This morning at work I helped corral a copperhead snake in the courtyard outside the fellowship hall. Apparently it's snake breeding season here in the American South and these beauts are crawling (slithering?) all over the wooded, wildlife-habitat-certified church property where I work.
Coworker: "It's an evil serpent! It should be destroyed!"
Me: "Snakes aren't evil! All God's creatures got a place in the choir!" (when in doubt, quote song lyrics)
Other coworker: "Didn't you read the Bible where the serpent tempted Adam and Eve??"
Me: "Didn't you read in the Bible where God created all things that slither upon the earth and called them GOOD?"
Etc. etc.
Then a third coworker brought up that children play outside in the courtyard.
"Not today," I said triumphantly, "it's raining!"
Coworker: "Would you want Little Bit out there with this snake roaming around??" (Little Bit is in daycare downstairs and they do indeed use this space for outdoor strolls.)
Me: "When they go outside she's sitting up in one of those clown car baby carrier things." (You know what I'm talking about right?) "It couldn't hurt her up there!"
Coworker: "Don't be so sure, those suckers have a high striking distance!!" (Hence why she was standing on a chair, on the other side of the glass doors from a snake contained by a four-foot-high trash can.)
A fourth coworker (yes this was a snake-dispatch-by-committee situation) sympathized that she'd rather not kill it--it's an innocent creature after all!--but if it came near her dogs or her kids she'd end its life in a heartbeat. She then proceeded to tell a story about her elderly grandma yelling "Poisonous snake in the house!" and karate-chopping a copperhead with a fireplace poker before my coworker even knew what was happening.
Despite coworker #4's stellar reasoning, I didn't want to see this beautiful creature destroyed and couldn't convince the first two coworkers to drive it in the work van down to the shrubbery by the interstate where it could be released far from all human contact. ("No way, that garbage can would tip over and that thing would be slithering all over the floor and I would be rolling out the door while the vehicle was still moving!") I went back to work without having persuaded my colleagues to adopt a snake-friendly solution.
But it made me think. I've heard countless parents say things like, "I'm really a peaceful person, but if someone tried to hurt my kids..." I haven't had to face that situation yet (thank God), but I'm not above realizing that I, too, might get a bit wobbly on my principles if Little Bit were in danger. I wonder how--if?--that compromises the way I live out my faith.
I'm happy to pick up a homeless person on the side of the road and give them a ride--that's got to be a modern-day version of the parable of the sheep and the goats, right?** But what if my kid's in the car?
I believe that decent public education for all is a right based on how we treat "the least of these"--but I live in a district where the public schools are crap due to poverty and a low tax base. Will I send Little Bit there just to prove my point, even if it means she gets a sub-par education?
I'm all for sharing resources equally amongst those in the community, as any have need --thank you Acts 2:45--but what if we end up on a desert island with minimal provisions and it comes down to taking food from others or letting my child starve?
It's clearly wrong to murder or assault someone--but if it were my child who committed the crime, would I want her to suffer the consequences for the rest of her life? (I worked at a women's prison for awhile and y'all, it ain't no walk in the park.)
As humans (and I think especially in America where family is often on par with patriotism as the national religion), we tend to prioritize family above everyone else--hence the protective instinct that makes us consider bending our moral rules for our kids and other loved ones. But Jesus, oh that troublemaker Jesus--he told his mother and brothers that his followers were now his family just as much--or even more so--than his relatives were.*** And that makes me wonder if, as a Christian, I'm allowed to place the well-being and life of my child above that of another person (or creature).
This goes against everything we hold dear and I wouldn't be surprised if this question gets responses like "Are you crazy??" or "That's child abuse!" But folks, though Jesus valued little children highly, he also had a habit of turning our values and assumptions inside out--taxpayers become disciples, a lifetime's worth of wealth is to be sold off, a beloved father is to be left unburied, a no-good son to be celebrated over the golden child.
Where does that leave us as parents when our child's well-being and our faith come into conflict?
I'd love your thoughts. But first, let me assure you lest you think that in the name of theological integrity, I sprung the snake from its confines so it could run (writhe?) free where my child, and many other children, would soon be frolicking: do not be alarmed. I left the snake where it had been captured and later confirmed that it had been chopped into several pieces and hurled over the wall (and accidentally into the memorial garden. A fitting place for a corpse?).
Sorry Mr./Ms. Snake--turns out I'd rather snuggle my baby than you.
*Mark 16:18
**Matthew 25:31-46: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."
***Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21; Mark 3:31-35.