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Trying to Understand Symbolism
OK, so I’ve been ruminating over this one for a while, and I’m not sure that I’ve got much further with it, but I wanted to get some of this into words. The thought was triggered initially by the story of a few teenagers who had caused a big kerfuffle because while on a school camp they’d urinated on a bible and burned it or something like that. So our young adults group had a discussion around what sort of reaction we should have, and mostly came to a consensus that our reaction needs to be one of love towards these boys, particularly given that much had been made of the muslim background of the boys.
But the thought stuck with me: the only reason to be angry or offended by the actions is if we allow ourselves to buy into the symbolism of the act. It’s not that there is some big problem with burning pieces of paper, or even that disposing of a bible is a big issue – I’ve thrown out bibles before and that doesn’t generally receive national press attention, nor does it offend anybody. So the power in this action is only in the symbolism of what a Bible means to the Christian faith, and it is holding dear to that symbolic link that can, in this case, cause us to act in a less than loving way towards these teenagers.
So my initial reaction is that we ought therefore to throw away our attachment to symbolism, and instead to concentrate solely on the concepts and the heart behind the message of Christ in this world. There’s a lot of appeal to the prospect of being completely apathetic to the symbolism within the Christian faith, and instead concentrate completely on the task at hand. It even feels much more like a “missional” response. But the only problem is that I’m not sure that it’s a biblical one.
Because there are elements of the faith that are unequivocally symbolic and I’m not in any way sure that it is possible to simply dismiss those elements without dismantling and completely altering my own theology. Baptism, a rite which I hold very dear to my heart, only has any relevance or power in its symbolism. Likewise communion, (unless you’ve got a really big communion cup) another element that I’m certainly not willing to remove from my expression of faith in Jesus.
Thus, we are left with the question. How should we approach symbolism in our outworking of faith? Is there a time to get offended at symbolic acts? As you can tell – my answers to these questions are non-existent, so I’m verging on desperate to hear some diverse opinions. What does symbolism mean to your faith?
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6 Comments
How would you feel if someone ripped up a photo of your mother and urinated on it?
They’re not hurting your mother but the act is full of intent, maybe not the intent of actually causing physical harm to your mother but of showing extreme disrespect for someone for whom you have the utmost respect.
Baptism is symbolism but the real business is done in the heart.
Communion is symbolism but the real business is done in the heart.
What these kids did physically wasn’t the issue, it was what was happening at the heart level. Destroying pages wasn’t the issue, thumbing their nose at God and displaying hatred was the issue.
There can be no mistake that what they did was wrong and the heart attitude behind it was vile. There can also be no mistake that it is not up to us to put the issue right. We, knowing their actions and their intent, still need to offer love and forgiveness. That’s a tough call.
Every day people are doing stuff that shows a disrespect for God but we have to keep forgiving and trying to reach them with God’s unconditional love.
In the end it’s not about ‘them’ or what they do, it’s about God and our willingness to co-operate with him in loving those who, in our mind, don’t deserve love.
Rodney, I wasn’t planning to engage on the issue of these teenagers actions themselves but I’m happy to have a go at trying to explain where I’m coming from.
Firstly I don’t want to be too flippant about what happened, and I think I probably was in the post, but I do think that these actions have been blown out of proportion by the removal of some of the context. These were year 7 (roughly, I’m too lazy to do proper research so it’s all off memory), kids on a school camp, late at night. I’m stil young enough to remember late nights on school camps, and there are some things that happen when kids get excited and tired and have the illusion of freedom by being away on a school camp. Stupid things. Things that are less a statement of what is really going on in a kids head and more a statement of how much they want to try and impress their friends.
And these kids ARE muslims, who at the moment in Australia is the social equivalent of having leprosy. The treatment of muslims in Australian media and society is atrocious, and is coming from a society that at least in the eyes of these boys would be considered to be a Christian one. So I’d have to disagree with the concept that “the heart attitude behind it was vile”.
I guess what I’m trying to explore is working out what place symbolism has in our faith. The story about the boys was really just trying to set up where I’m getting to, which is a fair bit of confusion about how much I need to take into consideration the symbolic impact of an act.
If they’re active Muslims it’s vaguely the same as a Christian ripping up a book of mormon – the holy book of a different faith – not something any of us would lose sleep over, and something I think they’re entitled to do (they’re wrong, but so it goes) OK, small problem being the common scripture at the start, but…
If they’re not active in their faith, it’s not even worth mentioning that they’re Muslims: they’re just teenage boys being rebellious. We’ve all been there.
On the wider concept of symbolism: kind of ironic that symbolism is used most of the time to help us understand a larger concept! So a struggle with understanding it is a wry moment.
Years ago wifey and I made a pledge to only speak plain truths to each other: no more “oh, gee, the floor’s a bit dirty…….. (pregnant pause)…” – “Oh, would you like me to clean that then?”.
Instead it’s “could you clean the floor, or would you like me to do it?” – saved our marriage, or at least enhanced it.
Likewise with these guys – I find it’s really unhealthy for me to read too much into a symbolic act if it’s JUST a symbolic act – if there’s no accompanying mission statement or mob chanting (footage of effigies being burnt with “down with xxxxxx” cries accompanying are a different matter) I think we’re on thin ice.
But that’s just me. Call me liberal.
Well…
if someone took a foto of my mum… just any old foto, and urinated… I would laugh. I have no idea why they would bother. Mum would laugh too.
Reverence is a choice. Choose it because of what you become through it.
But maybe I’m just a crazy existentiallist.
I’d suggest that the potency of symbols is often down-played. We speak of baptism being a symbol – while it is a symbol, it is also a deliberate choice and act that speaks of a greater “reality”.
We probably ought to differentiate between symbols and symbolic acts – I’d suggest the event we are referring to is the latter.
The bread and wine may be symbols, but I think that participation in communion is a symbolic act that points to a greater reality of us participating, together, in the life and body of Jesus.
Matt: If I were to grab my wedding ring, throw it on the ground and stomp on it a bunch of times in front of my wife and/or friends – it would communicate a LOT; even if I were to say nothing else about it. I’m unsure if anything can be just symbolic…
Ro – absolutely, jumping up and down on your wedding ring would symbolise something; but how would we know exactly what you were trying to communicate? This is my issue with us trying to determine what these boys were doing – we just can’t be sure, and conjecture is something I think we’re perhaps called not to engage in.
Re your ring –
It might have been itchy.
Your golden ring might have become a wasp trying to eat your finger in a hallucination.
You might have a thing against alloyed golds.
You might not want to be married to Kate any more.
You might really, really hate the design of the ring.
You might just be a shock-jock looking for some attention.
Or you might have been a passionate thinker involved in an online discussion on some dude’s blog about the power of symbolism making a physical demonstration of your opinion.
(I’m rooting for the last one, if only for the chat we’d THEN have with Kate and Jacqui)
