Eye for an Eye Madness

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

The sweet smell of peace takes me to the door of heaven.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

You give us life and love.
You give us peace and purpose.
You give us hope.
Yet when living brings pain, we reject you and the value of your gifts.
We become unruly and ungrateful children.
You offer forgiveness; you prepare to embrace us.
God, you’re amazing!
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“I’ve been working out every day since Sarah called me a wimp.”

[She called ‘em as she saw ‘em, I suppose. But He never said this.]

D. Blog: Eye for an Eye

I had a seminary professor who said that all major religions strive to teach one thing: not to return evil for evil.

There seems to be some question about that in parts of Islam and in too much Christianity and Judaism. Nevertheless, I think the remark is correct. A God-centered life, a life in touch with the Divine, a spiritual person, a person steeped in religion above politics or business, will not be about getting even.

An eye for an eye only damages our vision. An eye for an eye keeps us from seeing what is important. An eye for an eye leads to a lot of broken body parts. An eye for an eye robs us of at least one of our senses, makes us out of our senses. An eye for an eye is cruel and inhuman, barbarian, cold-blooded. An eye for an eye is an appeal to lower math when a higher calculus is needed and available.

So much of the political landscape today is about this eye for an eye madness: crime and punishment, capital punishment, terrorism and the fight against it, Israelis and their step-counterstep dance of destruction.

We can demonstrate the alternatives: compassion, dialogue, penitence, forgiveness. We can learn that four eyes are better than three, two, one or none.