I am not a Christian. I am certainly not a Christian Theologian, so I am treading on shaky ground in this essay. It is not my intent to offend, and I very much welcome any corrections or different interpretations from those more knowledgeable than my self.
All week we have been discussing war, on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. But one aspect we haven’t much discussed is the impact…or causation…of religion on the war. In this context, I was struck to realize this morning that it is Good Friday and then some of the words of Jesus leapt to mind.
From the New American Standard Bible:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39 NASB)
For easier reference, I have used wikipedia as a source, and they include two interpretations. That Jesus was advocating violence, or that Jesus was predicting violence. To perhaps quell some of the heat this subject tends to cause in discussion, let me say right off that I tend to agree with the interpretation that Jesus was predicting violence, not advocating it.
As a non-Christian, but a self proclaimed spiritually interested or oriented person, to me Christ means on thing: Love. Everything I read of Christ’s words I read through the interpretation that he was the Spirit of Love incarnate on earth.
Therefore when he spoke, he was speaking as the spirit of love. Thus he was saying that the spirit of love would cause violence. That the choice between Love and….not-Love, would be a choice that would divide the people of earth. And indeed, it has. If you read that quote again with that in mind, I think it is easy to see what he meant. Each human being on the planet is faced with a choice. Through a bit of broad interpretation, one could say that we all face this choice everyday. Love/Peace/Tolerance vs Hate/War/Intolerance.
In the 2000 years since the teachings of Christ were introduced, it is easy to point to the historical record and say that humanity as a whole has chosen the latter. But I don’t think that is strictly accurate. To me, a lifelong aficionado of irony, I can think of no greater irony in the history of the planet than the millions and millions of humans that have been killed in Christ’s name. But again, it is the Leaders….not the People, who have waged these wars, in the name of someone who preached Peace, and to my semi-ignorant mind, aside from this one highly interpretable quote, preached non-violence.
As I must charge, they are doing right now.
We have discussed how Iraq is a war for oil, for resource hegemony, and for Little Georgie’s paternal pathology. But we have not discussed the aspect of Religious War. Or as it is euphemistically called A Clash of Civilizations (Note: That link is to an article from 2002, when the wounds of 9/11 was fresh, and the reactions, perhaps, more honest.)
To my eye, the religious aspects of this war, Christianity vs. Islam, are constantly glossed over and even outright ignored. Or perhaps, just accepted?
One of the main tools of the faux fundamentalist Christians in charge of our government has been fearmongering, on every level. But on no greater level than the religious fear used mainly with their base, where it resonates like a gong…and from there, the ripples spread out to our largely Christian nation. The Muslims are coming to get you. Islamo-fascists are out to conquer America and convert the world to Islam. They are choosing to interpret Christ’s words apparently, as advocating violence, even though it is obvious that everything he stood for and said argue against this. How do they do that???
Once again, religion….iow the words and teachings of Christ as they have been interpreted and organized into religions, are again being being used to wage war, to kill. Somehow, in some way, using this single image of Christ bringing a sword to justify it? Where does it end? According to the absolute worst of the dogmatists, when this Clash Of Civilizations has killed every human, every child of god on the “other side.” That is true of both sides, I by no means hold the worst of the Muslim dogmatists innocent.
2000 years of conflict….over/because of/based on…. the teachings of love and peace and tolerance.
Simply amazing.
Good Friday. The day that men of war killed a prophet of peace. Only to have that prophet, that spirit of love rise again to roam the world….looking for a home. Let’s hope that this Easter, he finds a home in the hearts of our “leaders.” Let’s hope that they can start, right now, choosing the Love that their revered religious leader chose.
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It takes a certain amount of bravery to write something like this in what so many people believe is a “Christian” nation.
It helps to keep in mind that, however strenuously Christians argue the “divinely inspired” nature of the Bible it was written, after all, by mortal men.
I, too, hope that love enters the hearts of Christians. Unfortunately, history would seem to argue against that.
He was no fool. I agree with you that the quoted passage is ‘prediction’ of violence rather than advocacy. He saw the same things we see: class oppression, self-righteousness and hypocrisy, and he knew human nature. I think he had a message he felt strongly compelled to deliver, all the while knowing that, as Simon & Garfunkel put it, ‘A man will hear what he wants to hear and disregard the rest.’
Lovely post, buhdy.
-Scott
is that opportunists cherry pick comments that are clearly secondary to Jesus’ teaching and elevate them to primacy in order to advance their agenda.
Okay, maybe that’s not surprising per se, since that’s the very definition of an opportunist. What’s surprising is that congregations let them get away with it. Pages upon pages of commentary on helping the poor, but when Jesus says to Mary and Martha “the poor will always be with you” (meaning: we can chill for a few minutes), they latch onto that as proof that Jesus never intended for us to bother much with poverty. Unbelievable.
“I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” And then Jesus goes on to give very specific instructions about what one needs to earn salvation. Matthew 25:31-46. That it’s intended as very specific instructions isn’t just my spin: he says it: kindness and charity, plain and simple. That’s how his followers will be judged.
Call me crazy, but read the passage for yourself. It’s so embarrassingly clear.
Been downhill ever since.
but i guess i am feeling even more cynical than usual today. I seem to remember that almost as many evil deeds have been perpetrated in the name of love as they of hate. There is a narrow line separating the two.
What has made me particularly depressed? the gods and goddesses alone knows. Maybe it is being ridiculed over at that other site for drawing attention to the use of the term ‘conquistador’ to describe Richardson, in his endorsement is as offensive to many as black racial slurs are. I take Obama’s exhortation to raise our consciousness toward racial division in America very seriously, however i also feel that we need, no, not need, MUST expand our awareness to encompass the entire history of the colonization of the Americas. The ‘conquistadors’, which basically applies to the Spanish mercenary soldiers who conquered and slaughtered hundreds of thousnds, maybe millions, of native peoples in the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries, were not heroes, they were killers.
It seems to me that the slope we have to climb is so steep and so slippery we are bound to fall back, time and time again. I fear I do not have sufficient time to see real change, but then it has to start somewhere.
As Bob Marley sang in one of his songs ‘this is not the end, this is just the beginning’.
Just now the checker at the supermarket said ‘tomorrow is our memorial’, when I asked her what she meant, she said ‘Our Saviour’. I cannot see Jesus Christ as my saviour, nor do i seek a saviour, however i shall try and interpret him as the spirit of love and not the prince of dark forces unleashed in the name of love.
With buhdy I take it as the ultimate in irony that so many have been murdered brutally in his name. I don’t want another saviour, I don’t want another healer. I want a leader. Maybe they are the same thing, only time will tell.