This blog is being written in January, 2011. A few years ago, there was a Christian fad to wear WWJD bracelets, tee shirts, necklaces or bumper stickers, etc. The letters, of course, stood for “What Would Jesus Do?” and they were everywhere. After a relatively short while, this fad, like so many others, faded away. During that time I didn’t connect with the fad – nothing against it, it just didn’t appeal to me to wear my faith on a tee shirt.
Today, though, I’d like to resurrect those letters and the question, this time as related to the phrase/term “Kingdom of God.” I have written already about what this phrase/term means to me, in an earlier blog by that title in this series.. Briefly, to me, the Kingdom of God means people continuing past just reading and learning about Jesus and beginning to act more like Jesus, especially in our relationships to the poor, the hungry, the outcasts and others identified in the Beatitudes (Matthew, chapter 5). In this blog, I want to focus on one other group identified in the Beatitudes, the peace-makers.
I belong to a book club, which reads and discusses topics that we feel are pressing. While reading one of these books, the group began discussing the differences between “good wars,” like World War II, and “bad wars,” like Vietnam or Iraq and Afghanistan. I have discussed my reactions to our country’s retaliation after the terrorists attacks on 9/11/01, in still another blog in this series. Briefly, I begged God to keep the US from retaliating , because, I felt , that would make us no better than the people who attacked us. My views were not especially appreciated by most, as I fully expected. But, when our book club began to view our actions immediately after 911, I expected a bit more positive reaction to my views. Well, wrong again, John! Most of our book club members felt very strongly that our actions were justified, and if anything a bit more timid than they would have liked, especially with respect to our retaliation against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Feelings were considerably more divided about our invasion of Iraq, but some brought the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld view that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was an important step in beefing up our defenses against terrorism.
I kept quiet for a while, but eventually I asked my fellow book club members: If Jesus had been on Earth at the time of 9/11, what do you think Jesus would have said, if asked by Bush for advice on how we should react to the terrorist strikes? The room became deathly silent, and no one even attempted to answer my question to them.
Of course I don’t know for certain how Jesus would have responded to that question today, but if we examine Jesus’ reactions to that same kind of question in his day, we see Jesus as a very non-violent, non-aggressive, non-retaliatory person – one who said “bless the peace-makers”, and “turn the other cheek.” I really don’t think Jesus’ answer to our question today would have been very different, if different at all. I think Jesus would have advised the Bush administration and the American people to rethink our belief in redemptive violence and pre-emptive war, to start a world-wide movement against war because in war we hate and kill our enemy, rather than loving our neighbors, including our enemies.
I repeat, I don’t know how Jesus would have answered Bush, but I think I have pretty good idea and I’m going to continue my efforts to have the people of my communities rethink their reactions to aggression that are not working.
