Spurred by a blog comment

One of the purposes of my reading blogs is to give me an idea of what people think. Sometimes I find that a paragraph, a sentence, or even just a phrase gives me something interesting to think about.

In this particular case, the comment mentioned how some Christians feel that only religious- or spiritually-based approaches to address certain behaviors is appropriate, and believes it is tied to the idea that to the idea that redemption comes from God alone.

I have to admit first I never really thought of it that way. I know there are certainly Christians who have the belief that every problem in life is most properly addressed through some religious means in lieu of secular ones. The original topic was marriage, and it is unfortunately true that there are those who believe that even violent abuse is best handled this way (with a side helping of blame-the-victim in most cases, or at the very least, condescension to any victim who doesn't feel this is enough). But I never really thought of it being tied to the "only God redeems" philosophy.

This is probably because most Christians I've known believe just as strongly in secular justice as they do heavenly justice. Man's ills towards others on Earth may ultimately be judged by God, but in the meantime, we have to deal with it in our own way. While there's certainly nothing wrong with asking God to help, as with other things, God helps best those who take action, not those who wait for someone else to do what's necessary.

What's more, what God redeems is our souls, the part of us that's eternal. The temporal existence we go through here on Earth is, well... another jurisdiction, really. And we don't put people into prison to save their souls. We do it to save society from their actions, or to punish the criminal for theirs. (In theory there's a degree of rehabilitation, though this isn't the blog to talk about how theory and practice in this case are very different.) Or, to bring it back to the topic of marriage, we don't offer shelters to the abused to save their souls, but to save their health—both mental and physical— or their lives.

When Jesus said to feed the hungry, he did not mean only with prayer. He called upon people to provide food to nourish their bodies, not their souls. While prayer and asking for God's help and guidance are both important things, the mind and body cannot be neglected, for suffering in this world is suffering still... and it's we who are called to address that.