If Someone Strikes You...

Last night was the second of a series of Lenten discussions at my churches. Each season of Lent we get together to talk about a book or a movie that speaks to some issue of spirituality. This year we have been discussing  Abraham, a not-too-deep book about the nebulous character of Genesis, called by God to be the Father of Nations, and who is claimed by all three monotheistic faiths as the source of their existence and belief. The point of our discussion is to come to some understanding of why Islam, Christianity, and Judaism don’t seem to get along all that well even when we claim the same roots. It’s been lively talk the past couple of weeks and last night the subject of Iraq and the looming reality of a war came up. It divided the group between those who believe the true Christian stance should be against war at all costs, those who believe that our duty is to police the world and get evil people out of power, and those who simply want to retaliate for 9/11, regardless.

Christians can be a pretty mean bunch when things aren't going their way. Don't get me wrong. They can be pretty damn nice to have around, too. But it's that whole "when things are going bad motif" that gets in the way.

MSNBC, that media bastion of intellectual brown-out, conducted a poll the other day, asking the question, "Should Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be tortured to get vital information?" The results were 75%-25% in favor. With 46% of the people in this country professing to be Christian, that makes an awful lot of Christians who are for torturing this guy. The "Ah'm doin' God's work" cowpoke in the White House is bringing into the spotlight exactly how mean Christianity can get. And now we are headed for war with Iraq based on a principle of pre-emption which most of the world disagrees with and flies in the face of what Christians and people of God say they believe.

The irony is, we missed a Golden Opportunity to show the world what it really meant to be Christian, or people of God on 9/11. We blew it the moment th' Marshall said we'd "hunt 'em down and bring 'em back dead 'r alahv".

Pluralism and globalism aren't bad ideas, as long as we get to control and decide  polity. But as we come kicking and screaming into this Brave New World, we're having a tough time not wanting to still be the biggest, baddest, dog on the block and set the rules.

Jesus' teaching and life show us that the reign of God is not accomplished by violence. This should not, however, be interpreted as passivity. If I suggested, to just about anyone, Jesus' concept of turning the other cheek in light of 9/11 or at any other time, I would have been (and have been) laughed out of the room. The topic came up last night as an example of what we and others did with Hitler. Turning the other cheek is a sign of weakness and submisstion and by God we ain't that! We just can't get away from the Old Testament eye for an eye mentality. We'd rather trade violence for violence than work to find a better way. We didn’t turn the other cheek with Hitler. We just looked the other way. And that’s just as wrong as what we are doing now.

Let's take a look at what it really meant, and still means to turn the other cheek. There's more power in the concept than meets the eye. Walter Wink offers the idea that Jesus' statement actually demonstrates an assertive and confrontational nonviolence in which the oppressed person has the potential to seize the initiative, shame the offender, and strip him of the power to dehumanize.

Jesus said, "But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also" (Matthew 5:39). The only natural way to strike someone on the right cheek is with the back of your hand. This type of blow was, and is, considered an insult or admonishment administered by a superior to an inferior. You would not normally strike an equal in this humiliating way and in Jesus' day, doing so carried stiff penalties. In many cultures today, and in Jesus' culture, using the left hand to strike the right cheek with a fist would not occur as the left hand was used only for unclean tasks. Hitting with a right-hand, closed fist acknowledged the one struck as an equal. Thus a supposed superior would specifically not want to strike an inferior with a fist. The backhand blow to the right cheek had the specific purpose of humiliation, and a blow in retaliation would invite retribution. Thus, turning the other, or left, cheek showed that the supposed inferior refused to be humiliated. With the left cheek presented, the supposed superior would be handed two options - either strike with the left hand or the fist of the right hand. Either way, the superior has lost the power to dehumanize.

Jesus was teaching nonviolent ways for oppressed people to take the initiative, affirm their humanity, and expose and neutralize exploitative circumstances. The people of God demonstrate the reign of God as a contrast to the social order that does not recognize the rule of God. When we use God to draw lines of division, telling the world God is on our side, and repay violence for violence, we show the world only that our values are as base as the values of the ones who have wronged us or others. It is against human nature, and distinctly un-American to allow someone to strike without hitting back. But it is against everything Jesus taught not to find an alternative. Killing thousands of innocent people to get to Saddam Hussein and his cronies makes no sense when we have the ability to use other means to get to him.

I really liked the responses I got about my dream about Saddam Hussein sitting in my congregations, particularly Marya Morevna’s. She saw the dream as an affirmation that everyone is a created being in God, whether we have done great evil or not. She thought that in my dream I saw Saddam Hussein as a threat to my congregations and as some sort of interdenominational ministry. Right, I think, on both points. The division which arises because of our human, worldly response, to Saddam Hussein, fueled by the rhetoric from the White House, threatens to destroy us. At the same time, all of us, as confessed people of God, have a responsibility to apply the non-violent truth to evil, to surround it in love, and heap burning coals upon the heads of those who are our enemies by responding in ways that show that the love of God will overcome everything. This is not just idealistic rhetoric. If we truly believe we are people of God, we must trust that God is not leading us astray and that if we hold to the truths of the reign of God and practice them, non-violent means will be discovered to overcome. So far, not many in positions of power have done that, nor have they wanted to. And the cycle continues.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. -The Book of Common Prayer

Peace, Brothers and Sisters, in the name of God, however you experience her.

8:30:05 AM
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