Word to the Wise
Monday, May 22, 2017 - 6th Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 16:11-15 and John 15:26-16:4a,]"When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. [John]
In preparing the disciples for what is to come, Jesus warns them to expect violent opposition. That, in fact, is what the early community was experiencing at the time the Gospel According to John was composed. The evangelist makes it clear that Jesus warned the faithful from "the beginning" that this would be the case. What I find the most eery in today's segment from the Farewell Discourse is the line, In fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. One could easily see the truth of that statement in some acts of terrorism supposedly motivated by religious beliefs.
The "new atheism," represented in the writings of C. Hitchens, S. Dawkins and others, reject religion in part because they claim it is a source of violence. It is true that violent acts have been and continue to be done in the name of God, but W. T. Cavanaugh has shown rather conclusively in his book The Myth of Religious Violence that people commit violence for many reasons and are no more likely to do it in the name of religion than, say, patriotism or economic insecurity.
What we Christians must be on guard against is fueling the fires of those who discredit faith by acting violently in the name of Christ. The Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel According to Matthew gives us more than enough reason from the teachings of Jesus to reject violence as a way of advancing or defending the faith. Christian faith requires courage, and the courage to avoid violence is a tough challenge but the only one that fulfills the Lord's commands. AMEN
[Note to the Beloved Congregation. Forty-six years ago, May 22, 1971, I was ordained a Dominican priest. Please pray for me!]