Non-Resistance - Response to Evil

 

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The second anniversary of the Russian attempt to invade Ukraine happened earlier this month. News reporters say that some sort of agreement to end months of  hostilities in the Gaza area is imminent. These two conflicts dominate the news feed these days, but I am sure countless others around the world deserve our attention no less. I am sure I am not the only one who is wondering why this is happening and what we can do about it.

The question of why people believe weird things like God, religion and where good and evil come from came up some time ago. These questions, in turn, were rooted in still other even more fundamental questions such as where does religion come from and what is human nature. 

Those are big questions indeed and smart people have been trying to find answers for millennia, but no one has been able to so far. Some have been the subject of heated debates, but scientists are generally good natured people who have been able to keep the conversations civil only getting out of hand when crackpots and pseudoscientists have come onto the scene. That is because scientists know that science is rarely an exact science. They know that few things in the universe have yes or no or black or white answers. Almost everything is in some sort of gray zone between unknowable and ironclad. Actual scientists are constantly looking for more answers and more questions to ask. In contrast, pseudoscientists and other cult leaders have already determined what the answers are and try to impose them on everyone else.

One headline said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war so far without mention of how many civilians were also killed or injured. Other headlines report a similar number of dead in Gaza also without breaking it down in military or civilian deaths or injuries. Even without those details, those are still huge numbers. The thing is that all of them were unnecessary. Not one of them had a legitimate purpose. All of them have been rooted in evil. All of them are caused by the power of the decisions made by a very small group of people who have nothing invested in the conflict themselves. 

Count Leo Tolstoy (1828 to 1910) was a Russian author and philosopher. He is best known for books like War and Peace and Anna Karenina, but devoted the latter part of his life to answering some of those same life questions I have had. He managed to get excommunicated from the Eastern Orthodox church and probably only escaped arrest and prison for his opposition to the Czarist regime because of his popularity and reputation. 

His most significant works for our purposes during this time are What I Believe (https://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/what-I-believe-tolstoy.pdf) and The Kingdom of God is Within You (https://arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/kingdom-god-tolstoy.pdf). He explains in What I Believe how he became a believer at age fifty (that would make it 1878) and that it changed his life. 

all that stood to the right now stands to the left, and all that was to the left is now to the right

he says.

the whole aim and purpose of my life has been changed

he continues, but he could not reconcile what he read in the Bible with what was being taught by the church. He stopped relying on interpretations and focused on the Bible itself. What helped his understanding more than anything was the Sermon on the Mount, particularly Matthew 5:39 (here NIV):

But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 

To this day, Tolstoy is known for his radical pacifism. This is particularly significant in light of his service as an officer in the Czar’s army. Tolstoy corresponded with Gandhi. Even though Gandhi is also known for his non-violent approach, perhaps even more so, he was not nearly as radical as Tolstoy.

In any event, theologians, scientists of religion, have been and continue to be debating the meaning of this verse. What exactly is evil? Is it evil in general, Satan or an evil individual? I think I will go with Tolstoy’s conclusion that it turns left into right and right into left as mentioned above. 

For the purpose of this paper, the most pressing question is: What do we do about evil? The damage has already been done. The past is in the past. There is nothing we can do about that anymore. What remains is: What do we do about it going forward? What should our response be?

Alexandre Christoyannopoulos devotes space in several chapters to evil and a nonviolent response in his book Christian Anarchism based on his doctoral thesis that anarchism is inherent in Christianity. Christoyannopoulos considers Tolstoy to be the most influential of the anarchist writers. The thing is Tolstoy himself did not quite embrace the anarchist label mainly because other anarchists had become more violent during the latter part of the 19th century, a reputation that still haunts us to this day.

Christoyannopoulos concludes that the anarchist writers have vastly differing views on the subject of civil disobedience as a response to the violence of the state. The only thing they can basically agree on is this:

love of God and of one’s neighbour are the two most fundamental commandments on which the rest of the law subsequently hangs.

[Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre. Christian Anarchism . Imprint Academic. Kindle Edition.] 

In other words, it may become necessary to disobey the state to comply with these requirements. However, unless firmly anchored in this Christian belief, there is a danger that civil disobedience might itself lead to or inspire evil. Christian response to violence can never be violent.

The most powerful and profound response to evil comes from Adin Ballou, founder of the now defunct Hopedale Community in Massachusetts. He writes:

I cannot tell how I might act in such a dreadful emergency—how weak and frail I should prove. But I can tell how I ought to act—how I should wish to act.

[Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre. Christian Anarchism . Imprint Academic. Kindle Edition.] 

Then he goes on to describe how he would like to have the courage to respond to an assailant with such a Christ-like attitude that it would totally surprise and disarm him by offering him food, something to drink and a place to sleep.

Such a response might be possible with an individual, but what do you do when it’s another country attacking you? And how do we as by-standers respond to the violence of the day?

Perhaps we can begin to answer that by looking at Jesus’ own response to arrest and torture by local law enforcement of his time. Resistance would only lead to violence and bloodshed, so he healed the ear of the high priest’s servant when Peter had cut it off.

What would happen if Ukrainians had invited Russian soldiers into their homes for tea and cookies instead of showering them with bullets? No one knows for sure. It might still have been awful, but probably nothing like what actually did happen. What would happen if Israelis or Palestinians suddenly reversed course and began to obey the commandments of Jesus and respond to evil with good? For the vast majority of us that would be completely counterintuitive, but what are the chances the resulting suffering would have been far less? Most would not consider it worth the risk. Being a follower of Christ is risky business.

We Believe - New Covenant House Statement of Faith

 

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Statement of Faith

We believe that God’s will for us is the restoration of the Garden of Eden, the Kingdom of God, a New Jerusalem. 

We believe that for this to happen, we must recognize and eliminate our own selfish desires and surrender to the will of God. Love God.

We believe our purpose in life is to be a blessing for everyone else. Love one another.

What does that mean - to believe? The answers are many, but only one is right. It means that if we do as Jesus has instructed, the Kingdom of God will become reality here on Earth. No one has ever done it yet, so there is no proof this will happen. Faith is believing it will happen without proof. 

Religion

Every culture on the planet has some sort of religion. It is different from place to place and from time to time because it is shaped by the different cultures and circumstances in which it exists. 

Archeologists have found evidence of religious practices among prehistoric humans. Early burial practices seem to show that people tend to live on in the memories of other people for a while after they die. What, if anything, happens to them? Things seem to be happening without anyone causing them. How can this be? Is there some kind of causal force? 

At some point a powerful priesthood began to emerge pretending to have developed practices to somehow control or influence these forces. Someone began to assign human attributes to these invisible forces now called gods as in the Enuma Elish and Gilgamesh epics. 

Bible

The Bible is a collection of writings assembled over several thousand years and first recognized as the record of the religion practiced by a people originating in the Middle East. Its purpose is to describe the nature of God and our relationship with God. Sometimes this is done with historic accounts of events. Much of it, however, is myth, poetry and liturgy easily confused with history or facts.

God

God did not create the universe. Humans created God. In a sense God lives within each and every one of us. God is us collectively united as one. The Holy Spirit helps us discern God’s will for us as community, the church.

Jesus

Jesus was a man probably born in the region of Galilee in the northern part of modern day Israel. It was not until several decades after his death that the Gospel writers realized that something extraordinary had happened and they began to piece together and seriously embellish a new narrative. It is understandable that they did not always get the historical facts right, but the message he came to deliver is quite clear. He had a dramatically different interpretation of who God is than the religious elite of his time. He lived and practiced in a time and place of tremendous economic and political violence. His message is to surrender to the will of God and to be a blessing to all other people for a more just world.

Community

We know prehistoric hunter gatherers lived in close knit communities. The emergence of agriculture introduced competition and individual property ownership. Inequalities became the order of the day. The early Christians attempted to return to living in community with everything in common. The community of goods is a direct consequence of surrender to the will of God and to each other.

Creed (Schleitheim Confession)

The Roman Empire collapsed and by the late middle ages to early Renaissance, the power struggle between the church and the state was ruining people’s lives everywhere. Thinkers like Peter Chelcicky, Jan Hus, Jakob Hutter and many others began to speak up preaching a return to the life and practices of the early church, but their impact was limited by vigorous persecution. The only one with some lasting and widespread success was Martin Luther, but even he did not change very much.

These radical, new (old, really) ideas were recorded in the Schleitheim Confession often recognized as the beginning of Anabaptism. The Schleitheim Confession does not save us. It only helps us while we wait for the Garden to be restored. Here is how that might look like in our modern day:

    Baptism (membership)

Baptism is a choice to renounce old habits of yielding to personal desires. It is a promise to surrender to the will of God for the restoration of the Garden.

Excommunication

The promise made voluntarily as an adult is a lifetime commitment to the will of God. Insisting on breaking that promise, even after counseling, will mean a return to the broken world. Return to community can only be made by renewing the promise made to God.

Communion

Having meals together daily is one of  the most important ways we worship God. 

Separation from Evil

We do not generally participate in gatherings of non-believers. When we do, it is for the purpose of representing the Kingdom of God. We are to be an example for them to follow. We must treat them with the utmost respect, yet at a distance. We do not participate in elections or accept any kind of political or civil office.

Priesthood of Believers

Historically, hierarchy has been one of the greatest sources of conflict in the church as well as the world. Every person finds his own way to God with guidance from mentors and elders in the church.

Non-resistance

We follow Jesus' radically nonviolent response to persecution. In matters that do not prevent us from loving God and each other, we can overlook and forgive the misguided ways of the world. In matters that would violate the laws of God, such as military service, law enforcement or serving in the judiciary, we must decline to participate and accept whatever punishment we are given.

Oaths

We do not swear allegiance to any government authority. An individual may determine for him or herself if the sin of requiring us to swear an oath and testify in court proceedings can be overlooked and forgiven or not. We always tell the truth even when it is unpleasant, no oath or affirmation needed. Pointing that out serves as the example of Christian living to the world.

Parent Led and Student Centered Education

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I went to school in rural Denmark during the 60s and 70s. For me, it was a mostly good experience and I think most others felt the same way. If there was talk about serious trouble, I missed it.

I have since had the opportunity to visit my own kids' US schools as we entered the new millennium and I could not help noticing the difference and it has only gotten worse. Sometimes I wonder how so many students actually make it. It turns out that they make it, but only barely. 

According to a recent (Sept. 26, 2023) EducationWeek.com article based on a Gallup survey of 3,000 12-26 year olds, one in three describe their mental state as “poor” or “only fair.” Another survey shows that the number of students who rate their mental state as “excellent” has dropped dramatically from 55% in 2004 to only 20% in 2023. That means that a full four in five students are not thriving. They are just getting by or worse. That is alarming.

The good news is that mental health is much more prominent in daily discourse today than it was in 1960s Denmark. Conditions that passed under the radar back then are now diagnosed as such and can be treated. The trouble is that the treatment only addresses the symptoms, not the root causes and they are many. Everybody knows what they are, but turn a blind eye. 

The solution, to me, is obvious: Equip parents by giving them the resources they need to be parents and educate their children themselves to the extent they are able. For vocational and higher academic education, abandon the mega schools and encourage small cooperative schools run by parents and students together. 

Seven out of ten students say they wonder if they will be able to earn enough money to live comfortably. In the Kingdom of God that should not be a concern for anyone. If we were to work together instead of against each other, that should be entirely possible. Freed from the pressure of financial concerns, more of them will make it through to advanced learning for the benefit of everyone and reduce the need for mental health treatment at the same time. Investing in the well being and education of our most precious resource is a no-brainer. The future, not only theirs and ours, but the future of the planet, depends on it.