It is a mind numbing and soul wrenching turn of events. The Department of Defense is now referred to as the Department of War. The President has indicated that he will soon deploy National Guard troops to Chicago. On September 2, the US Navy attacked a ship in international waters, sinking it and killing all 11 alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang from Venezuela because they were deemed to be international terrorists bringing opioids into the United States.
There has been much comment and reaction to these and other actions, as there should be. But there is an alarming thread running through each of these examples, which is a growing commitment to engage in violence. Violence is being threatened by government actions to the degree that more and more people, especially immigrants, are afraid to venture out or send their kids to school. Violence is being promoted by increasingly vengeful rhetoric. And, as in the case of the sinking of the Venezuelan ship, violence is being celebrated.
Connected to this acceptance of violence is the growing influence of the New Apostolic Reformation. An informal network of Christian leaders and congregations which fiercely resists establishing itself as a denomination, the NAR seeks engage in spiritual warfare against what they call territorial demons. Many of their leaders subscribe to a phrase in Matthew’s Gospel: “the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12) I can’t help but think there is some sort of collaboration between the Department of Homeland Security and leaders of the NAR after I watched this chilling 42 second video put out by DHS this summer, which ties together Scripture, menacing threats of violence, and illegal immigrants. https://x.com/dhsgov/status/1949913619644493930?s=46
How best to respond to violence, which seems to be an integral component of government policy? Our immediate responses are often governed by a combination of anger, adrenaline and our reptilian brain, which more often than not don’t work other than to release our fear and outrage.Several years ago, a friend told me about his response to some violence he witnessed being committed in his crime-laden neighborhood. In anger, he took some eggs from his refrigerator and proceeded to throw them at the perpetrators. “Not very effective”, he reflected. Not to mention potentially dangerous, given that the street toughs might turn their violence on him.
In 1919 Mahatma Gandhi, while working for Indian rights in South Africa, coined and developed the term satyagraha, which translated from Sanskrit is truth force. The foundational dimension of satyagraha is non-violence. Not to be confused with pacifism, non-violence is a strategy of engagement against injustice without resorting to violence. Non-violence makes the claim that power is not monolithic; that it can be challenged and – if not defeated – exposed as unjust, immoral and illegal. Gandhi’s satyagraha campaign stood up to the power of the British Empire, which regularly resorted to violence, and helped lead India to independence and democracy. Martin Luther King was profoundly influenced by satyagraha and often challenged people to meet physical force with soul force. Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu championed non-violence in their efforts to end apartheid in South Africa.
Non-violence is a strategy of public love. It requires a commitment, and some training. A key ingredient of that training is to see the hidden humanity in others – even in – and perhaps especially in, one’s opponents. A commitment to non-violence transforms us into judo wrestlers, which takes the energy of the opponent and uses it against them. Non-violence is a commitment not to demonize or humiliate one’s opponent, which may be the most difficult commitment to make.
Non-violence is not achieved by escaping, avoiding, or finding an existential way to hide under a rock until the storms of violence dissipate. Non-violence requires engagement – engagement with struggle. The struggle is against violence itself – and it is also the struggle to refrain from committing verbal or physical violence ourselves.
It requires a lot of work. Ongoing work. We need help with this work – from each other, and for our common commitment to stand up to violence – with non-violence. Develop a discipline of prayer, meditation, of a commitment to justice. Start with your own circle, and then grow it out. It can make a difference.
