A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE AND CONFLICT:
The recent attack in Paris has again caught the attention of people who live in a peaceful environment and who want to live in peace with others. The first violent act on earth was committed because of envy and hatred against a real brother. This phenomenon continues, at a scale much larger.
All responses we read or hear around us are coming from a context. We hear responses from political leaders, social activists, religious scholars and ordinary people on the street. We cannot separate the response from the context of the respondent.
A follower of Jesus Christ has a dual context to work from, an earthly one and a heavenly one. He operates in this world with values which belong to the kingdom of God and also as a citizen of a country he reacts in a way similar to people around him.
The dual context puts him in a complex situation and makes him vulnerable to feeling guilty. Is it possible to react with a clear conscience? This depends how our conscience has been trained. For most westerners who have been born post World War II, life has been such that our conscience has not been exposed to the situations we find in a post-9/11 age. The world has changed, but our thinking pattern has not. For a large part of world whom we call Muslims, the world was changing even before 9/11, unnoticed by the rest. Their hurts, real or perceived, have been too many and for too long. The remedies offered by the world were too little and too late. We must face the consequences which in many ways should have been predictable if only one could have pondered on the context Muslims minds operate in. A good physician spends ample time to examine the patient and gets some needed lab tests before the diagnosis and the prescription. Human societies are like a body which gets sick and needs healing.
Muslim people, families and society have a long list of hurts, and no one is ready to listen. Beside this they are also under the nature of sin like any other human on earth and operate with a unique religious and political mindset, often inseparable. They are a people who are complex, indeed like any other group. For them, the hurt feeling has become a collective narrative.
Some values are supra-culture and supra-time. Let us try those, like a remedy on a small scale, at human level, if not at larger national or international level. Let us meet with neighbours or colleagues, classmates or business partners and listen to what they want to say. They may have personal hurts or family hurts. They mostly think collectively as an “Ummah” or nation. We should be ready to listen those collective hurts. This does not mean that we accept the violent acts committed by Muslims. We must accept that violent acts are part of human nature and our human history is coloured by those acts irrespective of religion affiliation or ethnic background. The violent acts take place in different places in different times. Our reactions depend on which side we happen to be on and at what time. This time Muslims are considered on the wrong side as seen by the rest.
Today the followers of Jesus are found in most countries. They have a unique role to play. They are able to feel for the hurts of others and also be catalysts for bringing healing. They are the only ones who have experienced the stronghold of the power of sin and subsequent victory over it. They know what forgiveness is and how to forgive others.
Saul of Tarsus knew how to hate and he knew also how he changed so that he could give his life for the message he hated so much. His message of peace with God was not preached in the word only (spoken or written) but with Power, Holy Spirit, Conviction and personal Example (see I Thessalonians 1:5). As Christian we have been defensive and not acted at the forefront when it comes to share our convictions. How did Paul speak in front of religious, political, and social leaders (Acts 23-26)? Paul was speaking to those who hated him and his message. A politically correct speech could have saved him from the trial and subsequent prison sentence he endured.
Our efforts to bring good news and to offer messages of reconciliation will work better if the five ingredients of the gospel message mentioned above are present. Let political leaders say what they want. But as followers of Jesus, our hearts may not let hatred and despair settle in. We may simply pray in faith and share with people how God forgave our sins through Jesus. Trust that this small but powerful message will work. After all, this is not our message but God’s.
How wonderful the words that were shared on social media by one of the husbands whose wife was killed in the Paris shoot out. “ … I will not give you the privilege of hating you…” (Antoine Leiris)