Violence
A few days ago, we heard in the news of the assassination attempt on the life of the former president-Donald Trump. Thank God this was averted, and the would-be assassin has been arrested and is in jail. This was the second attempt at the life of the former President.
I heard about the first attempt at his life when I was away on my sabbatical. That was such a close contact with mortality. I was so worried about it that I immediately felt that I had to write about it, but I decided against it with the promise to share my thoughts about that upon my return. Then, just when I am beginning to settle in, we have another attempt at the life of the former President.
I agree with President Biden when he says violence has no place in our political discourse. We settle our disagreements at the ballot box. To resort to violence as an attempt to settle disagreement undermines the very foundation of who we are and the system that has been bequeathed to us by our forbearers.
There’s no doubt that throughout human history, many are the folks who have used violence to settle scores. If you ask me to count, I wouldn’t be able to, because it is innumerable. But it shouldn’t be lost on me nor anyone else that for some people, violence may not necessarily be the last resort but rather the first and only result. For some, the jungle mentality of the survival of the fittest, where the end justifies the means, and that I ought to win by any means necessary, is all that matters. For those who cannot see themselves in any other way other than a diminutive interpretation of their own sad narrative, life is a war that must be fought. And they must win.
But life has never been about a war, nor is this beautiful earth a battleground. Yes, wars arise and have arisen between nation-states and people, but an interesting thing about wars is that we don’t have war forever. At some point, wars each come to an end, and we turn our swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. That, in itself, should remind each of us that violence has never been a solution.
I have learned that relationships shouldn’t be about survival, nor should the way we organize our common life. Rather, it should be about thriving. Whether we are in a relationship or at church or in any city, town, county, state, or country, we should be about the business of making people thrive - and violence doesn’t make anyone thrive.
One of the interesting sites that I visited on my sabbatical is the Coliseum in Rome. It is such a beautiful architectural work. You can only imagine the amount of labor that went into building what I term a beautiful architectural work. The Coliseum was built over two thousand years ago without the benefit of modern technology. It is just mindboggling to see it and walk into that space. But yet, when you see that beautiful work, what you also see is violence - a sort of violence that was perpetrated against the weak, and even some Christians. It was a kind of violence that had been passed off as entertainment.
Violence, like anger, doesn’t solve any problem nor does it offer solutions to the myriad of problems that we face. Violence only introduces fear, intimidation, submission, suppression, cowardice, and coercion. And these do not help people to be the best nor does it help anyone to offer their very best.
There’s this belief in the battle of ideas. That is what excites me because I love ideas. I thrive on ideas. I love it when I pop up a million ideas and also see other people pop up a million more ideas. Ideas are what turn our world around from its dark places to places of vitality and growth. Ideas turn our beleaguered selves into engines of optimism. Ideas always question our disposition to violence, and ideas lift people and inspire them to offer their very best selves, shape the destiny of our world, and renew the human promise.
But whatever ideas you possess have to be tested with other ideas, not through violence but through persuasion and compromise.
Whenever I read these words from the prophet Isaiah - “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” - my eye turns toward a world devoid of violence, one where the tools of violence and war are used in a totally different way, where the tools of war and violence are used to enhance the human condition.
I believe that God has given us all that we need to thrive, and so during this heightened political season, let’s not question whether we have enough to survive. We do have more than enough to thrive.
The question is, do we see the trees that God has given us to use in making tables, or are we praying to God for tables?
I know I am not as big as the elephants in the Kenyan plains. I cannot soar like the eagles in the prairies of Minnesota. I cannot run as fast as the cheetahs, nor can I roar like an African lion. But I can see the beautiful creation from which we can create a non-violent world.
Blessings,
Manny +
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