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<\/a>At 35, I discovered years ago that New Year\u2019s resolutions are a practice in failure. By January 15, I haven\u2019t lost any weight, I keep swearing, I\u2019ve stopped flossing my teeth, and I haven\u2019t learned any new recipes\u2026but I can still make a pretty mean batch of Top Ramen.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another resolution I\u2019m going to fail \u2013 be more peaceful. That\u2019ll last until about 12:15 am on January 1st<\/sup>. But if you\u2019re like me, you know that the biggest problem facing our world is violence in all its forms \u2013 physical, spiritual, economic, emotional, and ecological violence are killing us and the planet. It\u2019s as if humanity is addicted to violence, which means that if there\u2019s one resolution worth keeping, it\u2019s to become more peaceful.<\/p>\n So, to help us become more peaceful in 2015, here are my top 5 ways to have a more peaceful 2015:<\/p>\n Are you offended yet? Well don\u2019t worry. The first step in overcoming any addiction is to honestly admit that you have one. So, if you find yourself protesting, \u201cWhat a jerk! I\u2019m not violent! I\u2019m a peaceful person!\u201d you know you have violent streak. And here\u2019s the thing: that\u2019s okay. We all have a violent streak. As someone who promotes nonviolence, I can be provoked to violence pretty easily. I often feel like the theologian and ethicist Stanley Hauerwas when he said<\/a>, \u201cI say I\u2019m a pacifist because I am a violent son of a bitch\u2026But by avowing it, I create expectations within others that hopefully will help me live faithfully to what is true. But that I have no confidence in my own ability to live it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n The scapegoat mechanism<\/a> is the reason I have no confidence in my own ability to be faithful to peace. As explained by Ren\u00e9 Girard<\/a>, the violent scapegoat mechanism is everywhere in human culture. Scapegoating is blaming someone else for our problems. When two people experience tensions in their relationship they unite against a scapegoat. Scapegoating another makes them feel like their relationship is tighter. They create a bond by teaming up against their scapegoat. And once they have dealt with their common enemy, they feel a sense of peace. But that peace is only temporary because blaming someone else for our problems never actually solves our problem. The scapegoat mechanism runs every aspect of our lives. Its violence permeates our families, neighborhoods, workplace, religious institutions, economics, and politics. So, if you are serious about becoming a more peaceful person, become aware of the scapegoat mechanism. Notice it and name it. And then stop participating in it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Did you ever read War and Peace? Me neither. I hear it\u2019s great\u2026But I can tell you that war never leads to lasting peace. Oh, sure. War gives us a temporary sense of peace. Attempting to kill our enemies makes us feel like we are making the world a safer place. But if there\u2019s anything we should learn from the last 14 years of the \u201cWar on Terror,\u201d it\u2019s that war only creates more enemies. But our \u201cenemies\u201d aren\u2019t the real problem. As the Paul wrote 2,000 years ago, \u201cOur struggle is not against enemies of the flesh and blood, but against\u2026the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil.\u201d The way to lasting peace isn\u2019t to kill flesh and blood; it\u2019s to struggle against \u201cthe spiritual forces of evil.\u201d And the only way to struggle against those forces is to work for justice. Peace can only be achieved through justice.<\/strong> Not a justice based on retaliation, but a justice that seeks to heal. The Hebrew prophets and Jesus were obsessed with making sure everyone\u2019s basic needs were met. The prophets claimed that if the nation didn\u2019t care for the weak, vulnerable, and marginalized \u2013 those who were scapegoated \u2013 that the nation would fall. Jesus gave free food to crowds of poor people. He even provided free health care to people! The way of justice modeled by the prophets and by Jesus is a justice that heals and leads to peace.<\/p>\n Jesus said that peacemakers are blessed. Jesus had a very specific way of making peace and it had nothing to do with scapegoating or killing people. He knew that killing people would only strengthen the scapegoating process and never deal with the actual problem, which is violence. But here\u2019s the obvious problem: Jesus was killed. And his death wasn\u2019t very peaceful. Yet, Jesus was right. Peacemakers are blessed because they unmask the violent powers of evil. They reveal that violence and scapegoating only leads to more violence and scapegoating. As Ren\u00e9 Girard states in his book Violence and the Sacred<\/a><\/em>, \u201cEvil and the violent measures to combat evil are essentially the same.\u201d But the powers don\u2019t like to be expose. People who are blinded and seduced by those powers don\u2019t respond kindly to peacemakers. Know that by following Jesus and becoming a peacemaking you will be blessed by God, but you are likely to be cursed by others. As you expose the violence of the scapegoating mechanism, family and friends who are enthralled to the mechanism may turn against you. And that\u2019s okay. You don\u2019t hold it against them because you know they are enthralled to the mechanism.<\/strong> You are blessed because you know that you are too. (See number 1.) And because you are aware of your own tendency to scapegoat, you can forgive others for theirs.<\/p>\n Love is fundamental to being more peaceful. But let\u2019s face it, love is hard. I find it especially hard to love myself. I beat myself up for not being good enough, smart enough, popular enough, or peaceful enough. I fail in so many ways. I gave up New Year\u2019s resolutions years ago because it only confirmed the fact that I\u2019m a total failure. And this resolution to be more peaceful? Not a chance. But Jesus<\/a> and the Hebrew priest of Leviticus<\/a> tell us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. But it\u2019s hard. I\u2019m aware that I\u2019m going to fail at love and so are my neighbors. And that\u2019s okay. Failure is part of being human. So be gentle on yourself and on your neighbors.<\/strong> When we fail, when we get caught up in the violent scapegoat mechanism, we don\u2019t have to beat ourselves up. Rather, we can receive those blessed words from Jesus, \u201cFather, forgive them, for they know not what they do.\u201d We can receive God\u2019s forgiveness and offer that forgiveness to others. In Jesus we find that forgiveness and justice, not violence, are the way to peace.<\/p>\n Those are my top 5 ways to be more peaceful in 2015. Let me know what you would add. May you have a peaceful 2015!<\/p>\n *Make another resolution to like the Teaching Nonviolent Atonement<\/a> and\u00a0Raven Foundation Facebook pages<\/a>! And ask your friends to join as we make a commitment to peace in 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At 35, I discovered years ago that New Year\u2019s resolutions are a practice in failure. By January 15, I haven\u2019t lost any weight, I keep swearing, I\u2019ve stopped flossing my teeth, and I haven\u2019t learned any new recipes\u2026but I can still make a pretty mean batch of Top Ramen. Here\u2019s another resolution I\u2019m going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1651,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[107,355,539,145,156,437,173,205],"class_list":["post-2107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-jesus","tag-justice","tag-new-years-resolutions","tag-peace","tag-rene-girard","tag-scapegoat-mechanism","tag-scapegoating","tag-violence"],"yoast_head":"\n5. Admit that you are a violent person.<\/h3>\n
4. Become aware of the scapegoat mechanism<\/h3>\n
3. Know the relationship between war and peace and justice<\/h3>\n
2. Blessed are the peacemakers and forgivers<\/h3>\n
1.\u00a0 Love and forgive your neighbor as you love and forgive yourself<\/h3>\n