The Myth of Redemptive Violence

If your religion is Christian Nationalism, then one of your holiest sacraments is redemptive violence. This was fully on display this weekend as the United States, led by an adjudicated sexual predator who is also likely mentally impaired, led us into yet another interventionalist war in the Middle East.

The brilliant Walter Wink, American theologian and advocate for nonviolence, introduced the concept of the myth of redemptive violence into the intersection of biblical study and governmental power structures. He essentially argued that the civic religion of the Western world has upended real Christianity in both belief and followers. Our cultural narrative, the holy writ of our nationalism, is that there is an other, an evil force, a power that threatens good people and good ideas and the only way to restore the order of things is the use a superior violence to destroy this foe. Wink argued that this myth justified the “domination system,” where certain rich and powerful people benefit from a perpetual cycle of war. They demand that peace can only be achieved through military conquest.

Jesus, of course, would like a word.

Wink points to Sermon on the Mount as the real call to reacting to evil in the world. Of course, Jesus’ words have often been misconstrued in ways that seem to promote submission. When some hear the words, “turn the other cheek,” they hear, “give in and submit.” When some hear the words, “go the second mile,” they think it is their Christian duty to serve oppressors. But when you understand the first century contexts of phrases like these, they actually point to active tactics of shaming your oppressors.

First century listeners of Jesus would have understood the radical act of nonviolent resistance inherent in these examples. In Jesus’ culture, a backhanded slap from a superior was a way to assert dominance and shame the victim of the slap. Offering your other cheek was not submission, but was a way to assert your equality to your oppressor. Similarly, if a Roman solider compelled you to carry their gear they were limited to making you carry it for one mile. By carrying it a second mile, you could subvert the power dynamic. Far from asking us to simply comply with oppression, Jesus was showing us how to use nonviolence in a defiant way.

There is no place for redemptive violence in the Kingdom of God. Jesus never called for violence. Jesus would never justify a war. While there are arguments to be made for a just war doctrine – and I find myself unable to summon the effort to debate Saint Augustine at this moment – Wink argued that in all practical forms there really is no such thing as a just war. Whatever logical basis you might construct for auguring a just war, the criteria can never be met in our modern age. Augustine believed that war could be justified to protect the innocent and protect peace. Augustine did not, however, live in an age of advanced weaponry, faceless drone strikes and nuclear weapons. What war is just when it incurs massive civilian casualties? What war is just when over over 180 school girls were killed by our bombs within the first few hours?

If you asked me personally, I would tell you I am not qualified to evaluate if Iran was on the cusp of deploying nuclear weapons. I am unqualified to say whether we were at a point of no return where Iran could threaten more lives than we will ultimately take in this war. I can confidently tell you that I believe taking lives to save lives only makes sense in the most dire of situations, and probably never on an international level.

As early as 2011, Trump mocked Obama for claiming Obama would drag us into a war with Iran because of weakness. As always, Trump was wrong. Obama kept out of war. Obama used diplomacy, not bombs. Of course, Obama is a genius and Trump could be functionally illiterate. Obama is also a devout Christian who believes it’s worth exploring all options to save lives. Obama’s negotiations kept us from war, but Trump impulsively ended those agreements. Trump is incapable of understanding global security, but he wanted to undo any progress Obama had ever made from international peace to medical care. Trump’s actions came from ego attachment, not wisdom.

And so, in seeking to lift his own ego, Trump has shoved the world to the brink of disaster. He broke decades of trust built with our allies. He has mocked NATO, threatened Greenland and bombed eight countries. He has shown the world that the United States cannot be trusted ever again. This is weakness. This is chaos. Nothing about this is just.

Is the Holy Spirit leading our military-industrial complex? I think the answer is an obvious, “no,” from any Christian paying attention. The spirit in our administration right now is one of unholy domination. The spirit is ego. The spirit is a need to humiliate other to assert supremacy. Our leaders in this age are too spiritually lazy, too unstudied, too immoral to seek real solutions.

You see, they are asking you to accept false alternatives in this war. There are many more options than simply, (a) we do nothing and let Iran bomb the world to dust, or (b) we conduct preemptive strikes and regime change to get our way. We haven’t tried the many options in the middle that seek solutions that benefit us both without fueling more radicalization, more terror and more death. Where was the economic engagement? Can you imagine if we built factories for solar power and electric cars in Iran that would encourage local jobs, independence and bring them toward modern democracy? Where were the attempts at cultural exchange and infrastructure? Building interdependence builds peace; dropping bombs only leads to more bombs.

More importantly to me, interdependence is a fundamental Christian value. We must depend on each other to live in Christ. We can take action through nonviolent engagement through the international movement of students, citizens, business people and activists to stand between our two war machines. Unexpected acts of generosity and transparency can work to break the cycle of distrust and fear, much like giving an oppressor your cloak and shirt as Jesus suggested.