Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way
A month ago I reviewed a book by a humanitarian-turned-Navy-SEAL. I included a poignant part of his conclusion:
The world, I believe, is not constructed so that it presents us with perfect choices. I’d joined the military, in part, because I saw that to protect the innocent, we have to be willing to fight.
I can’t say that after reading and reflecting on the book I’m anywhere closer to leaving the humanitarian world to join the military in order to defend the oppressed, but as I wrote, I really appreciate and respect the intellectual process he articulated as well as the discipline he demonstrated as he sought to use force to protect the vulnerable.
Here, now, is a review of a book strikingly different yet strangely similar. It’s different in the sense that the author espouses nonviolence, rather than military intervention. It’s similar in that both authors are nuanced and take into consideration the complexity of the real world in which we make our difficult, at times agonizing, decisions about right and wrong and good and evil.
This second book is Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way by Walter Wink. He’s a fairly well known mainline Christian professor, author and speaker who coined the phrase "the myth of redemptive violence," which has been expanded upon in books by influential Christian pacifists like Shane Claiborne, Greg Boyd and others. On the pro-war/anti-war continuum, Wink leans strongly anti. But he’s not a pacifist. The way of Jesus, according to Wink, simply doesn’t fit neatly into our natural, polarizing categories. He writes:
There are three general responses to evil: (1) passivity, (2) violent opposition, and (3) the third way of militant nonviolence articulated by Jesus. Human evolution has conditioned us for only the first two of these responses: flight or fight.
“Militant nonviolence” is an interesting -- and rather provocative -- choice of words. What he articulates in the book might be better understood as “creative” or “active” nonviolence. All too often, he writes, Christians claim to favor nonviolence but what they really mean is that they favor an absence of conflict. Withdrawing from conflict or claiming neutrality in cases of oppression or abuse, however, doesn’t serve the oppressed and abused. It enables the perpetrator to further oppress and do injury. At the same time,
Violence simply is not radical enough, since it generally changes only the rulers but not the rules. What use is a revolution that fails to address the fundamental problem: the existence of domination in all its forms, and the myth of redemptive violence that perpetuates it?
Wink doesn’t rule out violence altogether, though. Instead, he writes,
[E]ven if I am committed to nonviolence, I may find myself in a situation where I am not able to find a creative, third way, and must choose between the lesser of two violences, two guilts. Even then, however, it is not a question of justifying the violence. I simply must, as Bonhoeffer did, take on myself the guilt and cast myself on the mercy of God. But in a situation of extreme oppression, it is far better that we act violently than let our fear of sin and guilt paralyze us into no act at all. I cannot even be sure that my nonviolent acts are just, or right, or willed by God.
It’s this humility and honesty that I love most about Wink's book, and though the Navy SEAL I referenced earlier wasn’t necessarily writing as a Christian, he demonstrated these often-rare traits as well. I really like Wink’s conclusion, and I think he's right that the Third Way is the better way:
Many people have not aspired to Jesus’ Third Way because it has been presented to them as absolute pacifism, a life-commitment to nonviolence in principle, with no exceptions. They are neither sure that they can hold fast to its principles in every situation nor sure that they have the saintliness to overcome their own inner violence. Perhaps a more traditional Christian approach would make more sense. We know that nonviolence is the New Testament pattern. We can commit ourselves to following Jesus’ way as best we can. We know we are weak and will probably fail. But we also know that God loves and forgives us and sets us back on our feet after every failure and defeat.
Rethinking naughty and nice
When sipping egg nog and conjuring up childhood Christmas memories this time of year, our minds may eventually drift to Santa’s mysterious omniscience, demonstrated most fearfully in that perennial “naughty and nice� list of his that made all of us shudder at least a little bit at one time or another as kids. He knew what we deserved and he’d reward us accordingly: fun toys for the nice, lumps of coal for the naughty.
Fortunately, this has nothing to do with Christmas, as Jesus’ modus operandi with us has always been grace. Nonetheless, one faith-based group is fighting to keep the list around in an effort to “save Christmas.� The Liberty Counsel, “a nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the family,� has picked up Santa’s flak for the eighth year in a row by releasing its updated “Naughty and Nice� list as part of its “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign.�
Growing up, I always had a hunch that Santa’s naughty and nice lists had to do with whether I was pulling my sister’s hair too often or talking back at my parents or accusing the kid next door of some mischief I’d gotten myself into. It never occurred to me that Santa would take issue with me for not referring to the month of December in religious terms. But that’s precisely the criteria this new list employs.
In effect, the campaign urges consumers to only shop at stores that refer to this holiday season using Christian language. It’s simple: generic references to “holidays� make one naughty; specific references to “Christmas� make one nice. Further, we’re encouraged to tattle on the proverbial neighbor kids who acknowledge the demographic and religious plurality of the country. Our tattling, Lord willing, will shame them into capitulating to our fervent religious whims. The campaign has reportedly been a tremendous success, and just this year Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods have joined the ranks of those convinced to use Christmas terminology in their marketing strategies. LC cites this as indisputable progress in “saving Christmas.�
As a Christian, I celebrate Christmas. I call it what it is, and I enjoy its festivities immensely. For me, it’s the richest time of the year. I’m thankful that I have the freedom to celebrate it however I like and I enjoy the added bonus of being surrounded by many who celebrate it as well.
So, why the fuss? Well, call me Scrooge, but I’m convinced that the “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign� is a distraction at best, and destructive at worst.
It is a distraction in that the real threat to Christmas is not that secular entities and non-Christian individuals prefer to use other, more inclusive terms for a season that does in fact include various holidays (Christian and otherwise), but that Christians have often and in many ways failed to embody the true meaning and the message of the season. Christians throughout history have marked the season of Advent -- the four weeks leading up to Christmas -- as a time of anticipation for the coming of the King who was born in a barn as a Jew in an occupied country, who became a refugee as a toddler a short time later and would go on to offer salvation to anyone poor enough to accept it freely. To suggest that his agenda was to make sure Wal-Mart included “Christ� in neon letters on Black Friday would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic. As it is, it’s a distraction from what Christians are to be celebrating -- and inviting others to experience -- this time of year.
Beyond being a distraction, though, the campaign is destructive to the extent that it serves to further cement us in cycles of consumerism, which leads to all sorts of injustice. If Christians are to insist on a “naughty and nice� list, would it not follow that the list would take into consideration whether retailers support slavery, oppression and unjust wages or offer men and women the opportunity to work with dignity? Whether retailers’ profits rely on the destruction of the lives, communities and ecosystems of those already on the margins of society, or whether their business practices demonstrate a commitment to sacrifice some profits now and then if that’s what it takes to truly make the world a more just place where children can grow up healthy and strong?
Long before the virgin birth and the manger and the swaddling clothes -- and before the one-horse open sleigh dashing through the snow, for that matter -- the prophet Isaiah warned the people of God that religious festivals devoid of justice were unbearable to God. God was turning away, covering his eyes. In fact, Isaiah said, God hated these well-intentioned religious celebrations with the totality of his being. Why? Not because of anything those outside the community of faith were doing or because the faithful weren’t properly festive, but because those identifying themselves as the people of God had blood on their hands. I shudder to think, in light of today’s ominous headlines in our ever-connected world, of all the ways in which that warning still applies.
The good news then and the good news now is that it doesn’t have to be this way. God enables and invites us to change:
Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!
Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
“Come now, let us reason together,� says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.�
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
In other words, there is a “naughty and nice� list after all. The criteria are clear, though, and it’s not too late. There’s still time to keep Christ in Christmas.
The Other Half
I've admired the work of Nicholas Kristof, columnist for the New York Times, for quite a while. I appreciate his tireless work of speaking up like few can about the plight of the poor and oppressed. It was only a matter of time, then, before I got around to reading the recent bestseller he wrote with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn. It's called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.
The book is excellently written, as one might expect from a Pulitzer Prize-winning duo, but that doesn't mean it's easy to read. The stories of unthinkable hardship endured by women are sobering, if not depressing. The scope of the problem is immense, from sex trafficking to honor killings to rape to an utter lack of opportunity in decision-making at times in even the smallest matters. But fortunately, we're presented with examples - though often small, isolated, and under-funded - of remarkable women making a real difference within their spheres of influence.
I am grateful for the contribution this book makes and it's quite encouraging to me that in an era of books like Twilight and I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, a book of substance about difficult but important matters becomes a national bestseller. I hope millions more read it.
But I do have a couple of criticisms. The title comes from the Chinese proverb, "Women hold up half the sky." And of course it's an overdue thing to focus a book like this on the half of the world population that is, to a greater or lesser extent, largely oppressed. But while it's not at all politically correct to do so, I have to wonder, what about those who hold up the other half of the sky? The contributions that women can and do make to society are legion, and it's undeniable in the field of international development and aid that women have an exponentially better track record in many areas. It's no accident that the vast majority of microloan recipients in developing nations, for instance, are women.
But borrowing from the pages of groundbreaking Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, the oppressors need liberation just as much as the oppressed. Indeed, history has repeatedly shown that when oppressed peoples "rise up" in a revolution of any sort, it's not all that surprising when the tables turn, the roles reverse, and we're left not with peace and justice but with nothing more than a new set of oppressors and oppressed. We need to do better than that. So, as a matter of principle, I wish Kristof and WuDunn would have focused a bit more on what it might look like for men and women to begin holding up the sky together, cooperatively, with mutual respect. As it is, very little is said about the role men should play in the world they envision. (Interestingly, I should add, the tagline on the book website reads, "Women aren't the problem, they're the solution along with men." Perhaps since publication they have given mutuality some additional thought.)
There's another sense in which the book fails - or paradoxically illustrates - its moniker. As one who grew up in Latin America and whose work involves a daily analysis of media coverage of world events, it is clear to me that Latin America doesn't get a sliver of the attention it deserves. Apart from beheadings in Mexico and the latest inflammatory sound bites from Chavez, one is consistently hard-pressed to find out through traditional media what's taking place south of the United States on the American continent. Kristof and WuDunn, unfortunately, don't help matters. The stories of oppression and opportunity they tell are largely from Africa and Asia, with a few examples from the Middle East and the very occasional reference to Latin America. So if you're interested in those who hold up the sky in the western half of the world, you'll have to look elsewhere, and I'm warning you now: it might take some work.
All things considered, however, Half the Sky is excellent, challenging, at times sickening, eventually inspiring, and all around quite important.
For more: http://www.halftheskymovement.org/
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