Josh Benner

Category: Culture

  • BREAKING: ILLINOIS GOVERNOR LIFTS RESTRICTIONS ON WORHSIP GATHERINGS

    As Illinois moves from phase 2 into phase 3 and gathering sizes are still limited to groups of 10, facing lawsuits, pressure, and legal challenges, Governor J.B. Pritzker has lifted restrictions on houses of worship. The initial restrictions went into effect for Illinois churches in the middle of March.

    The Illinois Department of Public Health released a multi-page document which still gives recommendations for what churches should do. They still recommend churches not meeting in person and instead utilizing streaming. They also recommend gathering outside or gathering in groups of less than 10, but these are advise rather than mandates.

    As a pastor in Illinois, I will say that I do appreciate the governor caring about the health of the people in this wonderful state. I was not a fan of the restrictions on churches and believe that it’s a fundamental right to gather together for worship. But I don’t believe that there was ever any malice on the part of Governor Pritzker.

    It is still important for churches to be wise, for pastors to tend to their flocks, and for parishioners to monitor their health. But it’s going to be a great weekend when churches throughout the state can again come together in worship.

    Excerpts from the IDPH document include:

    This document provides guidance for places of worship and providers of religious services to support the safest possible environment for faith leaders, employees, volunteers, scholars, and all other types of workers, as well as congregants, worshippers, and visitors.

    it is strongly recommended that places of worship continue to facilitate remote services, particularly for those who are vulnerable to COVID-19 including older adults and those with co-morbidities. 

    As gatherings grow in size, they pose a greater risk of becoming a source of COVID-19 transmission.  The current Statewide guidelines recommend gatherings of no more than 10 people.  Where the 10-person limit cannot be followed in places of worship, these guidelines are recommended.

    Set a capacity limit for the place of worship that allows for extensive social distancing (six feet or more) between congregants.  Consider limiting attendance to 25% of building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower. 

    Strongly consider discontinuing singing (and post signage discouraging singing), group recitation, and other practices and performances where there is increased likelihood for transmission from contaminated exhaled droplets.

    These recommendations are reasonable and give Illinois churches a lot of flexibility in how they choose to worship. 

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

  • George Floyd and blindness to justice: when video evidence isn’t enough to convince some

    Twitter from Law Offices of Ben Crump

    I look at comments from some on the Blue Lives Matter Facebook page and the excuses and deflections of what happened to George Floyd are sickening.

    Yes, I appreciate our law enforcement officers. But there needs to be a really serious look at injustice and crime when it’s perpetuated by the ones who are sworn to serve and protect the public.

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  • Man dies in police custody while begging for his life

    The footage of George Floyd being held to the ground and struggling to breathe, repeatedly telling the police he can’t breathe, begging for his life, and telling the police that he was about to die, is incredibly disturbing.

    It’s murder.

    There will be those who blame the victim. I’ve heard people try to make excuses in these situations before. “Well he shouldn’t have broken the law” (if he even did). “Well he shouldn’t have resisted.”

    It’s murder.

    Neither of those is something that justified a man losing his life. Neither of those are justifications for the absolute inhumanity of the officer who ignored Floyd begging for his life. Of course you’re going to struggle when you literally have your life escaping from you. There’s no justification for any of this.

    On Monday night, police were called for a forgery in progress on the allegation that Floyd had attempted to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store. A non-violent crime. A couple minutes after Floyd is no longer struggling, no longer conscious, yet the officer still won’t let his knee off of his neck. The officer isn’t in danger (Floyd wasn’t armed). There’s no reason as to why they can’t let him up, let him breathe.

    Several bystanders begged the arresting officer to let the man up. He refused to listen.

    I appreciate law enforcement. I understand that they have a difficult job. I can also acknowledge that I could not do their job. But none of that justifies killing another person. The officer was not in danger. The situation was under control. There is no reason why the arresting officer should have kept his knee in Floyd’s neck. Law enforcement experts say that maneuver is no longer sanctioned in Minnesota.

    The officer should not get special treatment because he’s a police officer. If anyone else did this and it was filmed, they’d be in jail. The offending officer and three others have been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department. The mayor of Minneapolis has spoken out against what happened. There does need to be justice for George Floyd because he lost his life in an unjust manner. And we should always want justice to be served as it is an inherent good.

  • Memorial Day, and the Saving Private Ryan character we struggle to not become

    I hope that you’re all having a meaningful Memorial Day. As we observe holidays throughout the year there are movies that become associated with them. For Christmas, there’s an entire season of Christmas movies.At Thanksgiving, It’s a Wonderful Life is associated with the season. At Easter, it’s resurrection movies like Ten Commandments and the Passion of the Christ.

    One of the great movies that I’ve come to associate with Memorial Day weekend is Saving Private Ryan. As a fan of the military film genre, Saving Private Ryan is my favorite. I love the characters, the performances, the story, the themes.

    For men especially, I think that war movies speak to something inside of us. There’s a warrior spirit. There’s the desire to want to be the hero, to want to have valor. But in some ways, the character in the movie who men struggle against becoming is Timothy Upham (played by Jeremy Davies).

    When Captain Miller is putting a team together to go and search for the missing Private Ryan, he needs someone with them who can translate. Upham speaks both German and French. In this regard, he’s helpful, though he offers little aid for his military skills. In one of the most dramatic scenes of the movie, Mellish, one of Upham’s comrades, is in a fierce hand to hand combat situation against a German soldier. Upham is standing in a stairwell, paralyzed with fear. He does nothing to intervene when he could have saved Mellish in that situation. Ultimately Mellish is killed in the struggle. When the German soldier who has just killed Mellish leaves the building, he sees Upham cowering fear and crying. The soldier walks right past him.

    Warning: Content may be disturbing.

    It’s easy to think that we’d be the hero, to think we wouldn’t be the man standing frozen in the stairwell. I think of the various domains of our lives. Being men, being husbands, going to work, growing in faith, leading families.

    It’s easy to be the hero in our own mind. It’s easy to be a hero, philosophically. In that, I mean that it’s easy to have the ideas and knowledge of what’s heroic, noble, and valorous. But actually executing on those fronts is the challenge. It’s what separates the common people from the uncommon. It’s what separates the everyman from the superman. We don’t effortlessly become great. If we did, everyone would be great and do great things. It takes real sacrifice, humility, and character. I know these are things that I fail to live up to all too often.

    It’s easy to recognize greatness and know what it takes. It’s a lot harder to pursue greatness which requires actually doing what it takes. It’s easy to be a bystander, it’s easy to be afraid.

    In the movie, Upham isn’t portrayed as a bad man. But he’s also not a great man. There is a scene later in the film where he shoots a German soldier. But in the moment that really counts, he’s standing frozen in a stairwell when he’s needed most.

    Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice

    On Memorial Day, we do honor hundreds of thousands of brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. A series called “Medal of Honor” was released on Netflix in 2018. Each episode features the story of another recipient of the Medal of Honor. Incredible stories of heroism and sacrifice.

    American Revolution – 25,000
    War of 1812 – 15,000
    Civil War – 364,511
    World War I – 116,516
    World War II – 405,399
    Korean War – 36,516
    Vietnam – 58,209
    Afghanistan and Iraq – 6,713

    To the hundreds of thousands of men and women who gave their lives in the service and defense of America, thank you.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

  • Can a person truly have faith without a life that’s impacted by it?

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    Vegans.

    When you’re a vegan, you don’t eat meat or use animal products. Being vegan is a lifestyle.

    Now if I said that I was vegan and invited you over to my place for dinner, and you said what are we having “surf and turf….we’re having some fish and steak” and then I was washing it down with a glass of milk, and my kitchen table was on a bearskin rug, and I was eating the meal with ivory handled silverware while wearing a fur coat, and we were facing my trophy wall that had deer heads….” You might start to think “you’re not vegan.”

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