Romans 12:19, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Luke 6:37, Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Well now, that should be enough said on this topic. Correct? It all seems so simple to me: Read and believe the Holy Scripture. It is the word of God. I am too simple minded, I am sure. We better cover more ground on this topic.
In Just Peace Apologetics (JPA) we know that any action not done out of love is doomed from the beginning, and yet I am amazed by those I meet that think we can have peace through war and violence. I must share with you two short incidents about ministers I have run into who carry guns. They are Pistol Packing Pastors for sure: I will call them 3P1 and 3P2.
3P1 is a chaplain to a police department and to a Marine outfit. Whether talking about war or criminals he gives a similar comment, “The good guys should have the best weapons and kill all the bad guys. Let God sort out any that were innocent.” “Excuse me,” I said, “but I don’t think that is what He has asked of us.” He quite emphatically said to me, “Times have changed, and we need to help God out.”
3P1 went on to say, “If we kill them it keeps them out of Hell. God will set them straight.” “More like the thief of the cross than Purgatory?” I asked. “Oh, yah…not Purgatory!”
3P2, in a way, was even more shocking to me. “I also think it important to make room for pacifists as a matter of conscience and as long as they do not seriously argue or insist that everyone who is not as they are is evil.” And, “This is unlikely, not because I think your view is unusual or hopelessly pristine from an historical perspective but because I think you are simply wrong.” These dismissive comments seem to hold a mild threat, perhaps something like: “Hold your silly little opinions if you want, but stay out of the way of good American Christians.” Those who live by the sword are sinful, and may be evil.
Neither of these “Pistol Packing Pastors” can support their violent Christianity with scripture, tradition, or reason, at least within the early Church. (Yes, as God’s revelation was being rolled out to us in the Old Testament there were wars. And after A.D. 400 or after the legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine “just wars” begin to be talked about) It is in the example of Christ’s love that we should seek our lifestyle and mission. They are certainly patriotic, but perhaps lost in a theology of the simple. Don’t get confused between a state-church and “the Church.”
“I” and/or “we,” individual or group, home/community/religion, who can/should take a stand for violence in view of the example of the life of Christ in the Gospels? Many have been called “good Christians.” When Christianity became legal, we then had things to protect. We built wealth and collected possessions. “They would have to pry them from our cold dead fingers, after a violent battle, if they were going to take them from us!” one might be thinking. That is not what Christ teaches us in the Gospels.
“Us” and “them” is a distinction that is not part of the Gospel message. Salvation is offered to all of God’s human creatures, our neighbors. Do we love them as much as we love ourselves? (We know how much God the Father loves us, as he sent His Son to save us.) If one is hurt by another before reacting they must ask, “What did Jesus do?”
Violence creates pain in others, individuals to nations. We must stop and look to Christ’s life for example, and ask of the Holy Spirit for comfort. That violence certainly includes war, but it also includes all violent acts. In JPA the Christian nonviolent activist must choose to reject all violence. We cannot hope to do God’s work and act in opposition to His example and words.
Those who feel the need to use violence on others do not trust their own God to do what is right and good. God’s use of me may not be apparent to me. What He wants and what I want may be very different. Can I turn it all over to God, living a life in the example of Our Savior? If you feel a need to protect others do it with prayer, not pistols...God, not guns.
In Christ’s love,
Fr. Robert Pax
BOOKS: “Founding Faith,” by Steven Waldman, is about the development of the Constitutional view of religion in America. “Ain’t Gonna Study War No More,” by Milton Meltzer, is about the development of the peace movement in America. Both are great for building understanding and background.
QUOTE: “When I first met the great Jesuit peace maker and poet, Father Daniel Berrigan, I wanted his advice about the life that lay ahead of me, but I didn’t know exactly what to say. “What is the point of all this?” I finally asked him.
Dan took my awkward question seriously. “All we have to do is make our lives fit into the story of Jesus,” he said. “We have to get our lives to make sense in light of the Gospel.”
What a helpful answer! I never forgot it. The Christian life, I was learning, is fashioned after the life of Jesus. As his followers, we have to know his story, enter his story, and make our story part of his story. The Gospel, in other words, is the measure of our lives.” Fr. John Dear
