Precipice
What does “Love your enemies” have in common with warfare?
By Anni Ponder
“When Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies,’ I think He probably meant don’t kill them.”
I’m not accustomed to speaking out about political events, but after the recent tragedies in Israel and Palestine, writing about anything else feels sacrilegious.
I’ve spent the morning in tears—surely I’m not the only one. Anyone looking at the overwhelming tragedy in the news the past 10 days must feel the weight of the grief. The staggering loss. The incalculable wreckage. Innocent lives destroyed. Children. Parents. Those without fault and conspirators alike. All human, with red blood in our veins. All of the suffering, unnecessary.
It’s not only happening in the Middle East, of course. Hatred and warfare know no confines. On every continent, the evils of war and desolation abound. We are a people of sorrow and suffering.
It feels like the bottom is falling out.
How do we respond? How do we even grieve the tragedies all around us?
Valarie Kaur has some wisdom for us. Her recent speech to an audience of U.S. educators gives me a little hope. She reminds us that we stand with the people, the innocents, the children. Palestinian, Israeli . . . it doesn’t mater. We mourn it all.
That feels like a good place to start. But something else is bothering me.
I keep hearing murmurings within Christian circles. It’s all about taking sides and rooting for Israel. All about getting revenge.
Something inside me feels panicky when I hear that. Like we are running along the edge of a lethal precipice.
Returning back to the imagined conversation in my first two blogs (here and here), I wonder what would happen if you asked me about my stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Perhaps you would be curious if I, like so many of my Christian siblings, am cheering for Israel to smite their aggressors and win victory over them, once and for all.
“Are you hoping,” you might ask, “for Israel to once again reclaim the sacred ground upon which their temple will be rebuilt, so that Christ can return? Or at the very least, for them to put those Palestinians in their place?”
“Not in the slightest,” I would say, my eyes heavy with grief.
“But,” you might protest, “don’t Christians support Israel’s agenda?”
“Many do,” I would say. “But to support any agenda to the degree that we sanction violence is to ignore the life and teachings of Jesus. It is to dishonor His Way. Christ never asked us to be nationalists. That’s idolatry.”
“Well,” perhaps you would reason, “that makes sense, but Hamas literally attacked Israel, unprovoked. It was a premeditated assault. Terrorism. Don’t you think that deserves retaliation?”
“My Teacher forbids retaliation,” I would tell you. “We are to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and see everyone as neighbors, treating them as we would hope to be treated. The tragedy of the assault should be mourned, deeply, genuinely. But violence is not the way to peace."
“OK, but aren’t you supposed to be able to defend yourself? Didn’t Jesus even tell His disciples to buy swords?”
If there were any room for levity in the conversation, I’d make a Princess Bride quip about Jesus not meaning what you think He means. “But seriously,” I’d say, “that was never an injunction to keep and bear arms and act violently. Nowhere in Jesus’ teachings or life can I find any reason to ‘live by the sword.’ He was radically nonviolent, even surrendering His life to the worst death the Romans could come up with. He literally showed us never to retaliate.”
“So, you’re . . .”
“A pacifist? Yes. I believe war and violence are inherently wrong. A sin, if you will.”
“K, but what would you have Israel do? Stand by and watch as their country is destroyed by radicals?”
“First, I wouldn’t call all Palestinians radicals,” I’d say. “Plenty of them are peace-loving people who just want the aggression to stop. They’ve been suffering a long time. Have you ever seen the sorts of conditions they’ve had to live in? That kind of abject poverty, over generations, it does terrible things to people.”
Maybe you’d have seen footage of the squalor. Perhaps you would know what I’m talking about.
“But just living in poverty doesn’t justify attacking,” you might argue.
“True. There is never justification for violence. Hamas’ actions are inexcusable. But the point I’m trying to make is that neither is Israel justified for attacking back. This is simply a case of an-eye-for-an-eye leaving the whole world blind. It will never stop.”
“So, what do you think should happen?” you might ask.
Deep sigh. “I’m not an expert on foreign policy of any sort, and I realize the situation is enormously complex. But the sheer absurdity of one group of people killing the people—the children!—of another group of people is a tragedy I can scarcely get my mind around. There is never an excuse to support the taking of innocent life, not if you are a Christian. In fact, I can’t think of a reason my Rabbi would sanction murder of anyone, innocent or otherwise. I know this is not a popular opinion in many Christian circles, but what does ‘Love your enemies’ have in common with warfare?”
Perhaps we would keep talking a while, and of course I would want to hear all about your thoughts as well. Before the conversation came to a close, I’d ask if you had heard about Wadea Al-Fayoum, a six-year-old boy who was stabbed to death by his American landlord because he’s a Muslim. This was in Illinois last week.
“This is where violent ideology leads. Violence always begets more violence. No matter who we think should have what land, or what party we blame for starting the conflict, there is never, ever, justification for this kind of bloodshed. Any Christian saying otherwise has gone after a false god. Jesus of Nazareth has nothing to do with violence.”
I’ll close this imagined conversation with a prayer I learned in my church. May it be a source of sustenance, peace, and comfort to us all:
PRAYER FOR PEACE
O, God,
You have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent Your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near;
Grant that people everywhere may seek after You and find You;
bring the nations into Your fold;
pour out Your Spirit upon all flesh;
and hasten the coming of Your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
