Confrontation! Is it worth it?

1st I really desire justice. Deeply. I seethe inside when I read about Omar Al Bashir, Joseph Kony, Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, Hitler, and I even get mad at Bush/Chaney alot for what I consider injustice.

And I will likely be angry at our upcoming president. Authority needs to be called out. I am a person who was taught to call out.

You see, somewhere in my upbringing, I was brought up in a family of confronters and taught to be even more confrontational in my highly Charismatic church in a rather confrontational state, culturally speaking (Washington state).

I was taught in my family mostly to correct others I see doing wrong and correct them quickly (even adults) and to ask questions later. It may be hard to believe... but imagine an Italian family with flashes of hot Irish and German temper.

Seriously. That's where I come from. And I've actually changed alot just from living for 6 years in South Carolina and 5 years in Virginia.

These aren't excuses. Just facts. And despite being from that background, I want to fit in and learn to be different and to be more careful with my words and temper. I really do. But I also see some strengths in my cultural and confrontational background.

For instance, without confronters, there would have been no Jesus challenging the
Pharisaical Jewish teachings of 2000 years ago.

Without confronters, there would have been no Martin Luther and no reformation of the Catholic church in 1517.

Without confronters, there would have been no George Fox and Quaker-led resistance of slavery in the 1600s in Britain and America and no Quaker network of underground railroads for freed men and women.

Without confronters, there would have been no William Wilberforce to press even past the death threats against his Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

Without confronters, there would have been no Sojourner Truth and her amazing 1850s "Ain't I a Woman" speech.

Without confronters, there would have been no Women's Suffrage of 1920 in the US.

Without confronters, there would have been no Winston Churchill of 1933-1945

Without confronters, there would have been no Martin Luther King Jr. leading to the Civil Rights Laws passed in 1968.

Without confronters, there would be no protest against the horrors going on in Sudan and Congo right now as we speak (not to mention Gaza *and* against Israel).

Without confronters, there would be no Common Table Church (which I dearly love and who I believe have confronted since founding and continuing to confront some of the biggest evangelical protestant church failures of our day).

Without confronters, I think there would be no theOoze.com, no emergent conversation, no rethinking of energy conservation or movement toward alternative fuels and environmental sustainability.

Long live the confronters! And may I also one day live with such zeal for the right.

But what I'm learning about myself is that while my heart is truly trying to be a confronter, I'm more often a *reactor*. An unthoughtful reactor. And for that I apologize. I want to be used by God to heal and challenge and be healed and challenged. Not to steal kill and destroy. And I'm sorry if I've stolen, subtly killed or destroyed you, dear reader.