On Being Nonviolent

I've been getting this question a lot lately. Is it really so confusing? People seem compelled to ask "Pat, you're nonviolent? So, if I hit you, you wouldn't do anything back?" Is it really so hard to believe that someone could really say "No, I wouldn't hit you back. In fact, I'd turn the other cheek so you could hit the other one."

I guess in today's society it is strange to commit to complete nonviolence, considering the self-centered view people take. It's not uncommon for people to be opposed to things such as war, but when it comes to their own person or people close to them, then you're in trouble. You better start running, because they'll tear your head off if you so much as touch them, their girlfriend, their mother, etc. It's just understood that war is bad, but that random person who attacks you deserves to die.

The word pacifist has some pretty bad connotations to it as well. The best examples people can think of are the Amish and Mennonite communities that seal themselves off from society as much as possible and simply don't act in the face of violence or oppression. Don't get me wrong, I have a great deal of respect for the Mennonites. I know for a fact that Mennonite communities are full of the most loving, caring people on Earth, and many others will testify to their compassion for anyone who comes to their door, but the problem with this kind of pacifism is that it isn't really pacifism. All that the Amish are doing is being passive. There's no action behind their core beliefs. In reality, they're just as bad as the warmonger who seeks to wipe out whole nations, because they do nothing stop him.

As far as I can tell, Jesus didn't preach either of these ways. My pastor spoke on the subject of nonviolence this past Sunday, explaining the context of Matthew 5:38-44, and what Jesus meant when He said "Do not resist an evil person." After checking into what he said (a habit I hope every Christan would employ after the service on Sunday), I found what he said to be accurate, and I thought I would share with you what he had to say, as well as my own opinion.

Matthew 5:39; "But I tell you do no resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

This had some interesting connotations in Christ's day. In their culture, just as in some third world countries today, your right and your left hand were used for different purposes, specifically when it came to eating. You ate with your right hand, and you can imagine what you did with your left. Because of this, if someone offended you, you were only allowed to hit them with your right hand. If you hit them with your left, you could be kicked out of town for up to 10 days. It's also important to note the styles of hitting. If you backhanded someone, it was a way of saying to them "I'm better than you. You're just scum." To get backhanded was a serious insult. Christ's people, the Jews, at this time were under oppression from the Roman empire, and Roman soldiers (and other Gentiles) would often treat them with such contempt and scorn. They'd spit on them and backhand them as a way of saying "You are inferior to me."

Here's where it all connects. Since you could only hit with your right hand, and to backhand somebody was to insult them, that meant that the right cheek was getting slapped. When Christ said "turn the other cheek" it's assumed he meant to turn the left. There was only one way, then, that they could be hit, and that's with the open palm of the right hand. This was still a sign of disrespect, but on the level that you were equal with that person. When people would turn the other cheek, then, it would say to the assailant "You can try to take my dignity,my humanity, but you cannot have it. You will treat me like an equal."

Pacifism isn't a passive way of living; it's active. By being nonviolent, you're making an example of the person being violent towards you. You expose their own wrongdoing.

It's the same idea with 5:41. "If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." Roman soldiers carried around a lot of equipment in their time which could get heavy, and as a way of pushing their authority on others, they would make someone else carry their pack, just to show that they were superior, but they could only make them do it for a mile. How much would it say to that soldier if a man said to him "oh it's cool. I can take this for another mile." It's not necessarily to get them in trouble (to lie about it would go against God's commands), but it showed that soldier that no matter what he might make that person do, he won't take their dignity, won't destroy the love they have for them.

Loving our enemies is one of the most active things we can do as Christians. We can't do that by dropping bombs on them, nor can we love anyone by not doing anything. We must be active lovers as Christians. This is why I consider myself a pacifist. Now, being raised in America, I've never had much persecution to face. I'll admit this. It's easy for me to take this stance. However, we even need people promoting peace here in America, where it's our tendency to lash out against those who might try to hurt us. And this goes beyond physical harm. It means being peaceful in our speech, peaceful in everything we do. Just because I don't take a swing at someone doesn't mean I can hurt them with words, or by some other way bring them down. No, I need to be peaceful in every aspect of my life. It means so much to love our enemies, but we can't be selective in how we love them either.

Anyway, that's why I'm nonviolent.