GETTING GOOD
GRADES
This
case study forces each of us to discover the way
in which each of us employs "sanitized"
violence to punish someone or to force someone to
act/ not act in specific manner. Rather than
physical violence, we use "put-downs",
smiles, manipulation, indifference, laying on of
guilt trips, ostracism -- these forms of violence.
Of
course, brotherly fraternal is also a requirement
for a follower of Jesus. There are no textbook
answers.
Principle
of Violence
Spiral of Violence
| EXAMPLE
1 |
|
Violence 1: |
|
Mary says: "John, you are a
homely donkey." |
| |
|
Violence 2: |
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John then tears the left leg off
of Mary’s doll. |
| |
|
Violence 3: |
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Mary then cracks John on the
head with a large flowerpot. John dies. |
| |
|
Violence 4: |
|
Court imposes death sentence on
Mary. |
***
Each time the violence becomes progressively
worse.
| EXAMPLE
2 |
|
Violence 1: |
|
Wealthy landowners use corrupt
legal system to deprive farmers of
ancestral land. |
| |
|
Violence 2: |
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Farmers stage a peaceful protest.
|
| |
|
Violence 3: |
|
Landowner has those responsible
for demonstration driven off land. |
| |
|
Violence 4: |
|
Farmers organize a guerilla
movement and vandalize the landowner’s
property. |
| |
|
Violence 5: |
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Landowner calls in police to
find these men and kill. The police
torture villagers to reveal the
whereabouts of the guerillas. Many
innocent people are killed. |
***
Each time the violence becomes progressively
worse.
JESUS
POINT OF VIEW
- Luke 9:51-62
"Jesus…sent
messengers ahead of him. …they went into a
Samaritan village to make preparations for him,
but the people would not receive him because he
was making for Jerusalem…"
When
Palestine was conquered by Babylon, most of the
inhabitants were deported to Babylon. Those who
remained behind were a pitiful lot. In addition,
the Babylonian government sent foreigners to
settle in the land. Some of the Jews married
these foreigners. These Samaritans lived in an
area between Galilee and Jerusalem. When the
Jewish deportees returned after 70 years and
began the rebuilding of the temple, The Samaritan
Jews were very happy and wanted to help with the
building expenses. But the "pure-blooded"
Jews were afraid the money would be contaminated
and God wouldn’t want money like that to
build his temple. So the Jews said that they didn’t
want this filthy Samaritan money." Well the
Samaritans built their own temple. From then on,
there was enmity between the two groups.
Frequently Samaritan bullies would harass the
Jewish pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.
However,
not all Samaritans carried this grudge in their
hearts. Evidently Jesus had previously visited
one of these Samaritan towns and taught them that
God loved both Samaritans and Jews. Jesus would
have healed their sick and won their hearts.
Jesus
sent James and John to arrange his visit. To
their surprise, they "would not receive"
Jesus. Why? It was pilgrimage time and Jesus was
going to the temple in Jerusalem" and Jesus
WAS NOT WELCOME! Perhaps they also included a
rude sign. James and John — their nickname
was "Sons of Thunder — were red-hot
angry. They hurried back and asked permission:
"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from
heaven to burn them up?" Well, Jesus also
had a quite a temper. He "turned and rebuked
them." Then he went to another village."
Perhaps this was also a Samaritan] village and
this group gave Jesus a cheery welcome. The
reason we think that is because in Acts 8: 4-25,
Luke tells us: "When [after the Resurrection
of Jesus] the apostles in Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent
Peter and John [the son of thunder] to them…that
they might receive the Holy Spirit."
Remember John was the "Son of Thunder"
who wanted to kill every man, woman and child in
the Samaritan village with napalm bomb from
heaven. It is a good thing they didn’t do
that because perhaps these same Samaritans
because James and Johns brothers and sisters. How
ashamed they must have been when they met and
thought of the terrible thing they wanted to do.
Analysis
of Gospel: Spiral of Violence
Let’s do an analysis of this gospel
incident. We are faced with three levels of
violence.
| Violence 1: |
|
The fervent Jews insulted the
Samaritans by refusing their gifts. |
| Violence 2: |
|
The Samaritans reciprocated by
insulting and bullying Jews on pilgrimage
to Jerusalem. They didn’t
distinguish the bullies from the innocent.
Therefore some people in the Samaritan
village insulted Jesus by refusing
hospitality. |
| Violence 3: |
|
James and John are so upset that
they want permission to napalm the
village and kill all the inhabitants:
men, women and children. Both the wicked
and innocent. |
Jesus
response is to do a simple analysis and create a
response that is non-violent and which will
destroy enemies by making them friends. In this
case, Jesus moves on to another more receptive
village and let his disciples finish the job
after the Resurrection.
Supposing
Jesus had napalmed that Samaritan village, it
would have escalated the cycle of violence to
Violence Four, Fix, Six… That is what we
call the spiral of violence.
TIDBITS
Am I gleeful when someone I don’t
like suffers the violence himself?
Do I feel good that China
executes so many corrupt officials and
evil criminals?
How would you respond if a loved
one suddenly went bezerk and started
attaching people with a large knife?
What do you think of a Christian
who refused to be a soldier and drop
bombs on an enemy city?
You have given your son thirty
dollars because he got good grades on his
report card. Your son tells you that he
plans to buy a popular video war game
called: "Killer Soldier," What
would be your response?
TEXT
"Lord,
do you want us to call down fire from heaven to
burn them up?"
CATECHISM
OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
#
92
"Those who renounce violence and bloodshed
and, in order to safeguard human rights, make use
of those means of defense available to the
weakest, bear witness to evangelical charity,
provided they do so without harming the rights
and obligations of other men and societies. They
bear legitimate witness to the gravity of the
physical and moral risks of recourse to violence,
with all its destruction and death." From
Gaudium et Spes 78: 5. Catechism of the Catholic
Church, (Mission Hills: Benziger Publishing Co,
1994), #2306, p. 555.
"...conflict,
expressed by violence, is a fact, a new fact in
all its breadth: this violence is everywhere, in
countries that are not at war and in all social
bodies, to the extent that a new chapter would
have to be added to the Encyclical: Bellum in
Terris. It takes many forms. One notes today
physical violence, which places at risk the life
or material liberty of individuals or groups.
But, and this is new, one also notes almost
everywhere structural violence: violence which
stems from institutions, regimes and systems of
law. Then there is cultural violence, for
example, the pressure exercised by the audio-visual
media, by the timetable and rhythm of work and
transport, the numberless constraints imposed by
industrial civilization and technology, the
constraints connected with knowledge and power.
However, what should be noted as
specifically new is not so much violence
as awareness of violence."
Reflections
by Cardinal Roy on the Occasion of the Tenth
Anniversary of the Encyclical "Pacem in
Terris" (April 11, 1973)." Cardinal Roy
was the President of the Pontifical Commission
Justice and Peace. Joseph Gremillion, The Gospel
of Peace and Justice, Catholic Social Teaching
since Pope John, (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis,1976)
pp.548-549.
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