Jesus Loved Everybody
Jesus loved everybody. It didn’t matter who. Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, even Jerks. You name it, and Jesus loved them. I know this because I read it in the Bible. I’ve also heard the song “Yes, Jesus Loves Me.” What more could you want. Jesus also said that violence was bad and that we should always turn the other cheek. So, if a psychopath breaks into your house and starts raping your wife and daughters, try this, ask him why he’s doing it. Let him know that you care by asking questions about his past. Tell him that you understand his pain and empathize with him. These conflict resolution techniques are foolproof and will allow you to resolve the conflict, and maybe save a soul without using violence. If this doesn’t work, pray. If that doesn’t work, start a conflict resolution class at your local school. Because everything I ever learned in school I remember flawlessly and use daily to better my life. If that doesn’t work, oh well, there’s always more wives and kids where they came from. Maybe the next batch will do better. Probably, because of that conflict resolution class that you started.
If this sounds silly, or you’re prone to think that no rational person thinks this way, believe me, they do. I read just such an article yesterday. By an American, no less. I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised. The odds are pretty small that this is going to happen to most Americans, so it requires nothing to say that you should always turn the other cheek, regardless of circumstance. That’s the value of living in a free and wealthy society. Americans, relatively speaking, have a legal system that works well, most of the time. We have police to enforce the law. And, we have democratic mechanisms that give people a voice, albeit imperfectly. In other words, Americans are pretty well situated when compared to the rest of the world. Meaning, the likelihood that ISIS, for instance, is going to break down the door to your house and behead your mother in law is pretty small. That’s why offering platitudes about turning the other cheek requires precious little from all those literal-minded Christians. Who are, more often than not, painfully selective about their literalism. But people living elsewhere in the world, where the threat of death and torture is imminent—unless they resist evil—is another matter, altogether. Then, what we preach can be the difference between the slaughter of innocent people and the absolute triumph of evil over good.
Knowing when to turn the cheek like Jesus, Martin Luther King or Gandhi, matters. All three men faced the most powerful empires of their time. Jesus had the added disadvantage of having to deal with Herod’s military and police force, as well as Rome’s army. Anyone who attempted to meet force with force then, would lose, suffering a bloody defeat and reprisals against the innocent, as well as the guilty. This was done by the Romans to drive home the point that rebellion would bring hell down on the heads of everyone. Not just the few who rebelled. It should be apparent, then, that Jesus was not legalistically talking about turning the other cheek without regard for circumstance, which is what some people would have you believe.
As the Psalmist said, there is a time for everything. A time to turn the cheek. A time to pray for your enemy. And there is a time to pull out a gun and blow the freaking head off anyone who would try and rape your wife and children, including ISIS. The rhetoric of certain Jesus peace freaks, like most selective rhetoric, should be seen for what it is, a license for evil to flourish, and that’s all it is. No matter how noble its intent.
Mark Magula
If this sounds silly, or you’re prone to think that no rational person thinks this way, believe me, they do. I read just such an article yesterday. By an American, no less. I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised. The odds are pretty small that this is going to happen to most Americans, so it requires nothing to say that you should always turn the other cheek, regardless of circumstance. That’s the value of living in a free and wealthy society. Americans, relatively speaking, have a legal system that works well, most of the time. We have police to enforce the law. And, we have democratic mechanisms that give people a voice, albeit imperfectly. In other words, Americans are pretty well situated when compared to the rest of the world. Meaning, the likelihood that ISIS, for instance, is going to break down the door to your house and behead your mother in law is pretty small. That’s why offering platitudes about turning the other cheek requires precious little from all those literal-minded Christians. Who are, more often than not, painfully selective about their literalism. But people living elsewhere in the world, where the threat of death and torture is imminent—unless they resist evil—is another matter, altogether. Then, what we preach can be the difference between the slaughter of innocent people and the absolute triumph of evil over good.
Knowing when to turn the cheek like Jesus, Martin Luther King or Gandhi, matters. All three men faced the most powerful empires of their time. Jesus had the added disadvantage of having to deal with Herod’s military and police force, as well as Rome’s army. Anyone who attempted to meet force with force then, would lose, suffering a bloody defeat and reprisals against the innocent, as well as the guilty. This was done by the Romans to drive home the point that rebellion would bring hell down on the heads of everyone. Not just the few who rebelled. It should be apparent, then, that Jesus was not legalistically talking about turning the other cheek without regard for circumstance, which is what some people would have you believe.
As the Psalmist said, there is a time for everything. A time to turn the cheek. A time to pray for your enemy. And there is a time to pull out a gun and blow the freaking head off anyone who would try and rape your wife and children, including ISIS. The rhetoric of certain Jesus peace freaks, like most selective rhetoric, should be seen for what it is, a license for evil to flourish, and that’s all it is. No matter how noble its intent.
Mark Magula