As eighteenth century poet and artist William Blake once wrote: "Where mercy, love, and pity dwell, there God is dwelling too." The three sensations commented on by Blake are prevalent with the 2008 graphic novel Kingdom Come and 2006 book The Road, but arguably the most interesting is the Christian concept of mercy within the story. The term 'mercy' comes from the Latin word 'merces' or 'merced' which translates as 'reward,' according to an online dictionary the contemporary meaning of the term: "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence." It is my belief that through the expression of mercy, humanity cannot only better understand God, but their fellow humans as well and help achieve ulimate redemption with the divine.
In the story Kingdom Come, the superheroes of old such as Superman, Green Lantern, and the Flash are living in a type of self imposed exile after a disastrous nuclear accident in Kansas state. When Superman and the other heroes come back to stop the new breed of heroes, meta-humans, who are doing more harm than good, the threat of the end of the Earth looms overhead. The climax of the graphic novel comes when the Gulag, the prison built to house the non-cooperating meta-humans, has been destroyed. As the old superheroes clash with the escaped meta-humans, Superman battles Captain Marvel who has been brainwashed by Lex Luthor and has turned against his former allies and friends.
As the fighting rages on, another threat heads steadily closer to the sight of the small-scale war: a nuclear missile that was launched by the United Nations in response to the Gulag prison break. Superman recognizes two apparent choices i...
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...ne; after all, it is easy to react against those who have harmed you with rage and violence. However, to show mercy and compassion is something extraordinary.
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The Trident Submarine houses twenty-four nuclear warheads with each having a range of 4,600 miles over land. If a nuclear war were to break out between the Soviet Union and the United States, virtually every major city could be destroyed in a matter of hours. The origin of these major players in modern day warfare lies in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
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“Compassion is always, at its most authentic, about a shift from the cramped world of self-preoccupation into a more expansive place of fellowship, of true kinship.” These words come from the book Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, written by Gregory Boyle, an American Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries, an organization that provides employment training and support to former gang members. I was first introduced to Father Boyle’s work during my final semester at College of the Holy Cross in “Contemporary Christian Morality”, a favorite course of mine that examined the fundamental ethics of moral agency, human freedom, conscience, sin, suffering and virtue. It was a book that has continued to stay with me for
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The novel, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson is an incredible read. In this book, Mr.
Overall, Pope Francis places extreme concern on four areas, which are the idolatry of money, the option of the poor, inequality, and the common good/peace. Before reading Pope Francis’s book, I had a general familiarity with inequality and the option for the poor, but I was not completely aware of the idolatry of money in today’s society or peace in a Christian perspective. In Chapter 2, he starts talking about how we have found new idols in today’s society and how our relationship with money has taken control over not only our society, but also ourselves (Pope Francis, 55). Also, Pope Francis discusses how we as Christians need to realize that we are not exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice because it is required of everyone (Pope Francis, 201). In addition, he also talks about the vulnerability of certain groups and the progress of building people in peace, justice, and fraternity, which I will discuss in subsequent paragraphs. Prior to reading this book, I was aware of Pope Francis and some of his beliefs to an extent. I am Catholic, so I remember when he was first inaugurated as Pope and I remember hearing my family discuss some of his beliefs, but I was only somewhat aware of his style as a Christian leader. As a Christian leader, Pope Francis places emphasis on four areas of concern, which include: the new idolatry of money, option for the poor, inequality, and common good/peace.
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.
As one grows older, certain trends begin to appear that are difficult not to notice. Naivety begins to fade and the harsh realities people are faced with every day present themselves. These realities shape how people perceive and treat others. A certain theme, or rather lack of theme, that is extremely pertinent in today’s society is the notion of humanity. Humanity is defined, by Merriam-Webster, as the quality or state of being humane or having a compassionate disposition. Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson, is a book that perfectly embodies the theme of humanity. In this book, the reader follows the author throughout his journey from an idealistic, young lawyer to a revered attorney in his quest for justice for those deemed unfavorable by our
Elie Wiesel’s the Trial of God represents the age-old question: how can a righteous God allow evil and suffering? Written as a play based on a real event, Wiesel tries to capture the myriad of emotions and theological arguments that were present. Though the trial, in Wiesel’s play, takes place during the seventeenth-century many cultural aspects overlap with twentieth-century Europe and World War II. Similarities between Wiesel’s fictional world and his life experience involve events such as violent actions against the Jewish community. The events of Elie Wiesel’s life heavily influenced the creation of his play the Trial of God.
From this example, he concluded “a man without the feeling of mercy is not a man; a man without the feeling of deference and complaisance is not a man, and a man without the feeling of right and wrong is not a man. The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of the feeling of love; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and complaisance is the beginning of wisdom. M...
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