by Randall Allen Dunn

A lot of people define “freedom” as choosing to do what you want, whatever that may be. In the 1960’s, it went like this: “If it feels good, do it.”

It’s amazing that people still believe that, though they don’t phrase it the same way. Freedom isn’t really about chasing after whatever feels good, as anyone who has developed a destructive habit can tell you. Those people found something that felt good, but ended up trapping themselves in a pit that they couldn’t climb out of. One bad decision for freedom led to another, which led to a worse decision, and finally formed a self-destructive habit. And then they gradually discovered that the “freedom” they pursued had become a cage. They struggled to maintain the good parts of our lives – their relationships with family and friends, opportunities to work and help others, time spent doing something productive or even fun …

But somehow, they couldn’t unlock the doors of their cages to walk out, because those cages had become too comfortable. To break free, they would have to sacrifice their medicating habit.

The two-part Green Lantern/Green Arrow story that started with “Snowbirds Don’t Fly” concludes with “They Say It’ll Kill Me, But They Won’t Say When” – after Green Arrow discovered that Roy Harper (his former superhero sidekick, Speedy) – is a drug addict. As we saw in last week’s blog, Green Arrow didn’t handle the news well. He essentially wrote Roy off, disgusted by what he had learned about him. If Roy was committed to drugs, Green Arrow wanted nothing more to do with him.

Probably not the best counseling approach.

However, it’s a natural reaction for most people when a friend’s nasty habit is exposed. Some people might be forgiving and sensitive to their friend’s problems, but others won’t be. And that addict needs to recognize the damage they’ve done to the people they care about. The loss of respect. Of trust. Of a sense of safety. When someone is addicted to drugs, alcohol, or porn, it’s hard for others to feel safe around them. After their friend has worked so hard to cover up their secret habit, people are led to wonder what other dangerous activities they might be hiding.

So why would someone engage in something so deadly in the first place? Many years ago, an elderly woman at my church stated she doesn’t understand why anyone would want to take drugs (the same question that Green Lantern asks in the story). One of our church members, having abused drugs in his past, told her, “That’s because you’ve never experienced drugs. If you had, you would know how good it makes you feel when you’re doing it.”

I’ve never taken drugs myself, but I believe that. Why would someone do something they know is destructive, if it didn’t feel good at the time? These habits provide a quick fix, making a person feel better about life, for a while. But when the feeling disappears, reality sets in, and that person must try to catch up to their many responsibilities. They might have to do damage control for the friends they’ve hurt, while they were under the influence of something that clouded their judgment. They might have to make excuses and elaborate lies for why they weren’t where they said they would be, or failed to do what they promised they would. They might even have to disguise themselves so that no one can tell they have a problem, downing coffee to sober up fast or wearing long sleeves in the summertime to hide their track lines.

Green Lantern has Roy stay with Dinah Lance (superheroine Black Canary) to stay safe, while he chases after the drug pushers that sold him the stuff. Roy is determined to free himself, to prove his worth and his character to Green Arrow.

And also, to get free.

It’s not easy, going cold turkey. He gets shakes and feels out of control. He’s not used to functioning without medicating himself with drugs. But with Dinah’s support, he gets through it.

Because he knows he has to.

Roy doesn’t even realize that while he’s fighting to get clean, his old drug buddies are shooting up again. Unfortunately, they don’t know how to mix it quite right. One boy’s exciting high ends in a heart-stopping drug overdose, leaving him dead on the floor. His pursuit of so-called “freedom” ruined his life, then took it away completely. He chased down the dream of freedom that many want to chase today, right up to the point that it killed him.

That kind of freedom isn’t really worth pursuing. Addicts are free to do what they want, just like everyone else. But they’re not free to hold down a steady job or get promoted. They’re not free to maintain a solid relationship based on mutual trust. They’re not free to turn their dreams into reality. Not when their real life has become a nightmare, from which they can’t escape.

Real freedom, however, is worth fighting for. Sometimes breaking an addiction is easy; sometimes it’s not. But it’s always worth it.

If you’re struggling to overcome an addiction, keep at it. Do whatever you need to do to gain real freedom! Freedom to live, not just to do what feels good.

Because that kind of “freedom” can kill you.

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by Randall Allen Dunn

Sooner or later, our children are likely to disappoint us. It might be in something minor, like a choice of friends, clothes, or career. Or it might be in something highly significant, when one of our kids pursues a destructive path in life, making choices that we would never have made.

Our disappointment often comes from our frustration at being powerless to help them. How can we help when we don’t even understand? When our children act in ways that make no sense to us? The reality is that our children are not carbon-copies of us. As they grow older, they explore different styles, different interests, different opportunities.

They become different.

We can’t expect our children to grow up believing everything we tell them, or agreeing with us on every issue. Unfortunately, some hard truths must actually be experienced before they sink in. We can warn our children of the dangers out there, and advise them how to handle life’s challenges. But we can’t live out their lives for them. They’ll have to make some of those choices on their own, and deal with the consequences.

In the Green Lantern/Green Arrow story, “Snowbirds Don’t Fly”, the heroes chase after a group of drug addicts in an attempt to find their supplier. Green Arrow knows a little more about the drug problems than Green Lantern, immediately recognizing the symptoms of withdrawal from the young addicts, known on the street as “snowbirds”.

He soon runs into Roy Harper, otherwise known as his old superhero partner, Speedy (think Robin to Green Arrow’s Batman). He’s happy to see Roy in his civilian identity, hanging with the addicts, working undercover to break up their racket. Roy doesn’t have much information yet, but his “buddies” are eager to turn in their drug pushers, since they both want to kick the habit.

Unfortunately, they’re leading Green Lantern and Green Arrow into a trap. The pushers attack the heroes and get them high while they’re unconscious, leaving them in an alley for the police to find. Roy arrives in time to lead them away to safety.

When Green Lantern questions why anyone would turn to drugs in the first place, Roy tries to enlighten him, explaining that some kids have needs that go unmet, so they try to meet it with drugs. Green Arrow has no sympathy for Roy’s sob story.

A minute later, Green Arrow discovers Roy himself, shooting up with a needle. His young protégé has become a junkie!

He doesn’t react well. In a rage, he slaps Roy across the room, refusing to hear any of his excuses for his problem. Roy walks out, knowing he and Green Arrow are through.

Leaving Green Arrow alone with his guilty and confused thoughts, wondering the same thing every parent wonders when their kids go astray: “Where did we go wrong?”

Green Lantern later finds Roy in an alley, and flies him to Black Canary’s place to get help. He asks Roy why he chose to take drugs when he knew the dangers. Roy tells him, “I had the sermons thrown at me! But, Lantern, your generation has been known to lie, dig it? You’ve told us war is fun … skin-color is important … a man’s worth is the size of his bank account … all crocks! So why believe your drug rap?”

So often, parents are shocked when their children rebel and take an opposite path in life. Sometimes, it can be trivial, such as choosing a different extracurricular activity, a different career interest, or a different hairstyle or clothes. Other times, it can be something significant, such as hanging out with unsafe friends, planning illegal activities, or starting dangerous habits. If parents major on the minor issues of style and career interests, kids are not likely to listen to them about other issues that will actually matter in their lives.

The problem comes when parents expect their children to think and act the way they do, in everything. We all want our kids to learn our values, about the way to protect themselves and show kindness to others. But we sometimes confuse the issues of style – such as whether your child wants to dye their hair blue – with issues of actual safety – such as whether they want to date a forty-year old they met online. I decided a long time ago that I would rather raise a child with pierced eyebrows and orange hair who shows compassion and kindness, than a well-groomed brat who looks down on others and has no integrity. What’s going on inside matters a lot more to me than the style they wear on the outside.

Roy ultimately overcomes his habit. Green Arrow’s rough treatment encourages him to prove that he can be just as strong, or stronger, than his intolerant mentor.

Once he’s clean, Roy thanks Green Arrow for indirectly helping him … by punching him in the jaw. When Green Arrow asks why, Roy tells him it’s a way of sharing the pain he’s experienced for the last few days. The same pain that a lot of addicts still suffer through. Roy leaves, with plans to help his other friends beat their addictions. Green Arrow watches him go, with a new swell of pride. His former sidekick is not like him, but is growing up to be a man that any mentor would be proud of.

It can be scary to watch our kids make bad choices, especially when we know what they could have done to avoid that pain. Especially when we can’t understand what they’re going through, or why they made that choice.

But in the end, we can’t expect our kids to become like us. We can only guide them in what matters most – things like integrity, justice, compassion, and courage – and help them learn to become responsible, caring adults. Once they achieve this, however they get there, they probably won’t look or act like us.

But hopefully, they’ll gain the freedom to be themselves.

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by Randall Allen Dunn

For over two hundred years, African-Americans were kept as slaves in the United States. It was not until the Civil War that their freedom was gained. And up until the 1960’s, when Martin Luther King, Jr. initiated peaceful protests against it, African-Americans were still treated as second-class citizens, denied the rights of other Americans.

That was only fifty years ago. Many African-Americans today either lived through those times or have family members who did. So naturally, they still feel the sting of racism. Especially when it still crops up in conversations with friends or abusive verbal exchanges on the street. Or when they see disturbing TV news reports of violence against another African-American, sometimes very close to their own neighborhood. Or when someone instantly suspects them of committing some crime or misdemeanor, solely because of their skin color.

So it should not be surprising that some African-Americans can end up lashing back at their longtime oppressors, even without knowing it. When someone assumes that a white person is exhibiting prejudice, because it is assumed that a white person will think that way. Or that an African-American should be given a job or opportunity instead of giving it to a white person – again, solely because of their skin color.

It’s called “reverse racism”. When it’s no longer permitted to show racism to one group, but it suddenly becomes acceptable to show the same racism to the group that oppressed them.

The Green Lantern/Green Arrow story, “Beware My Power”, introduces us to a new Green Lantern: John Stewart. (The same Green Lantern who appears on the animated Justice League series.) John is bold and outspoken, willing to challenge police officers to their face in order to protect others. Especially when it comes to racial injustice.

But when one of the Guardians instructs Hal Jordan to train John as his back-up – to be ready to fill in for Hal if needed – Hal can’t agree with their decision. The Guardian advises Hal that their choices are not based on a human individual’s race. Hal is offended, assuring him that the issue is not John’s race, as the Guardian assumes. It’s that John is clearly brash and immature, and spoiling for a fight. Hal doesn’t trust John Stewart to wield a dangerous weapon like the power ring. However, the Guardians have made their decision.

Hal introduces himself to John and explains the situation. John casually accepts, thinking it will be fun to play super-hero. After some instruction and training on the use of the power ring, they spot a crowd gathering on an airport tarmac, and stop an oil truck from careening out of control toward them. In the midst of his rescue, John breaches the truck’s hull, “accidentally” squirting oil onto the face of the visiting Senator Jeremiah Clutcher. Flying right up to him, John jokes, “Hey, baby, haven’t I seen you picking cotton someplace?”

Hal confronts him, forcing John to admit that he did it intentionally. “Listen, Whitey, that windbag wants to be president! He’s a racist, and he figures on climbing to the White House on the backs of my people!”

Hal shows no sympathy. Regardless of John’s suspicions, he has a job to do as a Green Lantern. To teach him a lesson, Hal assigns John the task of guarding the senator, leaving John with a final piece of sage advice. “One last thing! Don’t call me Whitey! Something in that reminds me of that bit about ‘he who is without sin’ casting ‘the first stone’!”

When we experience racial injustice – especially at an extreme level – we can become so angry at the people who persecuted us that we blind ourselves to reality. Instead of recognizing those who hurt us, we lump all of our oppressors into one group, condemning them all for the crimes committed by a few.

A few who happened to “look like them”.

In American society, the long, harsh mistreatment of African-Americans has created a natural sense of backlash in some people’s hearts. Many black people feel vengeful, and many white people feel guilty. And many people of various races have the subconscious feeling that it’s now the African-Americans’ turn to treat their racial “enemies” the same way they were once treated. It becomes acceptable to make racial slurs like “honkee” or “cracker” against whites while condemning such slurs against blacks. To rejoice when a white person is shamed or mistreated, thinking it “serves them right”, even though there is no evidence of any wrongdoing. To post banners and bumper stickers promoting “black power”, without realizing that such messages separate us just as much as a sign that promotes “white power”.

That kind of racial retaliation doesn’t solve anything. It simply encourages us to believe that African-Americans should mistreat whites, instead of recognizing that we should all work together to bury our prejudices.

In the end, Hal chases down an African-American gunman shooting at Senator Clutcher, while John leaves, refusing to help. But John doesn’t explain that he’s chasing another shooter in the parking lot, before he attacks a policeman. Before Hal can correct him, John explains that he noticed the same two gunmen from the airport earlier. He exposes Senator Clutcher’s plot to make it appear that he was being attacked, when the shooter’s gun was filled with blanks. Meanwhile, the real shooting of a police officer outside would have people believe that a racial riot had taken place at the senator’s rally, helping Clutcher prove his claims that the African-Americans are dangerous.

Hal ships the senator off to jail, and apologizes to John for his assumptions. Assumptions that might not have been made, if John had less of a chip on his shoulder.

Racism is racism. Whether it’s against African-Americans, whites, Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Indians, or any other ethnic group. And revenge is revenge. Even if some people want to wink it away, because they feel that it’s fair for a victim to hit back with equal or greater force. But two wrongs don’t make a right. The fact that someone else threw the first punch doesn’t make it all right to punch back. That only keeps us trapped in the same cycle of bigotry, hating others for their appearance, instead of judging them for their hearts and their character.

Laws were put in place to end racial discrimination because racism itself is wrong. Don’t use your freedom from racial oppression to become a racist yourself. Treat others the way you would want to be treated – even if you don’t like the way they look.

Fight racism, not race.

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by Randall Allen Dunn

It’s surprising how easily we can be taken in. By a rumor, a politician’s promises, a new fad diet. Someone insists that something is true, that some new method is right. And because a friend or a celebrity buys into it, we believe it, too.

But sooner or later, the truth reveals itself, even within the lie, if we actually want to know the truth. Deep down, we instinctively doubt any promises of quick, easy answers to problems that have plagued people for decades. So if we keep our eyes open and remain grounded in the truth we already know, we won’t remain fooled for long.

In the Green Lantern/Green Arrow story, “A Kind of Loving, a Way of Death”, Green Arrow’s girlfriend, Black Canary, joins the team. (Green Arrow had only started partnering with Green Lantern a couple of issues prior, but Green Arrow and Black Canary had become such an inseparable superhero couple that her arrival seemed long overdue).

But when she is attacked by a gang and left unconscious in a ditch, then rescued by a mysterious stranger, Black Canary is not the same woman that Green Arrow remembers. When Green Arrow and Green Lantern find her, she tells them that she now follows the teachings of Joshua, the man who restored her to health. A man who Green Arrow believes is running a strange cult of blind followers, all willing to do Joshua’s bidding without question. Instead of returning with Green Arrow and Green Lantern, Black Canary insists on following Joshua wherever he leads, but she gives no explanation for her sudden devotion.

When the heroes reluctantly leave, Black Canary is uncertain, having remembered her past life with Green Arrow, and wondering whether she really wants to abandon it. Joshua encourages her to forget them, and provides her with a handgun, explaining that it will help their “holy cause”. She resists the idea, until Joshua issues further commands, somehow hypnotizing her.

Green Arrow later spies Black Canary in a line with other cultists, taking target practice with their guns in preparation for some violent attack. Joshua and Black Canary later find Green Arrow wounded, and Joshua orders her to slay him. Thankfully, Green Lantern arrives, ready to blast aside Black Canary’s pistol with his amazing power ring.

But when he notices Black Canary hesitating, he decides to hold back. He’s terrified of the possibility that she could kill Green Arrow, but he knows that if he pulls off a quick rescue, she’ll always wonder whether she would have pulled the trigger. Grimacing, Green Lantern determines, I’ve got to gamble Green Arrow’s life against Black Canary’s soul.

As Joshua demands that Black Canary murder Green Arrow, she becomes confused and frightened. She cannot believe it is right to kill someone – especially the man she once loved – in order to promote a message of peace and enlightenment. At the same time, she remembers Green Arrow’s bravery and kindness, and she refuses to kill such a man.

Joshua shows his true colors, preparing to finish Green Arrow himself, until Green Lantern traps him with his ring, ending the fight.

But for Black Canary, the fight ended when she resisted his command to destroy a friend. Not only a fight for her life, but a fight for her soul, the part of her that serves as an inner moral compass to find the truth, no matter what some deceiver tries to tell her.

It’s easy to be duped. Sooner or later, we all start to believe something that doesn’t really make sense. But we can always test it out, by comparing it against what we know and have witnessed to be true – tested wisdom, proven friendship, experienced leaders. Before you buy into “new truth”, compare it against the “old truth” you have learned over the years. By focusing on the truth we already know, and surrounding ourselves with wise friends, we can avoid blindly following dangerous trends and dangerous people.

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by Randall Allen Dunn

Our passions can sometimes blind us to the error of our ways. Some people become so consumed with the cause they’re pursuing that they stop listening to other people’s advice. If someone criticizes their methods, these “radicals” act as if the cause itself is being insulted, and that they are being attacked. They conclude that the reason for their frustration is that they are being persecuted, and those who disagree with them quickly become labeled as enemies. If these people’s egos remain unchecked, they can start equating their level of “suffering” with that of Jesus Christ.

It never occurs to them that all those critics might be right. Or that they might stand to learn something from people with more wisdom and experience.

Having noble goals does not guarantee that a person is on the right track. Regardless of the intent, passionate people who refuse to listen to sound advice simply deceive themselves. They imagine they’re on a crusade, performing a great service to mankind. But if they snub the opinions of everyone else, they’ll usually end up pursuing a dangerous course of action. One that could do harm to others and to themselves.

When the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic series started in the 1970’s, it started a revolution in the comics industry. For the first time, superhero comics dealt with relevant social issues, including poverty, racism, and even drug addiction. The 1960’s had been a time of social upheaval, causing people to question everything they had been taught in the past. Young people were encouraged not to trust anyone over 30 years old, cementing the generation gap. A civil war of social values had started, and the 1970’s was a decade of trying to adjust and understand how American society had changed. Green Lantern and Green Arrow represented these conservative and liberal values, respectively, and partnered together to fight injustice and try to reach a better understanding of what was happening to society.

One story addressed the issue of pollution, through a radical environmental activist known only as Isaac – a man whose likeness and story bore an unsettling similarity to that of Jesus Christ.

Only it’s not Jesus. It’s Isaac, a scientist diagnosed with a corrupting lung disease that is exacerbated by polluted air. Determining that he can’t escape the pollution, any more than anyone else can, he chooses to fight against it. He acts as “nature’s Robin Hood”, attempting to preserve the land into which he has retreated, while attacking polluting corporations. He sneaks into Ferris Industries and applies sewer refuse to their office walls, leaving a note that says: “The Ferris Gang has been pumping poison into our air and water. I merely returned the compliment.”

While Green Arrow applauds Isaac’s radical actions, Green Lantern is less impressed. Green Arrow assumes it’s because Green Lantern’s girlfriend, Carol Ferris, runs that company, but Green Lantern insists that Isaac could make his point some other way.

Later, when a drainage rig collapses, nearly crushing Carol herself, Green Lantern determines that it was caused deliberately. He finds Isaac, who has just made Green Arrow into his newest “disciple”, and confronts him with the crime. Isaac insists that he only tampered with a machine, not living creatures. Green Lantern rebukes him. “Didn’t it occur to you that ‘living creatures’ might suffer as a result of your meddling?” Isaac confesses: “N-No … it didn’t!”

When Green Arrow prevents Green Lantern from arresting Isaac by firing a gas-laden arrow, Isaac leaves, viciously rejecting Green Arrow after seeing him pollute the air, too. He chains himself to one of the Ferris airplanes, telling the workers that they can’t remove him from their “pollution machine” without tearing off his arms.

Frustrated at how Isaac has hurt their jobs and productivity, the angry crew decide to leave him hanging up there over the weekend. Assuming Green Lantern and Green Arrow were both helping him, they chain them up as well. Unable to survive hanging so long from the plane, due to his lung condition, Isaac dies before Green Lantern and Green Arrow can save him.

Isaac had a noble and worthy cause. But his approach – unlike that of Jesus – was to attack, rather than challenge people to new ways of thinking. Revolutionaries throughout history have had far more success in changing a society’s attitudes when they made peaceful demonstrations, and listened to the wisdom of other supporters. Even to the wisdom of critics.

When you set out to serve a higher purpose, be ready to be corrected. No matter how noble your goal might be, no single individual has the perfect plan for carrying it out. The best leaders – even the best revolutionaries – gather good friends and counselors around them, to help them determine the best course of action.

Before you assume your motives and methods are beyond reproach, ask yourself if you’re willing to listen to wise advice … even if it’s critical.

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