dissonance
Just to juxtapose my doubt of a Deity of any kind, I have to discuss His opinions on violence. Or other people’s opinions on His opinion. Why not muddy the waters some more?
My pastor has been hinting lately, with less and less subtlety, that violence of any kind–including self-defense and military action, is inherently bad. For right now I’ll just tackle the first for the most part. My main opinion is that the average person, especially the average pastor, can afford to not think about violence in any real analytical manner, and simply look at it, recoil, and categorically condemn it quite easily. If you spend any amount of time actually looking at what is involved with violence and crime, and situations that people actually find themselves in, then it becomes much more complicated. The lines stop being black and white and turn into a thousand shades of grey. Which is usually the case when any subject is examined with more than a passing glance.
As I see theology (and obviously this is all just my own opinion, I claim no monopoly on Truth – this is just my rambling, not The Answer), if you look at the New Testament the first and foremost rule is Love God, and the second is Love other people. All of them. So basically I’m going to make a big leap here and figure if you’re doing the most loving thing you can for people, then you’re probably doing the right thing. The tricky thing is figuring out what the most loving response to a situation is.
So let’s apply this. The standard scripture that gets thrown around is ‘turn the other cheek’, right? So, if someone slaps you in the face, you don’t beat them up. Fair enough. Seems to me (again, just my interpretation), that even taken in context this scripture has a lot stronger association with insult than actual violent attack. Even just looking at it logically – people who are looking to hurt someone don’t usually slap them. Slapping is an insult, a provocation, it implies scorn and dares a response. So if someone is trying to insult me, to pick a fight, and they slap me trying to provoke me into losing my temper, then I completely appreciate the value of letting it go. Don’t get into fights just because the other person is a jerk. If you’re trying to love them, then exercise the freedom you have to not worry about what others think, and not respond in anger. The most loving thing is to stay calm and let it go. This can be transferred into any number of situations where the attack is really more of an attack on machismo and pride than on the physical self.
But consider a different scenario, a different point of view. There are a lot of Christians who claim that, if you are attacked, you shouldn’t fight back. You should ‘turn the other cheek’. There are probably situations in which that would be an appropriate response. But I think it’s a very, very dangerous rule to start applying to every situation. Here’s how I see it. I don’t plan on ever being so intoxicated/drugged/I don’t know what that I would ever attack another person, but let’s say for the sake of argument that I get really trashed at a party. And at this party, I get very angry with someone – maybe even one of my friends. If I attack that person, and they don’t defend themselves because they don’t believe in violence, I have to be honest that I don’t think that was the most loving response they could have given. And that should be the goal – not to make the biggest point about pacifism and our ‘commitment’, but to love the other person as much as possible. If I, having been very dumb and attacked my friend, have lost track of that, then the most loving thing they could do (I think), the thing that I need them to do the most, is stop me. When I come to the next morning, I would rather have a lot of bruises and have a friend who is ok than to find out that I beat them up and they let me do it. There is no benefit to me if they stand there and allow themselves to be attacked. There is nothing that is bringing me closer to God. All that would say to me is ‘I care more about maintaining my ‘commitment’ and my ‘moral code’ than I do about your welfare. And then ‘turning the other cheek’ is not about God anymore, it’s about proving a point.
Not so simple anymore, eh? Let’s complicate it even more. Let’s say, on a late night walk, that you come upon a rape in progress. I know, you don’t want to think about that. You don’t want to think it could ever happen. It probably won’t, but it’s not impossible, and if morality has any value, then it has to apply in difficult situations as well as basic ones. Self-defense and violence are not always about giving all your money to the mugger and then letting them kill you. Anyway. You come across a rape – explain to me, please, how non-violence is the Biblical, loving, right response to this situation. It is beyond cruel, I think it is almost inhuman, to simply stand by and let it happen. If you can yell and argue and preach and save this girl, then hooray for you. But it may not be that simple. And then you have a choice. You can stand there and watch, or you can do something about it. And calling someone else doesn’t solve the dilemma – you can’t have someone else be violent on your behalf and pretend your hands are clean. I say, the most loving thing you can do is be violent. Obviously, it’s not necessary to be any more violent than necessary to end the situation, but if you have the power, stop the situation.
I guess my basic point is that whatever you call it, biblical, ethical, decent, moral behavior entails a lot more than ‘don’t ever do anything violent’.
