I envision the day soon coming, the conflict that is already imminent upon is, a vision of war and tragedy carried out by those who mourn the warring and tragic condition of the human race. Whoever it must be, let the Lord guide him. Let mine army be made of those who seek peace, let justice be enacted by those of great mercy, let violence be done by those who abhor it, and let a contrite and humble heart turn the nation back to the True and Living God, never reveling in war but seeing it through faithfully nonetheless.
If America is ripe for a Caesar, pray God would give us a Constantine.
Should I be the man upon the Lincoln Memorial steps when the dust settled, speaking to a wretched and sinful nation whom I love as a mother-hen yet also will rule with the rod for the good of their own souls, I would have but one proclamation:
“I saw the crown of America lying in the gutter of the street. I picked it up with the tip of my sword. And I now cast it at the feet of the only one worthy, the only Righteous King, the Lord Jesus Christ Almighty”.
Pray for peace my friends. But when we are engaged in a war between Good and Evil, one MUST pray for total victory.
"My kingdom is not of this world..." However, we are placed in this time and nation to do the good we can, both by calling all men to repentance and faith and by defending the weak and the powerless. We have never, and will never, have excuse not to carry out the former. We may well be approaching a time when it is necessary to carry out the latter.
Go back further to the Law of Moses. There, you will find no police or prisons whatsoever. All was semi-vigilante justice with the community adjudicating disputes according to the Law.
We are paying the price for excessive punishments for minor crimes and for letting out people who committed crimes worthy of death. We have sent storm troopers into homes at 3am in order to confiscate stashes of recreational drugs and let murderers walk free after spending some time in a cage.
Historically, we had a system of perpetual slavery for imported Africans, whereas the Law of Moses limited the term to six years maximum. We paid a price for that crime in the form of the Civil War.
But similar crimes continue in the form of our current penal system. Hebrew slaves were supposed to be treated as employees when they behaved and were not to be separated from their families. US prisons are far harsher than the punishments for property crime under the Law of Moses. And Hebrew debt/crime slaves were to be granted significant capital upon release.
As Christians, we are supposed to do some forgiving, to sometimes forgo the retribution/restitution allowed under the Law given to Moses.
What the Woke Left is doing is a perverted form of what we on the Christian Right should have already done.
The reason we no longer respond to criminal acts with vigilantism has nothing to do with Christian notions of forgiveness. It's because the polity described in the Mosaic Law doesn't contemplate a strong, centralized system of governmental sovereignty capable of assuming responsibility for seeing justice done.
Police don't exist to protect helpless citizens from bloodthirsty criminals, but to protect individual criminals from righteously aggrieved, capable citizens meting out justice on the fly. This has nothing to do with forgiveness and everything to do with minimizing the risk of blood feuds emerging as a result of "self-help."
Sort of? I mean, clan heads could presumably see to it that nobody took action for the clan without their say-so. But if one clan had a beef with another, it's not as if anyone else had any business interfering. There were the Cities of Refuge, yes, but that's basically it.
Jesus was the Prince of Peace, but when money changers and merchants defiled the Temple he used violence.
The blasphemy of the Olympic ceremony was an example of this kind of desecration, and a violent response would be justified.
Jesus told His friends to sell their cloak if necessary to buy a sword. And AFTER Peter used the sword He told Peter that he’d done enough.
I come away with the lesson that violence is justified under restraint and within limits. We should use measured force to defend God’s glory in its multiple forms.
I think you hit the nail on the head.. growing inequality, unfairness, again and again.
It builds up and finally even the most peaceful human being can't help but get fed up.
Saw a meme yesterday, poke that dog with a stick, threaten it's pups, corner it and it will bite... then of course we blame the dog, knowing it was a bad animal to begin with...
Years and years of abuse, most people do not even realize why they are so frustrated and so angry and often that anger comes out sideways because we have been indoctrinated to be quiet, to not speak up, to not call a spade a spade.
De- escalate is always my first choice, step away, especially with misplaced anger or unstable ( inebriated or otherwise compromised ) individuals.
This seemingly global feeling of frustration, disorientation seems like warfare of sorts.. many have called it biblical and I agree.
The vaxxing and medicating is another indicator that things are not what they should be.
There seem to be 3 different camps... the totally unaware, those that are aware, that sit back and watch ( possibly prepare and try to raise awareness ) and those that are mindlessly acting out not aware of their actions at all or the consequences that will follow.
I hope that I will do Gods will, if and when the time would come.
Thank you! This was medicine for my heart. I am praying that God will make the way forward clear and that he will raise up the right people in the right places and time.
I love the spirit of this and the metaphor of the water mill, (which sounds familiar so if it is one of your own devising then take my purported familiarity as an indication of its excellence). In essay after essay on Substack and elsewhere we keep coming back to the same foundational principle: without God and our willingness to humble ourselves before a higher spiritual authority connecting each of us to each other and all of us to our higher selves and our Creator, we are nothing and degrade to our worst selves. If our leaders and the social paradigms that allow them are without God, which they obviously are, then, as your citation from Paul makes clear, they have no authority and are not fit for purpose. This in the end will be their undoing. Outstanding writing - thank you.
Thank you very much. The mill is organic political life. It is powered by faith, and it produces ordered peace. The leader who can harness that, a promise of a just social order under God, that would be powerful.
Very logical way of looking at it, I really liked this essay. To say I dislike violence is to state the obvious, yet it is never too far from Celtic-French minds for some reason as a solution of inter-national talks and such. We may like politeness but we're I'm afraid terribly barbarous in some ways (je parler sincerement), so that I wonder if this sort of law-code or thinking especially that of Justinian might work best for us.
That said, my uncertainty about my own people aside, what I like is how utterly logical and wise this essay is. I think as someone who has an abhorrence for violence on a personal level it pushes a more 'community' fraternal energy so to speak, a more communal perspective which we in this terribly divided age need more of. I hate collectivism but cannot help but think community is something we need to write more positively of these days. Too often people perceive them as interchangeable (maybe that could be the subject of a future essay of yours? I'd love to know your thoughts on it Librarian!).
That said, I think this sort of Justice is making a return, though the governments try to stop it. They've lost a great deal of control in the cities, have none in the countryside and with police on the retreat these days in larger countries such as France, USA, Canada and even some small ones like Ireland and Japan, vigilante justice so to speak will only become more common. Don't know where it will end up, I only hope to never have to deal with it (wishful thinking I imagine). Violence reduces us to our bare instincts as Justin Daws so eloquently puts it, and I truly mourn the loss of the rule of law even as I recognize that 'Natural Law' is making a return. Hopefully things will turn out well one never knows (one must remain optimistic).
Sorry for the rambling post, just hard to reply intelligently to such a topic, it can be both depressing and also enlightening to read such things. Oh and it was interesting seeing you reference the always fascinating Justinian.
"We may like politeness but we're I'm afraid terribly barbarous in some ways (je parler sincerement), so that I wonder if this sort of law-code or thinking especially that of Justinian might work best for us."
When politeness is used to avoid addressing evil it is perverse.
Which is why I’m very proud of my people, they’ve never shied away from doing exactly as you said. We Celts (Irish, Scots & Francais) are a stubborn breed who like to tackle evil head on.
I’m a Italian American, but I have every respect for both the Irish and English for getting out there and letting people know that it’s not OK for people to come here and stab our children.
Seeing you are very knowledgable about Japan, why did you put it in a smaller countries category? It's really curious to me.
And on the other note: I think building community of neighbours and frens from your locality cannot be conflated with collectivism. Also, seeing migrants in groups, or for that matter, any larger group even of teenagers, makes you realize that no justice can be served by a single man against the group.
In that sense I and some of my friend have been looking for ways to bulid a real community of friends that would help us in many ways, one of them being better able to confront injustices.
It’s hard to believe we can escape judgment when I think of all we are guilty of as a nation, but for God’s grace we wouldn’t have made it this far. Your point about the legitimacy of this government is so right. The power given to them is meant to restrain evil, and they use it to perpetuate chaos. I thought you were on the way to making the case for our revolutionary forefathers who understood that a peaceful resolution was not possible. Sometimes you have to fight, but only after you have inquired of the Lord.
War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend; the city of the men of [America]; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom.
On a less-theocratic level, let’s look at the concept of “self-government.”
The People are sovereign
The People hire hirelings to represent what The People want as laws: legislators
The People hire executives as hirelings to enforce the laws of The People
The People delegate to the executive hirelings the authority to enforce the laws of The People
The RESPONSIBILITY (which cannot be delegated) to enforce the laws of The People, if those to whom enforcement authority is delegated refuse that delegation, the responsibility for enforcement remains with The People.
Many will erroneously call this “vigilantism;” it is not. It is accepting the responsibility of a self-governing polity.
Thought-provoking essay. The predicament is objectively and universally defining evil. If everyone believes himself to be good and everyone else to be evil, eternal conflict is inevitable.
The last bit about our current crises being the West's punishment for our various sins really hit home for me, and I've been thinking something very similar for a while. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that sin is death, and the punishment for sin is often more sin. Since we in the West have largely abandoned Christianity, our state will continue to worsen until we either repent and return to God (the Kingdom of Juda), or we are destroyed by our own vices and neuroses (the Kingdom of Israel). As the Prophet Isaiah says:
"Go then, said he, and give a message to this people of mine: Listen as you will, but ever without understanding; watch all, and nothing perceive! Thy office is to dull the hearts of this people of mine, deaden their ears, dazzle their eyes, so that they cannot see with those eyes, hear with those ears, understand with that heart, and turn back to me, and win healing. For how long, Lord? I asked. And he said, Till the cities are left unpeopled, and the houses untenanted, and the whole land a wilderness. The Lord will send its people into exile far away; wider, ever wider desolation must spread over it. Though a tenth of their number remain, it is but empty show, like leafage of terebinth or oak that needs pruning; only a remnant of it will be left, the true stock of holiness." - Isaiah 6: 9-13.
“There is indeed a positive Christian duty to resist evil.”
In direct conflict with Jesus’s teaching “Resist not evil.” It’s not that we should allow evil to take control, but that resistance creates more of what is being resisted against, as you note in your commentary on violence. If we are to resort to violence, then it ought only ever be to protect life. Not to resist evil.
But there is an obvious first recourse that no one is seriously considering: Stop paying for evil. When we look around and see what our governments have done with our money, we can each stop pretending that some shadowy “they” are the evildoers and we can take that mantle on ourselves. Through apathy or through fear of consequences or through wanting something for nothing, we have all contributed our share to this evil. We could repent: have a change of heart/mind and correct our error by immediately refusing to pay for evil. But no one is courageous enough to do it unless they are sure they will be in the majority. We would apparently rather resort first to war.
And in other places it does say to resist evil. Christ was referring to the Roman occupation as "evil". The context makes that obvious. It is not a blanket exhortation not to resist evil. Christ also told His apostles to arm themselves with swords after the Last Supper. It's in Luke, look it up. He also cleansed the temple. Sounds like resistance to evil to me. Context is everything.
Let’s suppose that what you say is true, that He was talking about the Roman occupation. I don’t think that’s the only way to interpret it, given the context, but let’s just say for the sake of argument it is true. Is there any force in the world currently, any institution, nation, or empire perhaps, that would be an equivalent of the Roman Empire, doing the same things it did?
A saying of Jesus on which His supposed pacifism is based is found in Matthew 5:39a. It is usually translated, “Do not resist evil,” or “Do not resist one who is evil.” However, when Jesus’ saying is translated back into Hebrew, it is seen to be a quotation of a well-known Hebrew proverb that appears with slight variations in the Psalms and Proverbs:
Psalms 37:1
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong
Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
Proverbs 24:19
Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked.
But did Jesus teach that it is wrong to defend oneself against attack? Did he really mean that we should not resist evil? Such a view seems to contradict what we read elsewhere in the Bible. In Romans 12:9, for example, Paul says that one should “hate what is evil,” and in James 4:7 we read that we are to “resist the devil.” No, as we related above, "Do not resist evil." in this context must necessarily mean "Do not resist the Roman Occupation".
The entire scope of Christian pacifism is nothing more than the heresy of Marcion reasserting itself periodically. The core of Marcion's teaching which led him to Gnosticism, was his pacifism. This caused him to reject the God of the Old Testament and to profoundly redact the New Testament, all with an eye to excluding anything seemingly approving of violence. This was condemned as a heresy in the second century.
If I read you correctly, you would limit violence only to saving life. Not sure where that standard comes from. "Not resisting evil" as an across the board standard sounds quite a bit like ahimsa. At least that's what Ghandi thought.
You are confusing violence with resistance. Violence can be done as an act of evil, an act of resistance against evil, or it can be an act of protection of what is good. There are no hard and fast rules, but generally it seems that self-defense or defense of others in the midst of a present violent attack is the sort of violence that is an act of protection. While any initiatory act of violence is either evil itself, or resisting evil, which amount to roughly the same thing. My point was that I don’t think we find ourselves at the point of deciding whether it is time to resort to violence unless we have stopped contributing to the evil first.
If you are talking about America, there is no occupied ethno-political entity like the Judeans were in the Roman Empire. Again, if you consider Israel as simply an extension of the America empire, then Palestine would fit. But I’m generally pro-Palestinian. In concert with the “axis of resistance”, I do not see their cause as futile.
As to your point regarding a power analogous at present to Rome, I would have to say that the State of Israel itself might be considered such a power by its Palestinian Christian minority. Of course, the Muslims have a different ethic. And the dynamic depends on whether liberation is practicable. The Jews of Jesus' day could not throw off the Roman yoke and every effort was bloody and futile. If a battle cannot be won, don't fight it. Love your enemy (the Romans, that is) and it will be as casting burning coals on their heads. Takes the fun out of oppression.
At some point I like to think I would consider not contributing to evil to be more important than maintaining an illusion of security. In fact, I think that point is drawing very near for me personally.
Absolute banger by my favorite substack writer.
I envision the day soon coming, the conflict that is already imminent upon is, a vision of war and tragedy carried out by those who mourn the warring and tragic condition of the human race. Whoever it must be, let the Lord guide him. Let mine army be made of those who seek peace, let justice be enacted by those of great mercy, let violence be done by those who abhor it, and let a contrite and humble heart turn the nation back to the True and Living God, never reveling in war but seeing it through faithfully nonetheless.
If America is ripe for a Caesar, pray God would give us a Constantine.
Should I be the man upon the Lincoln Memorial steps when the dust settled, speaking to a wretched and sinful nation whom I love as a mother-hen yet also will rule with the rod for the good of their own souls, I would have but one proclamation:
“I saw the crown of America lying in the gutter of the street. I picked it up with the tip of my sword. And I now cast it at the feet of the only one worthy, the only Righteous King, the Lord Jesus Christ Almighty”.
Pray for peace my friends. But when we are engaged in a war between Good and Evil, one MUST pray for total victory.
This comment got my blood going, brother. Beautifully written.
"My kingdom is not of this world..." However, we are placed in this time and nation to do the good we can, both by calling all men to repentance and faith and by defending the weak and the powerless. We have never, and will never, have excuse not to carry out the former. We may well be approaching a time when it is necessary to carry out the latter.
Amen, brother.
Go back further to the Law of Moses. There, you will find no police or prisons whatsoever. All was semi-vigilante justice with the community adjudicating disputes according to the Law.
We are paying the price for excessive punishments for minor crimes and for letting out people who committed crimes worthy of death. We have sent storm troopers into homes at 3am in order to confiscate stashes of recreational drugs and let murderers walk free after spending some time in a cage.
Historically, we had a system of perpetual slavery for imported Africans, whereas the Law of Moses limited the term to six years maximum. We paid a price for that crime in the form of the Civil War.
But similar crimes continue in the form of our current penal system. Hebrew slaves were supposed to be treated as employees when they behaved and were not to be separated from their families. US prisons are far harsher than the punishments for property crime under the Law of Moses. And Hebrew debt/crime slaves were to be granted significant capital upon release.
As Christians, we are supposed to do some forgiving, to sometimes forgo the retribution/restitution allowed under the Law given to Moses.
What the Woke Left is doing is a perverted form of what we on the Christian Right should have already done.
The reason we no longer respond to criminal acts with vigilantism has nothing to do with Christian notions of forgiveness. It's because the polity described in the Mosaic Law doesn't contemplate a strong, centralized system of governmental sovereignty capable of assuming responsibility for seeing justice done.
Police don't exist to protect helpless citizens from bloodthirsty criminals, but to protect individual criminals from righteously aggrieved, capable citizens meting out justice on the fly. This has nothing to do with forgiveness and everything to do with minimizing the risk of blood feuds emerging as a result of "self-help."
Notice the "semi". There were dampers on blood feuds in the Law of Moses.
Yeah, but clans were still basically responsible for seeking justice for wrongs done to their members and fully entitled to do so.
Yes, but the community gave or withheld permission for such action.
BTW, the notion of calling the police while a crime is occurring wasn't all that practical until the invention of the telephone.
Sort of? I mean, clan heads could presumably see to it that nobody took action for the clan without their say-so. But if one clan had a beef with another, it's not as if anyone else had any business interfering. There were the Cities of Refuge, yes, but that's basically it.
💜 it's most likely evil, not left or right because entropy is basically an excuse for evil doing.🧠🤔
Whereas the righteous recognizes.
Jesus was the Prince of Peace, but when money changers and merchants defiled the Temple he used violence.
The blasphemy of the Olympic ceremony was an example of this kind of desecration, and a violent response would be justified.
Jesus told His friends to sell their cloak if necessary to buy a sword. And AFTER Peter used the sword He told Peter that he’d done enough.
I come away with the lesson that violence is justified under restraint and within limits. We should use measured force to defend God’s glory in its multiple forms.
When unavoidable bad violence comes at you, then good violence can be an answer. Simple.
I think you hit the nail on the head.. growing inequality, unfairness, again and again.
It builds up and finally even the most peaceful human being can't help but get fed up.
Saw a meme yesterday, poke that dog with a stick, threaten it's pups, corner it and it will bite... then of course we blame the dog, knowing it was a bad animal to begin with...
Years and years of abuse, most people do not even realize why they are so frustrated and so angry and often that anger comes out sideways because we have been indoctrinated to be quiet, to not speak up, to not call a spade a spade.
De- escalate is always my first choice, step away, especially with misplaced anger or unstable ( inebriated or otherwise compromised ) individuals.
This seemingly global feeling of frustration, disorientation seems like warfare of sorts.. many have called it biblical and I agree.
The vaxxing and medicating is another indicator that things are not what they should be.
There seem to be 3 different camps... the totally unaware, those that are aware, that sit back and watch ( possibly prepare and try to raise awareness ) and those that are mindlessly acting out not aware of their actions at all or the consequences that will follow.
I hope that I will do Gods will, if and when the time would come.
I certainly do not have the answers.
There is very much an air of foreboding around us.
💯👍
Thank you! This was medicine for my heart. I am praying that God will make the way forward clear and that he will raise up the right people in the right places and time.
I love the spirit of this and the metaphor of the water mill, (which sounds familiar so if it is one of your own devising then take my purported familiarity as an indication of its excellence). In essay after essay on Substack and elsewhere we keep coming back to the same foundational principle: without God and our willingness to humble ourselves before a higher spiritual authority connecting each of us to each other and all of us to our higher selves and our Creator, we are nothing and degrade to our worst selves. If our leaders and the social paradigms that allow them are without God, which they obviously are, then, as your citation from Paul makes clear, they have no authority and are not fit for purpose. This in the end will be their undoing. Outstanding writing - thank you.
Thank you very much. The mill is organic political life. It is powered by faith, and it produces ordered peace. The leader who can harness that, a promise of a just social order under God, that would be powerful.
Very logical way of looking at it, I really liked this essay. To say I dislike violence is to state the obvious, yet it is never too far from Celtic-French minds for some reason as a solution of inter-national talks and such. We may like politeness but we're I'm afraid terribly barbarous in some ways (je parler sincerement), so that I wonder if this sort of law-code or thinking especially that of Justinian might work best for us.
That said, my uncertainty about my own people aside, what I like is how utterly logical and wise this essay is. I think as someone who has an abhorrence for violence on a personal level it pushes a more 'community' fraternal energy so to speak, a more communal perspective which we in this terribly divided age need more of. I hate collectivism but cannot help but think community is something we need to write more positively of these days. Too often people perceive them as interchangeable (maybe that could be the subject of a future essay of yours? I'd love to know your thoughts on it Librarian!).
That said, I think this sort of Justice is making a return, though the governments try to stop it. They've lost a great deal of control in the cities, have none in the countryside and with police on the retreat these days in larger countries such as France, USA, Canada and even some small ones like Ireland and Japan, vigilante justice so to speak will only become more common. Don't know where it will end up, I only hope to never have to deal with it (wishful thinking I imagine). Violence reduces us to our bare instincts as Justin Daws so eloquently puts it, and I truly mourn the loss of the rule of law even as I recognize that 'Natural Law' is making a return. Hopefully things will turn out well one never knows (one must remain optimistic).
Sorry for the rambling post, just hard to reply intelligently to such a topic, it can be both depressing and also enlightening to read such things. Oh and it was interesting seeing you reference the always fascinating Justinian.
"We may like politeness but we're I'm afraid terribly barbarous in some ways (je parler sincerement), so that I wonder if this sort of law-code or thinking especially that of Justinian might work best for us."
When politeness is used to avoid addressing evil it is perverse.
Which is why I’m very proud of my people, they’ve never shied away from doing exactly as you said. We Celts (Irish, Scots & Francais) are a stubborn breed who like to tackle evil head on.
I’m a Italian American, but I have every respect for both the Irish and English for getting out there and letting people know that it’s not OK for people to come here and stab our children.
They’ve lost control because they’ve lost legitimacy.
Or vice versa.
Well said
Seeing you are very knowledgable about Japan, why did you put it in a smaller countries category? It's really curious to me.
And on the other note: I think building community of neighbours and frens from your locality cannot be conflated with collectivism. Also, seeing migrants in groups, or for that matter, any larger group even of teenagers, makes you realize that no justice can be served by a single man against the group.
In that sense I and some of my friend have been looking for ways to bulid a real community of friends that would help us in many ways, one of them being better able to confront injustices.
Good point, its just I was comparing Japan with say America in size.
Sir - I encourage you to use Hero of the City Daniel Penny's honorific when mentioning him.
That is entirely appropriate.
It’s hard to believe we can escape judgment when I think of all we are guilty of as a nation, but for God’s grace we wouldn’t have made it this far. Your point about the legitimacy of this government is so right. The power given to them is meant to restrain evil, and they use it to perpetuate chaos. I thought you were on the way to making the case for our revolutionary forefathers who understood that a peaceful resolution was not possible. Sometimes you have to fight, but only after you have inquired of the Lord.
War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend; the city of the men of [America]; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom.
On a less-theocratic level, let’s look at the concept of “self-government.”
The People are sovereign
The People hire hirelings to represent what The People want as laws: legislators
The People hire executives as hirelings to enforce the laws of The People
The People delegate to the executive hirelings the authority to enforce the laws of The People
The RESPONSIBILITY (which cannot be delegated) to enforce the laws of The People, if those to whom enforcement authority is delegated refuse that delegation, the responsibility for enforcement remains with The People.
Many will erroneously call this “vigilantism;” it is not. It is accepting the responsibility of a self-governing polity.
Thought-provoking essay. The predicament is objectively and universally defining evil. If everyone believes himself to be good and everyone else to be evil, eternal conflict is inevitable.
The last bit about our current crises being the West's punishment for our various sins really hit home for me, and I've been thinking something very similar for a while. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that sin is death, and the punishment for sin is often more sin. Since we in the West have largely abandoned Christianity, our state will continue to worsen until we either repent and return to God (the Kingdom of Juda), or we are destroyed by our own vices and neuroses (the Kingdom of Israel). As the Prophet Isaiah says:
"Go then, said he, and give a message to this people of mine: Listen as you will, but ever without understanding; watch all, and nothing perceive! Thy office is to dull the hearts of this people of mine, deaden their ears, dazzle their eyes, so that they cannot see with those eyes, hear with those ears, understand with that heart, and turn back to me, and win healing. For how long, Lord? I asked. And he said, Till the cities are left unpeopled, and the houses untenanted, and the whole land a wilderness. The Lord will send its people into exile far away; wider, ever wider desolation must spread over it. Though a tenth of their number remain, it is but empty show, like leafage of terebinth or oak that needs pruning; only a remnant of it will be left, the true stock of holiness." - Isaiah 6: 9-13.
There’s always a chance to repent, and hope for the sake of a remnant.
To Everything There is a Season
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
“There is indeed a positive Christian duty to resist evil.”
In direct conflict with Jesus’s teaching “Resist not evil.” It’s not that we should allow evil to take control, but that resistance creates more of what is being resisted against, as you note in your commentary on violence. If we are to resort to violence, then it ought only ever be to protect life. Not to resist evil.
But there is an obvious first recourse that no one is seriously considering: Stop paying for evil. When we look around and see what our governments have done with our money, we can each stop pretending that some shadowy “they” are the evildoers and we can take that mantle on ourselves. Through apathy or through fear of consequences or through wanting something for nothing, we have all contributed our share to this evil. We could repent: have a change of heart/mind and correct our error by immediately refusing to pay for evil. But no one is courageous enough to do it unless they are sure they will be in the majority. We would apparently rather resort first to war.
And in other places it does say to resist evil. Christ was referring to the Roman occupation as "evil". The context makes that obvious. It is not a blanket exhortation not to resist evil. Christ also told His apostles to arm themselves with swords after the Last Supper. It's in Luke, look it up. He also cleansed the temple. Sounds like resistance to evil to me. Context is everything.
Let’s suppose that what you say is true, that He was talking about the Roman occupation. I don’t think that’s the only way to interpret it, given the context, but let’s just say for the sake of argument it is true. Is there any force in the world currently, any institution, nation, or empire perhaps, that would be an equivalent of the Roman Empire, doing the same things it did?
A saying of Jesus on which His supposed pacifism is based is found in Matthew 5:39a. It is usually translated, “Do not resist evil,” or “Do not resist one who is evil.” However, when Jesus’ saying is translated back into Hebrew, it is seen to be a quotation of a well-known Hebrew proverb that appears with slight variations in the Psalms and Proverbs:
Psalms 37:1
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong
Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
Proverbs 24:19
Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked.
But did Jesus teach that it is wrong to defend oneself against attack? Did he really mean that we should not resist evil? Such a view seems to contradict what we read elsewhere in the Bible. In Romans 12:9, for example, Paul says that one should “hate what is evil,” and in James 4:7 we read that we are to “resist the devil.” No, as we related above, "Do not resist evil." in this context must necessarily mean "Do not resist the Roman Occupation".
The entire scope of Christian pacifism is nothing more than the heresy of Marcion reasserting itself periodically. The core of Marcion's teaching which led him to Gnosticism, was his pacifism. This caused him to reject the God of the Old Testament and to profoundly redact the New Testament, all with an eye to excluding anything seemingly approving of violence. This was condemned as a heresy in the second century.
Reread my initial comment. I haven’t said anything about pacifism.
If I read you correctly, you would limit violence only to saving life. Not sure where that standard comes from. "Not resisting evil" as an across the board standard sounds quite a bit like ahimsa. At least that's what Ghandi thought.
You are confusing violence with resistance. Violence can be done as an act of evil, an act of resistance against evil, or it can be an act of protection of what is good. There are no hard and fast rules, but generally it seems that self-defense or defense of others in the midst of a present violent attack is the sort of violence that is an act of protection. While any initiatory act of violence is either evil itself, or resisting evil, which amount to roughly the same thing. My point was that I don’t think we find ourselves at the point of deciding whether it is time to resort to violence unless we have stopped contributing to the evil first.
If you are talking about America, there is no occupied ethno-political entity like the Judeans were in the Roman Empire. Again, if you consider Israel as simply an extension of the America empire, then Palestine would fit. But I’m generally pro-Palestinian. In concert with the “axis of resistance”, I do not see their cause as futile.
As to your point regarding a power analogous at present to Rome, I would have to say that the State of Israel itself might be considered such a power by its Palestinian Christian minority. Of course, the Muslims have a different ethic. And the dynamic depends on whether liberation is practicable. The Jews of Jesus' day could not throw off the Roman yoke and every effort was bloody and futile. If a battle cannot be won, don't fight it. Love your enemy (the Romans, that is) and it will be as casting burning coals on their heads. Takes the fun out of oppression.
Yes, cutting the money supply is key, but try not paying your taxes and see what would happen. Homeless or in jail.
At some point I like to think I would consider not contributing to evil to be more important than maintaining an illusion of security. In fact, I think that point is drawing very near for me personally.
You make a good point.