take away from the tragic (albeit worthwhile imo) loss of 4000 American soldiers when you’re just sickened at the loss of MILLIONS of completely innocent American children within the same time period.
God help us.
Veretax says:
Great info Leia, I figured it was high, But Yikes! That’s almost 1/5th of our current population!
Cali Amy says:
Dawn, Thank you for your comment, that’s one of the best things I’ve read in awhile.
MamasBoy says:
Shaun,
While I certainly appreciate your use of consensus numbers for deaths of Iraqi insurgents and civilians, my point was that you left off the deaths of the many killed under Saddam Hussein’s regime. The bastard even used chemical weapons on his own people. While the Democrat’s like to ignore these deaths because it makes the stats they cite less shocking, it is no less real.
Honestly, I don’t think by and large the Republicans would give a rat’s ass about people killed under Saddam Hussein pre-gulf war if the Democrats weren’t bringing up the current death tolls and using them to advocate for withdrawal. I also don’t think most Democrat’s would give a rat’s ass about civilians being killed currently if our own troops weren’t in harms way. As a country we care about American lives, not those Muslims and Chaldean Christians.
Anyway, that’s beside the point. I’m just stating from my perspective why many people viewed your previous post as political.
MB
Shaun Groves says:
My previous post was political. It was not intentionally politically biased. This is the distinction I’ve tried to communicate ineffectively so far.
A wise man once wrote that as we learn together, in the midst of our disagreements, we should commit to respect each other, work to understand each other, and carefully consider new ideas.
Does not name calling and assumptions about the thoughts and values of others (entire nations and parties) undermine the keeping of such commitments?
Veretax says:
MB,
Gotta disagree with you there, I cared very much about the atrocities over there, especially after we stupidly let that madman Hussein stay in power. We should have acted a lot sooner than we did, and maybe if we had, things would have turned out different, who knows.
MamasBoy says:
Veratax,
I am not impugning any individual. I don’t doubt for a second that you, Shaun and millions of people across the US care very much about the lives of ordinary Iraqis. I just don’t think as a nation we value the lives of people in other countries nearly as much as American lives (or even the American economy). I could be wrong, but that strikes me as a majority opinion in the US across party lines, at least if you look at our actions overseas and where/when we are willing to put American lives on the line.
Shaun,
I’m not saying you are political. I don’t personally think you are a big fan of politics in general. I also don’t think that you intentionally were politically biased. I certainly wasn’t someone who brought up the numbers of Iraqi deaths under Hussein in comments for your previous post. However, you did stick to the typical “bring-em-home script” in not posting about deaths under the Hussein regime. I’ve seen nearly identical posts by people who are very overtly and unashamedly political and biased in their views. Therefore it doesn’t strike me as unreasonable that in the absence of explanation to your real meaning (like this post provides to some extent), people would seek to bring clarification by posting about other lives lost through genocide by the Saddam regime. Personally, I thought that a response to Jared’s original post would have been a great opportunity to offer such clarification. Also, while I personally think that the Iraq war was unjust both initially and in later how we “secured” the country, I recognize that the lives of Iraqis killed under Saddam were precious too, and (in light of Jared’s original post) it seems to me that it would probably be best to include them in a series of pictures like you showed.
I’m sorry if my calling Saddam a bastard offends you. Personally, I think it was one of the kinder names I could have called him. Regarding my “assumptions” about “nations and parties”, they aren’t assumptions. They are certainly conclusions that I have drawn, but I don’t take them for granted and am open to evidence to the contrary. Personally, I would love to be shown that I’m wrong. I’ve just heard too many people say things like, “Bring our boys home to their wives and children and let the Arabs kill each other till they’re done,” to think that this opinion is uncommon. I’m certainly open to being shown that it is untrue for a majority of Americans or that I’ve misinterpreted the comments I hear and read. It wouldn’t be the first time that has happened.
MB
Veretax says:
Mb,
Understood, in this text based world of the internet, its easy to misunderstand folks, that’s probably why I try my best to be as plain as possible with what I say. I agree with you btw, GW’s pop should have taken Saddam out in the first Gulf war, and Clinton should have followed through instead of killing his credibility by having an “affair” with an intern, but we can’t change the mistakes that were made ten years ago, we can only work as hard as we can to make the best decisions today.
Rachel says:
I can only imagine what all this is doing to the heart of God. As many opinions as there are about the war, and as personal as it’s become to me lately, I don’t think that is the real issue. The real issue is learning to be the Kingdom of God and living, speaking, thinking, even debating from that standpoint.
Thank you for spurring us on, Shaun. Hope all is well o’er yonder.
shaunfan says:
Dawn, thanks for your insight and Shaun, thanks for your posts. You never fail to challenge your readers.
Thanks for that.