The Right Entitlement Culture & Easter

I was walking through the skyways of Minneapolis and came across an Aveda sign outside of Avant that read: "Make Clean Water a Human Right." I realize this is likely an innocent marketing strategy and probably a well intended act of stewardship to help preserve a valuable natural resource, which is perfectly good. But, what's funny is that majority of the people who come in contact with this sign probably wholeheartedly believe that humans indeed have a "right" to clean water. I'm not trying to ridicule a good cause. In fact, I think it is a wonderful display of an effort to return something to how it ought to be. Whether knowingly or not, it resembles an effort to bring more of the Kingdom of God to earth.

So, do we really have a "right" to clean water? To think we have a "right" to clean water is quite comical when the story of mankind is considered through a Judeo-Christian lens, the real story. Try this one on for size... we have a right not to die. Funny thought, isn't it? Perhaps you noticed the separation between idealism and realism. The reality is that the "rules of life" are already set, and they have been since creation. Despite a rightly ordered human desire to return things to how they ought to be (e.g., clean water, no death), due to the sins of our fathers we live in a wrongly ordered or fallen world in need of redemption. A redemption no collective human effort can satisfy.

However, that doesn't justify acquiescence. Through a Judeo-Christian lens, I suggest rewording the sign to read: "Make Clean Water a Human Responsibility." When applying God's standard and human history, God ordained rights become God ordained responsibilities. Responsibilities have meaning because God ordained rights require responsible human action, which is why rights cannot be actualized without acts of responsibility. Although we have a rightly ordered desire for clean water, we don't have a "right" to clean water. Instead, we have a responsibility to make water clean and a right to eagerly anticipate and believe in God's eventual redemption of water.

Like so many commonplace things, the Aveda sign bears the witness that even water is in a wrongly ordered or fallen state and is sorely in need of redemption. If anything else, I found the sign a refreshing reminder of the significance of Jesus Christ. The Atonement of Jesus Christ has made a way for all of God's Creation to again someday be restored to how they ought to be, including water. Happy Easter!

~Terrence Barthel (Spring 2002)