It is amazing how entrenched Christianity and partisan politics are with one another. What struck me the most from this weeks session, was the idea of “protecting” the in group of Christianity. We see a lot of language in Christian circles about persecution, the need to defend, and the idea of the U.S as a Christian nation slipping away. What was most troubling was the notion that millions of americans would resort to violence to defend these ideals and that many folks are harboring views of extremism.
This week I was reflecting on the problem that occurs when partisan politics becomes married to religion. We have seen a history of dangers associated with this. In Constantine’s day, though Christianity become legalized and prophesed, Constantine bent the truth of Christianity to fulfill his own agenda. We have also seen the ramifications of the crusades, holy wars, which contributed to genocide of whole peoples under the guise of Christianity and holy justification.
This week, Elizabeth Neumann reminded us that “violence is never a solution” and that we need a faith committed to resilience. Working at a school, we often have trainings that focus on what to do in the cases of the worst case scenario. Folks that harbor extremist views and are willing to engage in violent acts are in and around our community. As I engage my community, I am committed to teach and remind folks of our spiritual prohibition to violence and nuanced understanding of religion and idealogy. As the temperature rises, I’m reminded to point folks to Jesus and pray a moment comes where I can help reorient others through relationship.
1 comment
Thank you for sharing what you’ve been pondering since we last met, Justin. It is sad and disturbing that we now have to devote so much time, energy, and resources to simply keeping people safe in our schools and churches. I often wonder what kinds of lasting impact this is having on our minds, hearts, and souls, and what will be the consequences generations from now. Thank you for your commitment to helping create communities of resilience and non-violence.