Genesis 1:8 || Meditate the Scripture daily verse by verse
Class #27
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4. Nonviolence for Fr. John Dear is so integral to what it means to be a Christian, and what it means to be truly pro-life, that any Christian who thinks any kind of violence is justified has ceased to follow the Jesus of the Gospels. Dear says: “That’s what it means to be a Christian—to be a person of nonviolence.” How would you respond to what you just saw in this video in light of the other readings for Tuesday? vt
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Notas do Editor
Important to come to know the nonviolent Jesus Wisdom House = a SCHOOL of peace and nonviolence Culture of violence and war “ Gospel of Jesus is a call to become people of peace and nonviolence” World is a world of violence (lots of forms—poverty, hunger, sexism, environmental damage, capital punishment, nuclear weapons etc.) We’re surrounded by violence We’re people of violence Violence doesn’t work, violence always leads to further violence War doesn’t lead to peace—it always sows seeds for further wars War can’t stop terrorism, because war IS terrorism Nonviolence is breaking down the structures of violence Peaceful means peaceful future Begins with the truth that we’re all ONE—every human being is our sister and brother Nonviolence is active love, seeking the truth of our active unity No cause, however noble, for which we will support the taking of a single human life Have to begin with ourselves Billions of people around the world practice nonviolence Nonviolence is at the heart of our lives because JESUS WAS NONVIOLENT Jesus was actively nonviolent The only people who don’t know this are Christians If we’re going to follow him, we have to be nonviolent “ The most political teaching of all is to love your enemies” We make peace because we’re children of God and God is a God of peace Jesus goes to Jerusalem and confronts the institutions of violence via nonviolent civil disobedience And he forgives those who kill him Resurrects and says “Peace be with you” I don’t think you can be a Christian and make war or work for war To be a Christian is to be a follower of the nonviolent Jesus, and therefore to be a practitioner of nonviolence Spirituality of nonviolence—how do we cultivate interior peace and nonviolence How can we help the Church become a community of nonviolence God’s reign, which is at hand, calls us to create not war or poverty but all new kinds of structures and communities of nonviolence and love and justice
Peacebuilding vs. Addiction to Violence what’s pacifism? ACTIVE nonviolence (not passive) it’s a refusal to oppose evil on its own terms (cf. Gandhi, MLK, Romero, Jesus—NOT passive) it’s a commitment to embody the kingdom of God in the here and now (violence as ultimate form of exclusion) John Dear said we’re addicted to violence—true? we tend to think violence ‘works’ in a sense, we have FAITH in violence but if wars are so effective, why do we keep having more of them? would think things would have been cleaned up by now similar to the charity vs. justice distinction: one’s proactive, one’s reactive violence tends to be reactive fire is started: run, fight, burn better that the fire doesn’t start in the first place pacifism's insight is that lots of times where force is used there are other alternatives short of returning violence for violence even to ask the question ‘what happens if someone’s being attacked?’ presumes that violence would satisfy everything example of the bear attacking the children seems to question that presumption peacebuilding tends to be proactive—peace needs to be BUILT peacemaking tries to go beneath the effects to the causes of the violence violence is often born of desperation. People often resort to violence when they feel they are powerless or disempowered or devalued or not respected. so, don’t let the conflict get to a stage where you have ONLY bad choices Take Ten Christian Pacifism what came up on the Voicethreads about nonviolence? how would we respond? Implications why does Dear say that nonviolence is “the most political teaching of all”? what would it mean for how Christians relate to wider society if he’s right that followers of Jesus have to be nonviolent? Latham: questions national boundaries for Christians--members of one body "without territorial borders" Constantine is when we got the idea that you can be BOTH a good citizen of the state & a good Christian (vs. Romero, Jesus) We tend to think in war that our enemy’s lives are worth less than ours precluded occupations: soldier, police, politician (who orders violence), maybe a judge, ROTC because maybe being a Christian really isn't being just like everyone else Dear in the video Important to come to know the nonviolent Jesus Wisdom House = a SCHOOL of peace and nonviolence Culture of violence and war “ Gospel of Jesus is a call to become people of peace and nonviolence” World is a world of violence (lots of forms—poverty, hunger, sexism, environmental damage, capital punishment, nuclear weapons etc.) We’re surrounded by violence We’re people of violence Addiction to violence shown by assumption that violence works Violence doesn’t work, violence always leads to further violence War doesn’t lead to peace—it always sows seeds for further wars War can’t stop terrorism, because war IS terrorism Nonviolence is breaking down the structures of violence Peaceful means peaceful future Begins with the truth that we’re all ONE—every human being is our sister and brother Nonviolence is active love, seeking the truth of our active unity No cause, however noble, for which we will support the taking of a single human life Have to begin with ourselves Billions of people around the world practice nonviolence Nonviolence is at the heart of our lives because JESUS WAS NONVIOLENT Jesus was actively nonviolent The only people who don’t know this are Christians If we’re going to follow him, we have to be people of nonviolence “ The most political teaching of all: love your enemies. That’s what it means to be a Christian—to be a person of nonviolence.” Immediate dismissal of this claim might indicate to him just how ‘addicted’ we are to violence. We make peace because we’re children of God and God is a God of peace Jesus goes to Jerusalem and confronts the institutions of violence via nonviolent civil disobedience And he forgives those who kill him Resurrects and says “Peace be with you” I don’t think you can be a Christian and make war or work for war To be a Christian is to be a follower of the nonviolent Jesus, and therefore to be a practitioner of nonviolence Spirituality of nonviolence—how do we cultivate interior peace and nonviolence How can we help the Church become a community of nonviolence God’s reign, which is at hand, calls us to create not war or poverty but all new kinds of structures and communities of nonviolence and love and justice
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