KTF Weekly Newsletter: Lebanon, Afghanistan, Mexico, and a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Hi everyone,
You may remember the article Sy wrote for us about Marvel’s Eternals. Now that the movie is on Disney+, a lot more people have seen it, and Sy went on a podcast called the Strategic Whimsy Experiment this week to talk about the movie, and in particular, its themes of disability identity and representation. It’s a great discussion, so give it a listen! And without further ado, let’s get to this week’s highlights.
Jonathan’s recommendations:
A company called Ad Fontes Media created this chart on the political bias and reliability of every major news source, and many smaller sources as well. The importance of media literacy in leaving colonized faith cannot be overstated. We are biased and so is our media. Moreover, algorithms curate an experience designed to keep us coming back to the same outlets, reactive and often outraged. So, there is little incentive to show us dissenting narratives, new information, or diverse perspectives. Followers of Jesus, as ministers of reconciliation, cannot afford to live, move, and have our being in silos curated by artificial intelligence.
My Granddaddy said, “there is enough money in the world; it’s just in a few bank accounts.” And that’s true in Lebanon, finds New York Times journalist Rania Abouzeid in her investigative analysis of Lebanon’s corruption and recent, avoidable economic collapse. As Abouzeid notes, in 2014, “eight political families controlled 29 percent of the banking sector’s assets,” according to the American University of Beirut. The deadly explosion in August 2020, along with its fallout, brought the sectarian, political, and economic corruption to the surface, and the victims of this social collapse are scattered across all levels of society. Followers of Jesus, engaged on the ground, nearby, and a world away must do the work to understand the political realities of our neighbors. This is necessary for us to grieve, pray, and partner with those downstream of so much injustice.
Winter in Afghanistan is brutal. The economic resources that have been extracted and barred from the country make it especially difficult. What is more tragic this year though, is that the catastrophe currently unfolding was entirely avoidable. Pamela Constable, foreign correspondent for The Washington Post highlighted the country's food crisis on the Post Reports podcast; the crisis is impacting the lives of everyday Afghans as the US and other countries withhold aid, fearing that the Taliban would misuse it. “You can’t punish the government and kill all the people,” said Constable, and that statement sits at the intersection where humanitarian aid meets geopolitics. Followers of Jesus need a more nuanced approach that takes seriously our scriptural mandate to feed the hungry, as well as America’s responsibility to the people of a country we harmed for so long.
Sy’s recommendations:
A common refrain in the gun violence debate in America is that states with strict gun controls still have lots of guns. It’s a frivolous point in a country with no border control between states that have differing gun laws, but lax gun regulation doesn’t just hurt Americans in neighboring states. A recent edition of a Los Angelas Times newsletter gathers links to a few different stories about the gun smuggling traffic to Mexico, where a conservative estimate is that 7 out of 10 firearms come from America. In a nation struggling to fight drug money funded criminal enterprises, this flood of weaponry is no small problem. The Mexican government is even taking legal action against American gun manufacturers in an attempt to stop the killings. I share this because it doesn’t get a lot of airtime in the public discourse in the US, but it should if we want to value lives equally and count the full cost of our policy decisions.
The Biden administration’s immigration policy is, despite its earlier promises, largely a continuation of the Trump administration. The border crisis involving Haitian migrants that I have written about before highlighted one piece of this story. But this profile of one government official is an inside look at how specific political maneuvers, despite some significant early success, halted the rollback of Trump’s actions. The official, Andrea Flores, also faced accusations that she was too “passionate” and too “close” to the issue, as a Mexican-American from El Paso. The end result of the story is that “emergency” measures regarding COVID-19 are still functioning to set aside the country’s immigration laws and international commitments in order to expel people without anything resembling due process. But Flores is certain that a different path forward is still possible.
Between the Eternals podcast and this recommendation, I’m going hard in a nerd direction this week, but so be it. For those of you who watch the Star Wars shows on Disney+, there was a great article recently on how the arc of Din Djarin, the main character from The Mandalorian, is an allegory for escaping religious trauma. Djarin’s story covers growing up in a fundamentalist cult, all of the confusion and isolation that exists when leaving a community like that, the letter versus the spirit of the law, forging relationships while trying to heal, and much more. It’s a fascinating read if you watch the show. If you don’t, then I’m sorry and I promise not to do this too often. Also, spoiler warning for everything up through The Book of Boba Fett episode five.
Thanks so much for reading, and see you next week!
The KTF team