I don't know if any of you know, but I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary.
*queue surprise*
I really think the man's going to make a positive difference for our country, and I truly believe that he's cut from a different cloth as far as politicians are concerned. I have my reservations, but I'm throwing myself into this thing in the hope that my political influence, including both my vote and voice, will put a man in power that cares for at least most of what I think God cares about. That seems like a good idea to me.
As some of you may know, in Chicago this past week, a group of demonstrators which contained a huge number of Bernie supporters, shut down a Donald Trump rally. At the time at which the rally was over, to the best of my understanding, these people were peaceful. In the minutes and hours after, the same could not be said. Violence spilled out of both sides, but I am intensely disappointed in the supporters of my candidate for engaging in the kind of violence which Donald Trump espouses. We all, the collective body of consciences arrayed against Mr. Trump for his rhetoric, should condemn violence in all its forms, whether it comes from our side or his.
And so, in the interest of encouraging that, I would like to take a minute to talk about violence. Mahatma Gandhi once said,"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
And as a Christian pacifist, I have to say that Gandhi got it right. When my Lord came to this earth, He came peacefully. There were dozens of false Christs who tried to lead, in the spirit of Judas Maccabeus, armed insurrections against Rome. The real Christ's most violent act was a turning over tables the week of his crucifixion, and even in that he only struck the cattle from a careful reading of the account in John. He saw the oppression of the Romans, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the moral degradation of the Gentile nations around Israel - never once did he strike anyone, never once did he kill. When Peter, in the only case of defense of the innocent we ever see in the New Testament, goes to strike the Romans arresting Jesus, he draws a sword and cuts off a single ear - and Jesus rebukes him for it, famously teaching, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword." Even to injure a Roman in defense of his Lord seemed beyond Jesus' desire for his servant.
The side of righteousness is not a side that condones violence. My faith in Christ has substantially changed my views on that subject. You can't love your enemy while you're gunning him down, socking him in the jaw, or firing guns over the heads of his supporters. Non-violent resistance won the day in the Civil Rights movement. It won the day in Gandhi's protests in India. It won the day when the early Christians silently went to their deaths, eschewing self-defense in the favor of a greater glory.
Today, as we stand against a demagogue, and I do believe the man to be a demagogue - not in the original sense of the term but in its derived and more popular sense, a man that appeals to the prejudices of the people and espouses hatred, bigotry, and violence to gain popularity, a man that asks people to be their worst selves and profits off of their succumbing to that temptation - I urge everyone, friend and foe of this man, love your enemies. Bless those who curse you: bless, and do not curse. Being reviled, do not revile in return. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. When your enemy strikes you on the one cheek, turn the other to him also, and when he takes your coat, give him your shirt. These words, from our Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and from his apostle Paul, should inform the way we protest as much as the way we preach, if not more. As we demonstrate, let us not demonstrate that we hate Trump - let us demonstrate that we love our fellow man too much to be led by him. Let us overcome him by our love.
