Are we Children of Earth (Human Ones) or Children of Corporations?

If my title is a bit mystifying, please read further down this blog where I share how the "Son of Man" story is an important story for our time.  In the Biblical text, the question was asked, "Are we 'human' or are we empire?"  Empire was always portrayed as the insatiable, devouring, carnivorous beast.  Jesus may have taken for himself the title "Human One" (translated often as "Son of Man") as a way of distinguishing himself and his values from the values of Caesar and the Roman Empire.  That story is found in Daniel, Ezekiel, the extra-canonical Enoch, Mark, and and Revelation.

I believe the recent Supreme Court decision makes this story even more important for our day and age.  Corporations are forever trying to make themselves "persons" or "human."  We should be asking ourselves what makes us "human" or "Children of Earth?"  Should there not be something organic about that?  Because corporations are making this run for humanity out of their greed and profit-making.  Is that a basic, human value?

Now comes this important article from the New York Times, "The Kids Are Not All Right," by Joel Bakan.  Bakan argues that this story is critical for the lives of our children.  If they eat highly industrialized, process food, if we over-medicate them into oblivion, if they are defining themselves by their technology, have our children crossed the threshhold from being children to just being the pawns of corporations?  While corporations become defined as persons, our children become defined as corporations.

I'm sure Bakan intentionally used the title as a nod to the movie which tried to say that our children would be ok raised by gay and lesbian parents.  While I believe the premise of the movie to be true, I also believe Balkan has it right when he suggests that our children are not ok when raised by corporations to become pawns of corporations.  We need to raise Children of Earth, our children to be human.

Being human means cutting the cord, putting the phone down, feeding our children real food, and being methodical about their medications.  Bakan quotes Nelson Mandela at the end of his article to say, "there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."  Indeed.