Thou Shalt Not Kill

One of the reasons I decided to start a blog is because I had things to say about my faith and what I believe Jesus teaches us. From what I have been hearing on the radio, on TV, and in my church pew, what I believe does not line up with "mainstream" evangelical thought. So, here is my first "This I Believe".

A little background. I read the Bible just about every day. I usually read the gospels over and over (this time thru I added Acts) because as a pastor once said "that is Jesus in shoes". In addition, I read thru either the rest of the New Testament or, as is the case now, the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. Coincident to this post, I am currently at Exodus 20. For those of you keeping score at home, this is one of the places where the 10 commandments are spelled out. I'll focus in this case on Exodus 20.13, which in the old King James Version (just the way Jesus spoke) says, "Thou shalt not kill". I choose that version on purpose. When reading great passages in the bible (like here or the 23rd Psalm), nothing quite sounds like KJV. It is regal. Other translations (like English Standard Version I am reading now) read "You shall not commit murder".

Think about the difference between those 2 translations. One makes a straight forward clear statement that you shouldn't kill (one would assume He meant Man (capital M means women, too)). The other translation makes it a little more slippery. Murder. Does that mean I can't kill in anger? Or is that "manslaughter"? Is that First degree? Second degree? What if I am drunk and accidently hit someone in my car? What about self defense? What about capital punishment? What about war?

In one sense this translation makes it more clear that we shouldn't be killing Man, as opposed to say, the grass in front of my house. This helps us clarify what He meant here. Another, more detailed interpretation would mean we shouldn't kill anyone on purpose. Still further would say we wouldn't kill Man maliciously.

And therein lies the rub. With this word, murder, we can edge around things to justify actions such as capital punishment, or self-defense, or killing the man in bed with my wife, or revenge, or war. And that is precisely what I have been hearing from Christians on the radio, on tv, in the pulpit. I promised myself I wouldn't bring up Pat Robertson, but he is case-in-point. An avowed Evangelical Christian. On TV on one of the most popular Christian TV shows. Praying for goodness to all followers in Christ. Looking to make new disciples and converts. This guy goes on the air and justifies the assassination of Chevez, Venezuela's president. Apparently, for this Christian "assassination" and "murder" are not the same thing. This is an example of an extreme case. There are much more less extreme cases. My own pastor once interpreted this passage to say that there was "good" war, capital punishment was justified (altho abortion was not), and self-defense was ok.

Even if I took up the argument that "murder" can be applied to all of the cases above, I do not believe that is necessary to understand the Bible's take on "Thou shalt not kill". I find clarification in the New Testament. When I don't understand a passage in the OT, or one that doesn't make sense, I turn to see what Jesus said. As I said up front, I have read the 4 gospels numerous times and I have yet to find the passage where Jesus says, "well, murder is wrong, but you can kill your fellow man in these cases...." Instead let's look at Jesus' summation of the 10 commandments in Matt. 22:37-40. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. " Note he did not bother to interpret TSNK. Rather, he summed it all up as "love God, love your neighbor". I do not believe you can kill and love your neighbor at the same time. Remember too that he helped define "neighbor" by telling the story of the good Samaritan. Samaritans were the Palestinians of the day. They were hated, vilified, yet Jesus used them as an example for us all.

The Sermon on the Mount is also clear about how we should act on this earth. In Matt 5:21-26 he changes the TSNK commandment into an admonition to not be angry with one's brother. In Matt 5:43 he says "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 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven" Or how about the Golden Rule, Matt 7:12 "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

Finally, how about when Jesus himself was threatened. He was praying on the Mount of Olives and the Pharisee's men were coming for him. In Matt 26:51 one of those in his party (John says it was Peter) struck one of the guards with his sword and cut off his ear. Jesus says in 26:52 "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. "

How do you treat an enemy according to Jesus? Love them, pray for them, treat them like a neighbor. TSNK. How to treat a neighbor? As you would want to be treated. TSNK. What does Jesus do when threatened with death? He not only surrenders to it, but admonishes those with him to give up the sword. What about disciples being threatened, since one could argue He had to be taken to fulfill prophesy. Matt 5:11, the last of the Beatitudes says "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets before you." TSNK.

Death penalty? Forgive those who persecute you. Revenge? Self-defense? Turn the other cheek. War? Love your enemies. Protect your belongings? Give him your cloak also.

TSNK

I think clarification is clear. Jesus came to fulfill the Law, including the 10 Commandments. It doesn't matter what interpretation we give the term "kill" or "murder". Jesus spent his time here clarifying it for us.

TSNK, indeed.

No Common Ground?

I belong to a few email groups. For the most part, they are Christian Bass-playing groups. As with any US Christian group, you get a preponderance of politically conservative people on the lists. I get, being the Christian Leftist that I am, some Left-leaning newsletters. Sojourners posted one the other day that I loved. It is here: http://go.sojo.net/ct/01_fv7s1bzdE/.

Now I found nothing either Left-leaning or even particularly political about this article. In fact, the writer is just what he says he is. Leaning left on some issues, right on others. And this was an amazingly insightful way of seeing Jesus as the bridge between Right and Left so that we could find common ground.

So I posted this link to one of my Christian Bass email lists. And it was immediately squelched by the right-leaning moderator of the list. I was hurt at first, since I didn't mean to put political leanings on the list (which are forbidden), but then baffled. What could possibly be controversial about finding common ground between left and right? Wouldn't that actually help the country, and even the church. Isn't there some kind of common ground we could agree on. And actually, we do. I got a similar private response from another conservative friend. Both the same. Something to the affect of "it was asking me to agree with gay rights". Read the article. It isn't saying that at all. It doesn't take a stand.

Which leads me to wonder...do conservatives not want to find common ground with liberals? Is the mere mention of common ground between people a "liberal" stance? Is there no room at all for conversation between 2 sides?

This troubles me greatly. I do not agree with my conservative brethren most of the time. But there are things on which I can agree. And I can be friends with those who don't agree with me. And I can even listen to their point of view. I would WANT to find common ground. That seems the Christian thing to do.

Sometimes I just don't understand which bible Christians read.....

A new Blog

I decided to start a blog. I've been thinking about it for awhile now. I wanted a place where I could share my views on Christianity, on political issues, on war and peace, on what it means to be human, on movies. I have thoughts, see, and I figure I'd be better off getting them off my chest and really thinking them through than just holding them inside and getting incensed everytime I see an email, read the newspaper, or see George Bush on TV. So I've been thinking of starting a blog. Today I have.

Here's the story on what got me started. I got this email from a Christian friend. I know she means well, but it was one of those forwarded ones entitled something like "what the media doesn't want you to see about Iraq" and it had a bunch of smiling happy children and people just delighted that we were there to save them from themselves. In other words, it pissed me off. So I wrote a blistering email back complaining that pictures of people actually dying in an actual war may be more helpful in understanding what war really means than a bunch of smiling children being given candy by US soldiers. I complained further that I can't believe Christians just blindly followed the Republican party and don't read their New Testament and understand the message Jesus left us.

In other words, I was an ass. That was when I decided I needed a blog. That way instead of flaming good friends of mine when they don't quite agree, I can put down into words what I feel and give them a choice of whether to read my very intelligent and well-reasoned opinions.

Yeah, she was mad. I apologized. We're still friends.

So here is my blog. If you're interested at all in what I think, come back occasionally. I'll write when I feel the muse. Like now.

Come back for my views on guns. On war. On politics in America. On being a Leftist Christian in a Rightist country.

I probably won't write about abortion.

And as far as the nominee for Supreme Court is concerned, let me go on record right here that George W. Bush, our president, made a brilliant pick. I don't really know his views on issues, but that is the point. He is a smart, experienced, young, bland candidate that took out any steam in those who were itching for a fight. Heck, even the Christian Right isn't sure about him. Don't know what kind of justice he'll be, but it was a brilliant nominee.

And that's probably the last good words about George W you'll ever hear from me.

See ya soon....