Some people require an enemy to make their ideology work. The vast majority of Muslims do not commit or support mass-murder. The task of terrorist organizations is to recruit and indoctrinate soldiers. But most Muslims are not soldiers. For these ideologues, most Muslims (those who get along with their neighbors) are a problem for their holy war narrative. So part of the purpose in committing mass-murder is to create global Islamophobia and thus alienate moderate Muslims from their western neighbors. In other words, acts of terror are designed to create enemies in the West. Hate speech by Christians is therefore an ideological victory for those who promote holy war. Groups that promote holy war need an enemy and they want Christians to see Islam and Muslims as a singular and generalized enemy. Consider this statement from a recent ISIL publication: "There is no grayzone in this crusade against the Islamic State . . . . The world has split into two encampments, one for the people of faith, the other for the people of disbelief, all in preparation for the final great war." This is, of course, a lie. But acts of hate speech by Christians against Muslims contribute to this false narrative.
I would challenge you to ask yourself a question before you post something that promotes Islamophobia on social media. Ask yourself: do I need an enemy? I hope that your answer is always no. But if you must have an enemy, consider this: "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Jesus Christ want to save not to kill
ReplyDeleteBeing a member of your Evangelical readership (if being Pentecostal counts as being Evangelical) I would say that Christianity has one enemy with three faces: Sin, Death and Satan. So yes, I think we do need an enemy, as I think at least Paul is clear, that the resurrection of Jesus defeats the final enemy, Death (1 Cor. 15).
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting "anti-Trinity", Bobby. I use a different trifecta for my Paul classes: Sin, Death, and Exile (the satan doesn't seem to be a requirement for most theologies in our canon). Thanks for bringing 1 Cor 15 into the conversation. I wonder if we could agree that we share in the victory of Christ but it is not our place to do any of the defeating?
Delete-anthony
I agree and would like to chime in 'my three grave death and sin' I don't need anymore enemies, thanks, these three are enough.
DeleteAnthony, this is important stuff. Thanks for posting it. In addition to the command to love enemies, you also suggest that perhaps Christians need not have enemies, which is pretty interesting. I wonder if you can continue to regard someone as an enemy once you've determined to love them and pray for them.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that there are many levels of love and prayer. It might take a very special kind love and a whole lot of prayer to transform some relationships.
Delete-anthony
Reading tonight through A.-J. Levine's "Short Stories" book about Jesus' parables, and I came across the following: "Enemies are, conventionally, people we hate. If we did not hate them, they would not be our enemies, at least from our perspective." I don't know, perhaps this is too simplistic, but the only way I can understand the love commandment is as a commandment not to have enemies. Agreed about the difficulty of transforming relationships, but perhaps we hold a unilateral power to characterize relationships as we will?
DeleteThere is a line of thought that has been popularized in Xn preaching (not sure of provenance) that goes like this: The more you earnestly pray for a person's wellbeing, the less likely you are to hate that person. There is also a line attributed to Abraham Lincoln that goes, "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” I wouldn't be surprised to learn that both comments (or something close to them) come from the Talmud.
Delete-anthony
But isn't ISIS the enemy that even most Muslims can hate? If so, then ISIS can be the great unifying force of our time. They are the orcs that the rest of the world - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic - can unite against. Ronald Reagan hoped that extraterrestrials would be the enemy that would help us overcome our differences. Barring a sudden appearance of hostile ETs, ISIS is the next best thing.
ReplyDeleteThis was really helpful for me. Thanks for sharing this perspective Anthony!
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDeleteAMEN.Thank you Anthony!
ReplyDeleteJesus said "love your enemies." This is not the same thing as "don't have enemies."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! We do not need to live with hate born out of fear. Choose love and choose life!
ReplyDelete