Saturday, October 20, 2007

religion blurb...was Jesus a pacifist?


I watched 'Lord of the Rings' 'Return of the King' last night. It does bring up (in my mind) the idea of the pacifist. I just don't see how Jesus could have been a pacifist. Let's briefly summarize: 1) Peter carried a sword - hard to use that for cutting fruit. 2) Jesus used a whip a time or two. 3) Can you "love your neighbor" or your family during a burglary while watching them get slaughtered. I think not. 4) the cheek slap thing: it says if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other... This appears to be a thing about how to deal with personal insult or injury. Think about it, you're standing face to face with an opponent, he slaps your right cheek - he either slapped you with the back of his hand (not most peoples' power stroke) or he hit you with his left hand.

I know some argue that early Christians tended toward pacifism and so their early understanding should be taken as the more correct posture but I'm not convinced. Diverging positions obviously exhist among well meaning individuals.