By JOHN HARDMAN-ZIMMERMAN
Evil – in a hundred words or less? Not!
Evil – in one murdered body or more. Yes, evil.
No volume of words is the reality of evil itself, only a way of illustrating the reality. But the reality of evil is self-evident when we or those we love are the victims of its destruction and death. If we are the perpetrators of the violence, chances are we may not see our actions as evil. We can feel quite justified about our use of deadly force. Aggressions and retaliations are typically promoted as “just” causes, though they solve no underlying condition and only compound the suffering, destruction, and environmental degradation. They will likely stoke hatred and become a prelude to the next outbreak of violence. What are we to do about ourselves and our endless proliferation of this evil and its misery? Be run over by it? Fight it?
Jesus showed us another way, a “Third Way,” to address the violence within us and against us. “Do not resist evil with evil, but overcome evil with good.” Jesus’ Third Way is neither passivity nor counterviolence, neither submission nor assault, neither fight nor flight. It is a jujitsu in initiative that asserts one’s dignity while recognizing the humanity of others. It is courageously assertive, nonretaliatory and creatively nonviolent. And long before violence breaks out, the preventative measures of justice – for all – are pursued; friendship sought and nurtured, truth upheld and fear-mongering debunked; violence discredited; and love lifted up. Jesus’ Third Way was recognized by Tolstoy, employed by Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr., and is now the cornerstone of nonviolent direct action by many groups around the world seeking to bring about justice and peace. It is the way of those who have been converted by the Spirit of Compassion to compassionate action that does no harm and is willing to suffer for it.
Society legitimates violence at every turn of the channel, and when war breaks out, we ask God to bless our killing so as to stop the killing. It seems a miracle that we haven’t gone completely MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction through nuclear warfare) by now. As Shane Claiborne said, “We may not all agree on whether or not there is a place for ‘necessary’ evil in the world, but perhaps we can agree to call it what it is – Evil – even when we deem it necessary.” Meanwhile and ultimately, there is a (Third) way forward that can yet lead to our conversion and to the peace desired by the vast majority of humanity.
John Hardman-Zimmerman is Pastor at the United Methodist Church of Brandon
