The violence that will not go away

I confess that I do not understand the violence that continues to plague the human family. I was not reared around violence. My parents did not use corporal punishment in their parenting. They had high standards of behavior and my siblings and I lived with high expectations. We were praised for achievement. We worked hard and played lots of games. We spent a lot of time in our church relationships. My parents certainly were not perfect, but I always knew that I was loved. My parents were loving toward one another. I cannot imagine my father ever striking my mother. My lasting image of my parents is the two of them standing in fond embrace.

I read a newspaper daily and watch a television newscast almost every day. Both are dominated by reports of violence. The reported violence ranges from wars with tanks, bombs, aircraft and men and women in battle gear carrying powerful guns with incredible fire power to shootings in schools and other public places to gang wars and domestic violence. My own country has been at war of some kind most of my life from World War II to Afghanistan. I have read a good bit of U.S. history. The war-between-the-states in the middle of the 19th century was a display of violence and destruction that defies my imagination.

My response is “Why? Why? Why?”

I was a teenager during the years of World War II. It was a popular war supported by almost every American. Just after the end of that horrible war, I turned 18, and I enlisted in the U.S. Army. In basic training it struck me with horror. I was being trained to be a killer of other human beings. After my enlistment was completed, I have not owned a gun of any kind and have never again fired a weapon of any kind. There must be a better way than perpetual violence.

The first reported murder in the Bible is the story of two brothers. The only apparent difference between the two was that one was a farmer and the other was a herder. Cain, the farmer, killed Abel, the herder. I have now spent a lifetime with the Bible. War, violence and killing are a central part of the story of life as seen through the eyes of the Israelite/Christian tradition. The Israelite tribe was a warrior clan that claimed a land for themselves through killing everyone who stood in their way. Their greatest king (David) was the greatest killer of all.

When we understand the horror of death on a Roman cross, the killing of Jesus from Nazareth was one of the ugliest killings found in the Bible. When we further realize that the death of Jesus on a cross was simply one of many, many crucifixions that were taking place in Jerusalem, we begin to understand the ugly violence of the practices of the Roman Empire.

Alongside the stories of war and violence found in the Bible, is found the story of a great longing for a better way, a way of peace. It is reported that Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem and lamented “Oh, that they might know the ways of peace.” It seems we human beings never learn. To even the most casual observer, it should be obvious that the horrors of war and violence do not convince human beings to find a better way. We have become so accustomed to war and violence that we try to achieve peace through the waging of war.

What we keep doing is akin to drinking alcoholic beverages to address alcoholism.

The hard lesson is that human beings do not learn from their mistakes. I have known many fine educators. One of my favorites was a superintendent in a small California school district. The district was in a low-income, high-crime area. Dr. Smith repeated over and over again to the teachers in the district. “Children build success only on success.” He urged his teachers “Give your kids successes on which they can build more successes.” War and violence are failures in the human experience. If I understand the Christian message at all, the gospel says “Do not bother with the failures. Build a whole new life.”

I love my college alma mater. It is a Christian college with high academic standards. The college is host to an ROTC program. I have listened to the rationale for keeping the ROTC unit on campus. My own conclusion is that a Christian college and an ROTC unit are incompatible. My college needs to replace its ROTC unit with a Center for Peace Making.

Violence is not going to go away. The Cain and Abel story will keep repeating itself. There is no shortage of people eager to kill the killer, thinking that they have solved a problem. Christian faith offers the alternative. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

Opinions expressed on the Faith page are the author’s and are not necessarily those of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, its staff or its parent company, Wick Communications Co. To submit a column or other news for the Faith page, send email to news@frontiersman.com, or call 352-2250.