Edom must have needed a lot of free labor (Amos 1:6-10).  Thanks to Gaza and Tyre, whole neighborhoods ended up working there involuntarily to ensure Edom’s economic vitality.

Reading the Scripture today, I thought of how important cheap (or free) labor is to keeping our own economic engines running smoothly.  We demand low prices for goods which requires cost cutting all along the production chain.  My beloved low prices have come at a terrible human cost.  We often think that slavery ended with the Emancipation Proclamation.  The reality is that enslavement continues in the sweat shops of Asia and Central America and the rights of American workers are being slowed chipped away as companies threaten to move jobs to those cheap labor pools.  The slave market is still open for business.  Whole communities are captured (this time by the promise of jobs) and sold down the river for my benefit.  The violence of slavery is not only perpetrated by those who chain workers to sewing machines, but also by those who economically benefit from their bondage.  No wonder God, the God of justice, is peeved.  The treaties of brotherhood have been been set aside for something much more insidious–an alliance with Almighty Dollar.

It seems impossible that we are already to the half way mark of our 40 days without violence.  Am I less violent? I hope so.  I am more sensitive to violence in its various forms, that’s for sure.

So, now I come to Amos 1:3-5, and I’m confronted again with the horrors of war.  Damascus, the capitol of Aram, violently and inhumanely “threshes” Gilead, and God has had enough.  From what I understand, sledges with iron teeth were used primarily to separate grain from the stalks of wheat, crushing and grinding and cutting as the sledge passed over the stalks.  Unbelievably, these farm implements were sometimes used in war–with captured soldiers (and sometimes regular people) standing in for the stalks of wheat.  You do not have to go back to Aram to find atrocities in war.  The “rape of Nanking” in WWII by Japanese Imperial forces.  The torture chambers of Abu-Ghraib.  We might not use sledges with iron teeth, but we continue to blithely humiliate and anihilate without a twinge of conscience.  All is NOT fair in love and war.  God puts it in the “sin” category.  And there are (will be) consequences.

First, I read today’s Scripture (Psalm 11) and then I read the recent post “Just Two Questions…” at www.kimballavejw.wordpress.com.  Wow, is Psalm 11 relevant!  My first response to the tragic violence in Grant Park and the Fullerton El stop (and I knew Sally King) was, I understand why people say “Flee like a bird to your mountain!”–the ancient equivalent of “Move to the suburbs!”  And I understand hopelessness in the face of violence (ie “when the foundations of law and order are collapsing, what can the righteous do?”)

In the face of senseless and disturbing violence, we often hear the “escape” advice.  “Move to someplace safer.”  I hear it all the time.  Young parents in the city tell me they have to move to protect their children   In our culture of violence, no place is truly safe anymore.  And there is a growing helplessness and hopelessness.  What can we do?

First, we cannot stop being people of justice in the face of violence.  The upright will see God’s face.  Second, we cannot forget the One who sits upon the throne.  God is in God’s holy temple.  My safety is not determined by my location.  My safety–and my peace–are determined by the location of my God.

The prophet Habakkuk laments that he lives in a culture of violence (Habakkuk 1:2-4) and that God doesn’t seem to notice or care.  (BTW, God does notice and care, but God’s silence is frustrating.)  What I find most insightful is Habakkuk’s connection of the pervasiveness of violence with the absence of  justice.  When violence is allowed to flourish, it is empowered; and when it is empowered, it intimidates and controls all of life.  The result: Justice is perverted, justice is paralyzed.

I have been frustrated that the loudest  people in this country (even Christian loud mouths) are against any form of regulation of gun manufacturing, distribution or posession.  I have been frustrated that the government cannot pass any sort of regulation of industries that destroy whole communities (banking, oil, natural gas, etc).  I have been frustrated that our nation’s MO is violence and intimidation when we feel threatened (policies of “homeland security”, pre-emptive strikes, CIA assassination plots).  How long, O Lord?  How long?

There is a time for lamenting the way life is.  My lament today: Violence sucks.

There’s a war going on–and it’s not in Iraq.  It’s going on inside of me.  A conflict between flesh and spirit (Galatians 5:16-26).  And I have be honest that flesh has won more battles than I care to admit.  But here’s the crazy part–until I started this Lenten Compact ‘fast from violence’, I didn’t have a struggle with violence.  Now, I see violence everywhere and I’ve become aware of how much I allow it to be a part of my life.

Last night, I watched “Prince Caspian”.  I thought, “No problem here.  CS Lewis was a believer.”  The whole thing was epic battles led by children with swords that were taller than they were and killing the bad guys to free Narnia.  Ah, glorious war for a good cause.  Pre-Compact, I wouldn’t have even thought about it, but now–a total different story.  We package violence and sell it to young children.  Aslan didn’t win; the flesh (via Hollywood) did.

The bottom line is that the flesh will always win until it is challenged.  And though the struggle really intensifies when the Spirit enters our lives,  is is only by the presence of God’s Spirit that we will become people of God’s love, joy and peace.  It is the Spirit that gives life, and we will only experience victory over the flesh and death as we walk with the Spirit.

I think Paul’s comment in Galatians 5:13-15, “Do not bite and devour one another or you will destroy one another.” is telling.  Violence ultimately harms both the victim and the perpetrator.  We have too often bought into the belief that acting out in violence will make us feel better and will lead to healing catharsis. Revenge is sweet.  It is a myth.  Acting on our impulses to hurt others actually hurts ourselves and prevents the wholeness that God intends in our relationships.

Love does no harm. (Romans 13:8-10)  Love fulfills the Law.  Love overcomes violence.  All you need is love.  We hear that message so frequently–in music, in books, in sermons–and it sounds so simple.  But we obviously haven’t gotten it.  And it isn’t as simple as it sounds.  We are embedded in systems that constantly do harm to others–promoting short term gain over long-term sustainability.  We live in anxiety and act out of self-interest over community health and well-being.  Most of us don’t consider consequences.  We are happy to be ignorant.  But is it hopeless?  If we believe in the resurrection, we cannot give in to despair.  If we have received the Holy Spirit, a new way is possible.  We are a new creation in Christ.  Love is fruit–produced within us by the creative presence of the Spirit.  Fill me now!

On a vacation trip to Washington DC, my family visited the National Archives to see the original copy of the Constitution.  It was not that memorable.  However, in another part of the building, the Archives had an exhibit of WW II posters that had been displayed to encourage people to support the war effort against Germany and Japan.  This was memorable.

Many of us have seen  ‘Uncle Sam’ pointing his finger at us seriously with the caption, “I Want You for the US Army.”  His eyes seem to follow you wherever you go.  Creepy.  Then there is the woman showing her biceps.  “We Can Do It”.  Kind of Sexy.  What I had never seen were the posters reminding the American people to never let their guard down.  The artwork was amazing, but I found it most disturbing.  The Japanese especially were caricatured as rats with elongated noses and little round glasses carrying bayonets or as gorillas with massive heads and huge teeth, Captions read, “This is the Enemy” or “They’re Coming Here.”  Nobody cares about rats.  In fact, most people want rats exterminated.  Dehumanize the enemy and there is no remorse about killing them and no second thoughts about incinerating them.

Jesus’ teaching about loving our enemies (Matthew 5:43ff) challenges the act of dehumanization.  Our enemies are people too.  How easy it is to forget that simple and obvious truth.  How easy it is to internalize the propaganda and live it out.

While I was reading today’s Scripture,(Matthew 5:38-42)  I was taken back to the story of Lamech in Genesis.  Lamech had carried out vengeance to an extreme (killing a man for hitting him).  So in one sense, “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ seems controlled, reasonable, limiting.  But Jesus takes the prohibition to the limit–actually putting revenge in reverse.  Rather than responding with violence, respond with nonviolence.  Why?  Violence for violence doesn’t challenge the culture of violence.  It confirms it.  A new response is required if we are going to be citizens of the kingdom and people of Shalom.

But is Jesus advocating that we be doormats?  I don’t think so.  A doormat does nothing.  Jesus expects an action.  Action implies ability and power.  Walter Wink in his short book, Jesus and Nonviolence, gives very helpful insight into how the actions Jesus suggests actually push the aggressor into the light so the injustice is exposed.  Jesus is not suggesting we “lay down and die” in the face of aggression.  He is proposing a new strategy that challenges the aggression without violence.

When I began my ministry at Kimball Avenue, I met a woman who had carried a terrible secret for more than 70 years.  She was convinced she had committed the “unpardonable sin” when she was 19 years old.  She was divorced.  Her marriage had lasted only a few months, and even her closest friends in the church never knew she had been married.  But she had sinned terribly and she was certain that God would send her to hell.    I tell the story because the church turned Jesus’ statements about divorce into a new legalism that did more violence.

Jesus’ extreme limits on divorce (Matt 5:31-32) are not intended to do violence, but to prevent violence–especially violence against women.  Only men had the legal right to initiate a divorce.  Jewish law gave men great leeway in determining just cause for divorce.  Divorce is about power.  The threat of divorce is a means of coercion and manipulation.  “Do what I tell you, or else…”  And a woman who didn’t cooperate ended up on the street without any means of support–forcing her into compromising situations.  I have often wondered how many of the “prostitutes” that Jesus ministered to were actually women who had suffered the violence of divorce and had been cast aside.

While we have “balanced” power in domestic relationships–women have the same rights of divorce as men–I believe Jesus’ statement still is relevant.  Jesus is not just talking about the legal issues around divorce.  He is addressing abuse of power and coercive use of power.  Just because we have the right to do something doesn’t automatically make it right.  Power is a dangerous thing.  Putting limits around power protects the vulnerable.