Overcoming Violence and War: December 2005 Archives

Despite all evidence to the contrary "secular liberals" continue to assert that freedom, genuine participatory democracy, and justice can be achieved by means that contradict those ends.  Our the liberal religious tradition has taught that we can not coerce freedom, nor can we browbeat a people into conforming to "Western style procedural democracy,"  nor cab we establish justice while enriching multinational corporations.  Yet secular liberals persist in the discredited idea that society can be rearranged by enlightened elites acting for good purposes, and that institutional power can used to achieve such a rearrangement.  The debate between Democrats and Republicans is entirely within the logic of secular liberalism.

On the other hand, that religious movement which is our heritage has taught that freedom arises when we become the change we would achieve.  In order to achieve peace, we must work for non violent solutions to conflict.  In order to achieve freedom, we must give others the right to make decisions.  In order to achieve a democratic world, we must respect the right of others to control their own destinies.

Universalist minister Olympia Brown expressed our the idea well when she wrote: " We can never make the world safe by fighting.  Every nation must learn that the people of all nations are children or God, and must share the wealth of the world."  Now those whose minds are held captive by the logic of secularism might object, this religious ideal is utopian!  But Brown responded "You may say this is impracticable, far away, can never be  accomplished, but it is the work we appointed to do." 

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote:  "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.

You may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. You may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate, nor establish love. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Edmund Hamilton Sears, Unitarian minister and anti war activist helped define the meaning of the Christmas holiday with his carol "It came upon a Midnight Clear." The last verse has shaped generations of religious liberals understanding: "for lo! the days are hastening on by prophets long foretold, when the ever circling years comes round the age of gold: when peace shall over all the earth its ancient spendors fling, and the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing."

Sears wrote his carol as an anti war song. The United States had invaded Mexico as part of a premeditated plan to seize resources and extend the system of slavery. The United States had been engaged in a war of genocide against the indigenous peoples of this land, and its racist contempt for the people of Mexico was a logical extension of the exclusive covenant upon which the nation had been founded. Sears wrote his carol to protest the violence and imperial arrogance of his government. Sears was a Unitarian, and a real patriot.

This carol was his Christmas gift to his faith community and to other real patriots of his time. (Abraham Lincoln resigned from the Illinois legislature to protest the vote to call up the militia for the invasion of Mexico. Henry David Thoreau went to jail rather than pay his taxes to support this war. Sears had lost his pulpit due to the vicious criticism from jingoists within the Lancaster, Massachusetts congregation, but had been welcomed by the Wayland, Massachusetts congregation

My anti war commitment began in Unitarian Sunday School, and I have no problem asserting that while Unitarian Universalism may not be a pacifist church, we are a faith community that has a long, and consistent tradition of opposition to unjust war. Our present stance of opposition to the racist and murderous war on the Iraqi people is not because we have strayed from religion into politics as some who don't know our history would assert, on the contrary we are continuing a long tradition.

How do we discern a just war, from an unjust war? First, we need to understand that the political elite who runs our government has a long history of lying, rationalizing, and spinning their policies. What do I mean by long? I would go back to well before Independence was declared. My Cherokee ancestors had experience with the lies.

But what about now? How do we put an end to the "two thousand years of wrong" [Sears was referencing the betrayal of Jesus teaching by his followers.]

Let me suggest one resource that exposes the lies and spin of the modern war making elite. War Made Easy by Normon Solomon analyzes the deceptions of the government and media to mobilize the people of this nation into war after war.

The term Sodomites which is often used as a pejorative in our homophobic culture has its origins in the account in Genesis of the destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah.  So what was so sinful about the denizens of Sodom.  Read this post by The Prodigal Sheep which examines the distorted interpretation of the historical church as compared to the understanding of the Hebrews.  Original intent always trumps plain meaning of the text in my book.  The Prodigal Sheep writes: Traditional (i.e. post-medieval and modern) discussions tend to focus on a narrow interpretation of the violence intended by the men of Sodom against the two visiting angels, concluding that the violence had something to do with homosexual intercourse, and that for such an abomination God destroyed the city. But the biblical prophets themselves, up to and including Jesus, always understood the 'sin of Sodom' as something quite different.

Read the rest of this post.

Unitarian Universalists are open to the wisdom of all the world's religions, so I thought I would share some Christian wisdom. One of the myths of Christianity is the anti Christ, which I am a Christian Too! links to the the Biblical archetype of the False Prophet. Extending this metaphor with all its associated connotations as a tool for social analysis allows us to see how false prophecy is a part of our contemporary experience. So arise ye soldiers of righteousness, let us rally to defeat the anti Christ.

I am a Christian Too writes: But let's just look at the Anti-Christ/False Prophet imagery for a second. The Anti-Christ is supposed to be a leader that deludes us into thinking that bad is good and good is bad.

He would charm us into following him into doing unspeakable acts, say, torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment, ghost detainees, or murder. The Anti-Christ would be supported by the False Prophet, who would create a false religion to pervert God's will. This false religion would make us hate instead of love, applaud war instead of peace. It would paint its enemies, say, homosexuals, Muslims and liberals, as undeserving of God's love, nor ours. This religion would wreak death (the death penalty, war, poverty, disease) instead of life (peace, compassion for the imprisoned, food for the hungry, health care for the sick).

The religion of the False Prophet would become intertwined with the governmental power of the Anti-Christ, quite the opposite of the historic separation of Church and State in the U.S. Government leaders would be qualified for their roles by virtue of their religion (Harriet Myers anyone?). The false religion would defend the immoral actions of the government, while the government would enforce the false morality of the false religion.

Thanks to The Prodigal Sheep for link.

You have probably heard the line from that old spiritual; it goes like this: Joshua fit the battle of Jericho €¦ and the walls come tumblin' down. In the Biblical book of Joshua, we have the story of conquest by the Hebrew tribes of the land of promise. Cana, the fortress city of Jericho was being attacked. We read: On the seventh day, they rose early, at dawn and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day they marched around the city seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!"


A little later, the text reads: As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat and the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. Then they devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep and donkeys.