fbpx
37.4 F
Spokane
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeCommentaryIs violence a Christian value? No!

Is violence a Christian value? No!

Date:

Related stories

My Journey through Homelessness Part Five: Learning to Live Outside the Box

The value of my homeless experience lies not so much in having learned how to live outside — at least not in the geographical sense. The value of my homeless experience lies in having learned how to live outside the box.

Lost in Translation: Isn’t It Time We Moved Beyond a Fear-Based Repentance?

When I hear the kingdom is at hand, followed immediately by the command to repent, the good news is overshadowed by the fear that I’m not good enough to be part of the kingdom of God.

Inspiring Others: How Our Marriage Turned 50

As we prepare to celebrate 50 years there are so many thoughts and memories going through my head. I have joked about how I don't know how you've put up with me for this long, which is really true in a sense with my Irish enthusiasm and temper.

Taking the Road ‘Less Traveled by’ Has Made ‘All the Difference’

Pete Haug remembers hearing Robert Frost read his poem "The Road not Taken" 65 years ago. It reminded him of his spiritual journey out of the Christianity of his youth into choosing the Baha'i faith as an adult.

Ask an EOC: Can You Confess in Private to God but not in Church Confession and be Forgiven?

Concerning the sacrament of Confession, Christ directly gave the authority to his Church to remit or retain the sins of the penitent. 

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img

Is violence a Christian value? No!

By Paul Graves

I can’t say it anymore plainly than this: Violence is not a Christian value! So why are there so many self-professed Christians speaking in violent terms or even acting out in aggressive, even violent ways? I really don’t understand it. Do you?

Jesus never condoned violence for his disciples or other followers. Why would any current-day followers of Jesus even consider that Jesus’ ethic of love be associated with violence in action and/or word? Yet, there it is.

Jesus’ love ethic was seen on a bumper sticker recently in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. It simply said “LOVE.” But look closer: It was written out in weapons—L (handgun), O (hand grenade), V (strategically open knife), E (assault rifle).

Love and violence connected like that? This kind of arrogant disregard for the very concept of love forces me to tamp down my own impulse to violence.

Ironic, isn’t it? Even our categorical dismissals of violence as a Christian value cannot dismiss the human tendencies most of us have (at least in our minds) to combat our fears with some kind of verbal or physical violence.

“Even our categorical dismissals of violence as a Christian value cannot dismiss the human tendencies most of us have (at least in our minds) to combat our fears with some kind of verbal or physical violence.”

Paul graves

The recent, ugly controversy centered on the Boundary County Public Library (again, Bonners Ferry) is a case in point. A group of agitated citizens, many of them professing Christians, are determined to force the library to get rid of up to 400 pornographic books from their shelves. But none of those books are in that library.

One of the organizers of this disgusting protest went on record when she said: “I’m a Christian, and I’m going to do what I can to protect the kids.”

Yet the pressure of toxic verbal intimidation brought by these people seems much less about books, and more about taking control of the library for their own purposes.

I don’t know if the woman is a member of the Lordship Church in that community, but she works hand-in-glove with the pastor of that church. Lordship Church was labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. A church that proclaims to follow Jesus is labeled a hate group?

Jesus’ basic and consistent ethic has everything to do with love. Hate is to be transformed through acts/attitudes of love by Jesus’ followers, not projected on anyone who disagrees with those followers.

What kind of pain has twisted the souls of these so-called Christians? All they can seem to do is intimidate, belittle, even threaten persons who are committed to keeping their library a place of free thinking and free discussion.

Franciscan monk Richard Rohr defines suffering simply: “whenever we are not in control.” That covers each of us at some time or another. Yet some persons who profess Jesus as Lord, who pledge to follow his ways, seem to suffer so much that they dismiss the essential action of a Christian—love.

Have their pains gone so deep, their suffering so pervasive, that the only way to gain control they’ve lost is to take control from someone else? When hurting people can only hurt other people, they have misplaced the key that could unlock their spirits, their souls. Conversely, loving people can love others authentically.

That key is found in this Gospel passage: “You have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy’. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43–44, emphasis mine).

Your prayer may not change them, but it could change you. Especially when love becomes bigger.

Please lay aside your victim-feelings for 15 minutes a day, and consider this passage. Genuine love can be rediscovered.

Paul Graves
Paul Graves
Paul Graves is a retired and re-focused United Methodist pastor and a long-time resident of Sandpoint, Idaho, where he formerly served on city council and mayor. His second career is in geriatric social work, and since 2005 he's been the Lead Geezer-in-Training of Elder Advocates, a consulting and teaching ministry on aging issues. Since 1992, Graves has been a volunteer chaplain for Bonner Community Hospice. His columns regularly appear in The Spokesman-Review's Faith and Values section, and he also writes the Dear Geezer column for the Bonner County Daily Bee and is the host of the bi-weekly Geezer Forum on aging issues in Sandpoint.

Our Sponsors

spot_img
spot_img
spot_img
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
spot_img
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x