Violence done for God

The Quran, the holy book of Islam, says, "Whosoever kills a human being without (any reason like) man slaughter, or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed all mankind." (Sura 5:32)

It is unfortunate that the one thing that insurgents and terrorists latch onto in a statement like that is the qualifications, and not the general theme itself. It is as though it was a license to take the beautiful essence of this statement and insert man-made legalisms that reverse the meaning in Orwellian fashion.

The idea that God wants violence done is alien to me. Reading between the lines of my own religion's scriptures, the Bible, I find that I am justified in my thinking. Take for example David. In 1 Chronicles 22:8, God tells David that he will not be the king that builds God's Holy temple, because David has too much blood on his hands.

What I take from that is that even though many have been tempted to shed blood righteously, even in defense of that which is holy, God does not accept bloodshed from us. The sacrifice of ourselves - in turning the other cheek, if necessary - is the only way to preserve our collective dignity. Who in history do we think of as more dignified than the peaceful protesters of Gandhi's non-violent resistance to English rule? (Interestingly, Gandhi was inspired in part by Christ in this.) And yet these people were mercilessly beaten in the streets. Gandhi himself was killed by one of his own people, after pleading for peace between Muslims and Hindus.

But we don't remember the indignities - what we remember about Gandhi is the dignity.

And I regard Jesus the same way! He was born poor, preached to the poor, and died a death that afforded no human dignities at all - even thirsting naked and prone on the cross, He was offered only vinegar. And yet, God saw fit to exalt Jesus, who we see in his humbled state every Good Friday in our churches. Jesus lived the Sermon on the Mount - He didn't just preach it. The men who unjustly took Him, whipped Him, and crucified Him were the very ones He prayed for, from the cross itself.

We do God's will when we let our anger subside, when we partake of a share in divine justice by forgiving, instead of seeking justice in revenge. God has never sought anyone's head.

Such things are for Herodias, not God.