Frankenstein, the Monster, and Us - October 28, 2018

In many ways Frankenstein and his creature are doubles of one another.  A theatrical production of the story which played in London a few years ago highlighted that with the actors playing Frankenstein and the creature switching roles every performance. The creature is hideous to look at, but a blind man in the book, unbiased by its appearance, is struck by the sincerity of his words and receives him as an equal.  Had he been raised lovingly, might there have been no story of murder and revenge?  And if Victor were not the handsome son of a wealthy and prominent family, might his actions have been perceived differently and met with different consequences? 
These questions come to us still.  And especially in this week filled with monstrous events – the president wanting to send troops to the border to turn away refugees fleeing violence connected with our history of interference in their countries; pipe bombs mailed to critics of the President; two people killed in a supermarket in Kentucky on Wednesday almost in a fit of pique because the shooter couldn’t accomplish his intention of shooting people a black church; and yesterday’s shooting of congregants in a synagogue – all that physical violence as well as the emotional violence offered to transgender people with the news that the current administration is seeking to define gender as fixed at birth.  What monsters have we created?  What monsters do we need to look at?  And how can we change the story? 
Read the whole sermon here: