Rollins Chapel
May 12, 2005
Richard R. Crocker, Ph.D, College Chaplain
One of the things people frequently say to me, by way of explaining why they have no interest in religion, is: "Religion causes so much violence." I know when I hear these words that the person speaking is not completely informed.
Not totally wrong. Just not completely informed.
For you see, it is a partly true statement. Violence is often committed in the name of religion. As I said a few weeks ago, quoting Blaise Pascal: "Men never do evil so cheerfully and so completely as when they do so from religious conviction." And the history of religion is often a history of violence - one sect making war upon another, in the name of God. It is not ancient history. It is the nightly news, it is the daily newspaper. Ethnic and religious violence in Sudan, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Chechnya, Rwanda. If that is all you know about religion, I can see why you would want nothing to do with it. Neither would I.
But that is not the full story. For while it is true that violence is often committed in the name of relgion, whenever that is done, we know that it is wrong. Whether it is a Shiite killing a Sunni Muslim,or a Protestant killing a Catholic, or a pro-life Catholic killing an abortionist, or Hindus and Muslims killing each other in India and Bangldesh - whenever it happens, we know that it is wrong.
And we know that it is wrong precisely because of the deepest teachings of those religions.
Because, you see, the other half of the story is that religion is the greatest restraint against violence in our world.
When we look at the most destructive acts of violence in the last century - World War I, Nazism, Fascism, communism, our own use of atomic weapons, none of those acts were done in the name of religion. Indeed, they were all manifestations of explicitly secular ideologies that claimed to eb scientific, or they were mainfestations of nationalism. And the greatest check on the worship of either secularism or the nation state is religion.
I am not making a grand claim in the name of all religions. I am speaking especially as a Christian who is fully aware of how often Christianity has been used to justify violence. But I also know that such use of Christianity is blasphemy. It was blasphemy during the crusades, it was blasphemy in World War I, it was blasphemy in Northern Ireland, and it is blasphemy now. To be a Christian may mean many things, but it certainly means this: it is to follow Jesus Christ in the way of non-violence.
So, you ask me, if that's so, why haven't more people understood it that way? My answer is that they do understand it that way. Everyone who is a Christian knows that. But they get afraid, and when we are afraid, we forget what we know, and we act from the most primitive part of our brains, which is fight or flight. We know better. We know that God is never pleased or honored by violence committed in God's name - even when our scriptures describe and glorify it. And those people who have continually urged us to seek alternatives to violence have most often been people who spoke to us the words of our own faith.
The scripture lesson today is from Jeremiah - the prophet who is known for crying. He was continually depressed by the discrepancy he saw between God's commands and the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. He cried out that their would be punishment from God for such behavior - not punishment necessarily because God wants to destroy people, but because the misuse of religion inevitably leads to terrible destruction. In the name of God Jeremiah cried, and he cried out. One of his cries was - is there no balm in Gilead? Balm is a kind of herbal medicine or salve; Gilead was a region just across the Jordan river where it had long grown. So the prophet was asking, is there no rememdy for suffering? Is there nothing than can heal us and save us? And his answer was - if there is a balm, it comes from God.
Most of us who are believers feel, I suppose, like Jeremiah, when we see the our religion turned toward hatefulness at worst and indifference at best.Right now, with Christianity being used as a cultural weapon, I am frequently ashamed. But I also know there is no other remedy. Who will teach us non-violence? Who will teach us love? Not politicians. Not professors. Not even prerachers. Only saints. Amen.
copyright © 2005
Richard R. Crocker
Religion and Violence
Rollins Chapel
May 12, 2005
Richard R. Crocker, Ph.D, College Chaplain
One of the things people frequently say to me, by way of explaining why they have no interest in religion, is: "Religion causes so much violence." I know when I hear these words that the person speaking is not completely informed.
Not totally wrong. Just not completely informed.
For you see, it is a partly true statement. Violence is often committed in the name of religion. As I said a few weeks ago, quoting Blaise Pascal: "Men never do evil so cheerfully and so completely as when they do so from religious conviction." And the history of religion is often a history of violence - one sect making war upon another, in the name of God. It is not ancient history. It is the nightly news, it is the daily newspaper. Ethnic and religious violence in Sudan, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Chechnya, Rwanda. If that is all you know about religion, I can see why you would want nothing to do with it. Neither would I.
But that is not the full story. For while it is true that violence is often committed in the name of relgion, whenever that is done, we know that it is wrong. Whether it is a Shiite killing a Sunni Muslim,or a Protestant killing a Catholic, or a pro-life Catholic killing an abortionist, or Hindus and Muslims killing each other in India and Bangldesh - whenever it happens, we know that it is wrong.
And we know that it is wrong precisely because of the deepest teachings of those religions.
Because, you see, the other half of the story is that religion is the greatest restraint against violence in our world.
When we look at the most destructive acts of violence in the last century - World War I, Nazism, Fascism, communism, our own use of atomic weapons, none of those acts were done in the name of religion. Indeed, they were all manifestations of explicitly secular ideologies that claimed to eb scientific, or they were mainfestations of nationalism. And the greatest check on the worship of either secularism or the nation state is religion.
I am not making a grand claim in the name of all religions. I am speaking especially as a Christian who is fully aware of how often Christianity has been used to justify violence. But I also know that such use of Christianity is blasphemy. It was blasphemy during the crusades, it was blasphemy in World War I, it was blasphemy in Northern Ireland, and it is blasphemy now. To be a Christian may mean many things, but it certainly means this: it is to follow Jesus Christ in the way of non-violence.
So, you ask me, if that's so, why haven't more people understood it that way? My answer is that they do understand it that way. Everyone who is a Christian knows that. But they get afraid, and when we are afraid, we forget what we know, and we act from the most primitive part of our brains, which is fight or flight. We know better. We know that God is never pleased or honored by violence committed in God's name - even when our scriptures describe and glorify it. And those people who have continually urged us to seek alternatives to violence have most often been people who spoke to us the words of our own faith.
The scripture lesson today is from Jeremiah - the prophet who is known for crying. He was continually depressed by the discrepancy he saw between God's commands and the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. He cried out that their would be punishment from God for such behavior - not punishment necessarily because God wants to destroy people, but because the misuse of religion inevitably leads to terrible destruction. In the name of God Jeremiah cried, and he cried out. One of his cries was - is there no balm in Gilead? Balm is a kind of herbal medicine or salve; Gilead was a region just across the Jordan river where it had long grown. So the prophet was asking, is there no rememdy for suffering? Is there nothing than can heal us and save us? And his answer was - if there is a balm, it comes from God.
Most of us who are believers feel, I suppose, like Jeremiah, when we see the our religion turned toward hatefulness at worst and indifference at best.Right now, with Christianity being used as a cultural weapon, I am frequently ashamed. But I also know there is no other remedy. Who will teach us non-violence? Who will teach us love? Not politicians. Not professors. Not even prerachers. Only saints. Amen.
copyright © 2005 Richard R. Crocker
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