This week, after making the last post, I wanted to write about something that has been on my mind a lot over the last few months. I have talked about this issue with friends on many occasions, and all of those conversations have been interesting as well as insightful. However, when I sat down to actually write the thing, it turned out to be much harder than I had originally intended or imagined. I am having a difficult time grasping exactly why that is. There are all of these intelligent things I want to say, but exactly how to put them seems difficult to nail down with precision.
That being the case, I am going to try the direct approach. I’ve become astonishingly aware, of late, how much we truly worship violence, myself included. As a society, we have talked about/scoffed about the violence of video games and movies over the years. Today, violence is actually a relatively rare occurrence in the typical American’s daily experience. I know for some it is a part of their everyday existence, but for the majority of us, we are safer now than we have ever been. The murder-rate, though higher here than other developed countries, is the lowest it has ever been in any historic period that we can truly record. Yet, we seem to have found ways to make sure violence itself is a part of everything we do.
Look at the most popular movies of the last year. Both the second Avengers movie, and the new Star Wars film, are full of violence. Though they are not the bloody affairs like Saving Private Ryan, they still have a great deal of violence. I saw them both, and wanted to see them badly. I, along with everyone else in the theater, cheered more for the big fight scenes of the Avengers than…say the scene where Black Widow tells the heartbreaking story of her forced sterilization. It wasn’t the scene where Rey had the vision that make everyone cheer; it was seeing the Millennium Falcon dogfight against TIE fighters over a desert planet. Its war and punching and brute strength and winners and losers, and those are the parts that we want to devour. They are narratives that appeal to the part of us that wants there to be stark contrasts between good/evil, winners/losers.
It’s why American Football is the most popular sport. It’s the only one where you have a very high probability of coming away with serious brain injury, and yet those hits that probably cause said injuries are why we watch. For years, my favorite team was not the one with the flashy offense, but the one that had a defense that could hurt you. Even in an era where there are rules to regulate hitting to try and lessen the effects of brain injuries, it’s those exact moments where two Adonis(es?) collide headlong at full speed that thrill us. We love it so much that we spend millions of dollars for teenagers to have the best stadium from which we can witness this event.
Unlike anything else, violence captures our attention.
Today, even Christians advocate for violence. During the time of Advent, there were several high-profile Christians advocating for violence in one form or another. Whether it be violence against personal bodily attack, or US response to international terrorism, some Christians who have big platforms advocated for violence. It’s not the first time this has happened to be sure, and it most likely will not be the last. (Anyone remember the Crusades? No?)
When I heard about or read about some of the vehemence expressed by these leaders who so fervently trumpet the name of Jesus, I became felt uncomfortable. As a person of the Christian faith, I don’t really feel it was appropriate. Should we, as representatives of a homeless prophet put to death by the State, advocate for state sponsored violence against others? Should we, who were told to “turn the other cheek,” and that, “they who live by the sword will die by the sword” really be so quick to boast of our own willingness to dispense violence? Should the followers of the one who healed the ear of one of the people come to arrest him be so quick threaten the lives of others in order to defend their ideologies?
We both know all of those questions are rhetorical…but I hope you will want to talk about it in the comments section anyway.
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