Smart Kid
Yesterday I was watching A&E. I watch a lot of A&E, American Justice, Cold Case Files, etc., I can't get enough of them. Yesterday was a repeat of their profiling of the Elizabeth Smart disappearance.
To sum up, she was taken from her Salt Lake City home in the middle of the night, and forced to live with her abductor(s). The man that took her called himself "Emmanuel", and acted as though he was a messenger sent from God. It came through in the investigation that he took her as another wife, but nobody knows if the marriage was consummated. She lived with him for nine months, wandering around various parts of the US, operating like homeless missionaries.

Obvious things come to mind, questions of this guy's mental stability, the reality of the insecurity of our homes, the danger of using religion as an excuse to justify crime, etc. What stuck out in my mind was the contrasting ways of viewing Jesus' ministry. I am certainly not trying to justify his actions, nor am I glorifying his theology/faith/understanding of God, but somewhere in there is a small piece of legitimacy in his ministry. I don't believe that kidnapping or polygamy are justifiable, but bringing the good news to the homeless and renouncing worldly possessions are very obvious parts of Jesus' ministry. Those who saw her during the time she was with "Emmanuel" all said she was content to be with him. She never attempted to escape and when finally confronted by police, she pretended not to be who she really was and with confidence, asserted that she was with the other two and doing their work. Of course, she is now back safe at her wealthy Mormon home.

I wonder what this will do to her faithwise. Many might suspect that she will question the very nature of God and perhaps reject it all. Most, I suspect, hope that she will return to the faith of her family and community. I think that she will have trouble mixing the two. Nobody knows, but everyone assumes that all of her willing participation was part brainwashing and part self-survival, but either way, it was willing participation. Will she be able to sit in her cozy pew in her massive Mormon church and hear about Jesus call to reach out to the poor? When for 9 months of her life, she was doing just that?

I of course do not understand everything about this case, nor do I wish to learn more. We the people may want to know, but we're all better off if we let her recover in peace without the prying eyes of our media. These are just a few thoughts, and I'd prefer to leave them that way.

   [ posted by William @ 10:33 AM ]