Louisville Process Theology Network

The Meaning of Sacrifice, II

Mar 07, 2006

Clearly, Chang could never have rested on the notion that she had done enough for these victims. She was too close to the suffering in Nanking even 60 years after the fact to ever let them down. And, she understood the way of the world all too well. The price for not doing enough to stop injustice is always paid by the most vulnerable.

When the news came in the fall of 2004 that Chang had been found dead in her car on a highway in California, an apparent suicide, it occurred to some of us that she'd died for our sins. It was reported that she'd made sure her body would be discovered by the police instead of her family.

Traditionalists would quickly point out that suicide is a sin. This is a compelling point, to be sure. Aren't extenuating circumstances possible, though? Anyone who is recovering from a behavior disorder knows that suicidal thoughts feel as involuntary as viral attacks.

This makes us wonder. Might it be even more challenging to confront one's self than to confront others, in some cases?

A few months earlier in 2004, Mel Gibson had shown us in graphic detail and vivid color how Jesus died. His movie followed the traditonal interpretation of the crucifixion; the story many of us learned in Sunday School. "Jesus died for our sins." We're told it was Jesus' intended purpose to die for the sins of the world.

To be continued.