Keep the Fists Down
17 August 2022
Some of you saw the shocking news. (I know, you’re thinking, there’s a TON of shocking news these days.)
Last Friday, world-renowned author Salman Rushdi was nearly stabbed to death by a religious radical. In the late 1980s, many of us remember our dismay hearing about a multi-million-dollar bounty put on Rushdi’s head—a fundamentalist religious declaration known as a “fatwa”—because Rushdi’s fictional novel offended people’s theology. After spending a decade in hiding, Rushdi finally decided that he needed to live his life. He started accepting invitations to continue his life’s work of writing and speaking, including at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York last Friday. That’s when a 24-year-old zealot, apparently radicalized online, unleashed a violent attack that was praised by leaders in Iran.
The sickening pit in my stomach grew for at least two reasons. First, the horror of a video showing someone being stabbed repeatedly. Secondly, the location. LuAnne and I have enjoyed many wonderful days at the Chautauqua Institution, where Christians and people of all kinds of faith gather for a summer week of worship, learning, arts, fellowship, and nature. Twice I’ve served as the chaplain at the Luther House at Chautauqua. As a young lady, COS member Jan Christopher served as a waitress at the lovely lakeside Athenaeum Hotel and treasures wonderful memories. You might remember Marta Diehm, our interim youth director a decade ago. Her father, Bill Diehm, was serving as last week’s Luther House Pastor and called me with his eye-witness account as the horrific scene was concluding.
Founded as a training site for Methodist Sunday School teachers in the mid 1800s, one might argue that the Chautauqua Institution now features the very best values of both America and our faith. Politicians, scientists, theologians, artists, musicians, writers, and all kinds of key leaders in faith and culture have lifted up the voice of democracy, faith, and the pursuit of humanity’s best on the central stage of Chautauqua’s Amphitheater for the last 150 years. For 150 years, the faithful have gathered in peace, seeking God’s empowerment to improve the world through the exchange of ideas and encouragement.
To see a free speech icon’s attempted assassination on that deeply symbolic stage, for me, was akin to seeing violence in our church or at church camp. Utterly disturbing. But, nightmarishly, it’s just one of countless utterly disturbing violent accounts we hear these days.
How are people radicalized for violence? How did some of our fellow citizens and neighbors come to believe it was the right move to storm our nation’s hallowed capitol building on January 6 last year and attack safety officers in the process? How is a white man radicalized to drive three hours to the most densely populated black community he could find and open fire in a Topps grocery?
I like what New York’s governor said yesterday as she tried to offer comfort to the Chautauqua community: “the sword will never ever triumph over the pen.”
I like what Martin Luther advised those whose hearts raged in emotional moments in the Reformation (even as he himself hid under the danger of a type of “fatwa” in the excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church): “let the tongues fly, but keep the fists down!”
I like what I saw at a game last week in the Little League World Series. A pitcher accidentally hit a batter in the head. The batter went down and was briefly disoriented. The physical injury that he (accidentally) inflicted emotionally so rattled the pitcher he was on the verge of tears with remorse and anguish. This young boy hated violence, even in this form. Sensing his guilt, the boy who was actually beaned trotted out to give the pitcher a hug and a word of encouragement. Talk about two wonderful moral compasses!
Question:
As a Jesus follower, what is your understanding of the use of violence?
Let us pray.
Father of our Lord whom we call the “Prince of Peace,” how do you put up with us? War after war, genocide after genocide, shooting after shooting, or attacking each other in some ways where the body still might be whole but the spirit, reputation, or economic standing has been decimated. Your patience must be bottomless. As we say in the Lord’s Prayer, deliver us from evil! OUR evil. Deliver us from radicalization. Deliver us to restoration of hearts that are willing to turn the other check in courage and confidence in you. We pray for all those whose lives have been broken due to violence. Make us instruments of your peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
