{"id":2176,"date":"2021-09-12T05:52:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T11:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thedesertsanctuary\/?p=2176"},"modified":"2021-09-12T06:11:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-12T12:11:34","slug":"never-forget-violence-is-not-the-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thedesertsanctuary\/2021\/09\/never-forget-violence-is-not-the-answer\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Forget, Violence is Not the Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"
pexels.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

I remember where I was on September 11, 2001.\u00a0 I was a pastor still trying to find his way in a fundamentalist Bible church.\u00a0 We had survived the year 2000 which many people thought might be the end of the world.\u00a0 It came and went, only to usher in the infamous 9\/11 which most of us will never forget.<\/p>\n

I also remember George W. Bush standing at ground zero a few days later and vowing revenge for those that would dare to attack an American target.\u00a0 My heart swelled with pride as I watched with anticipation while the United States and their allies invaded Iraq and later Afghanistan and unleased our brand of retributive justice.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t moral \u2014 it\u2019s wasn\u2019t just or holy \u2014 but, I cheered anyway.<\/p>\n

Over the past 20 years, American armies have killed tens of thousands of human beings from other countries.\u00a0 I know, it\u2019s messy and complicated and there are no easy answers.\u00a0 \u00a0Withdrawals from these eternal wars are criticized by both sides, but my hope is that we are moving toward a better way.<\/p>\n

The circle of violence never ends when we employ retributive justice.\u00a0 The terrorists were responding to an injustice they felt in their homeland for which they blamed the U. S.\u00a0 We responded with more violence, and the cycle continued.<\/p>\n

It reminds me of a simple example from junior high.\u00a0 A guy named Mike made me mad on the playground so I pushed him down.\u00a0 He told the principal and I had to stay after school and write sentences on the board.\u00a0 Later, I found him and beat him up, so he told on me again and I got suspended for a day.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t make violence right just because we are stronger or better at fighting.<\/p>\n

Years later, I would come to realize that winning doesn\u2019t necessarily make me right and God may not be on my side, even though i have imagined that he is.\u00a0 According to Jesus, it\u2019s more about turning the other cheek and loving our enemies than conquering them.\u00a0 Other great moral leaders echo the same \u2013 violence is never the answer.<\/p>\n

For the first 300 years of Christianity, followers of Christ employed this non-violent\u00a0way.\u00a0 <\/em>They flourished in many ways even though there were parts of their journey that were difficult.\u00a0 A Roman emperor, Constantine, offered to take away their momentary suffering if they would simply join with the state.\u00a0 Thus began centuries of endless wars and senseless violence and varying degrees of acceptance of retributive justice.\u00a0 Americans continued on this march to nowhere by leading the world from one conflict to another for the simple fact that we have always considered ourselves to be exceptional and as long as we triumphed, we assumed we must be right!<\/p>\n

As long as we could kick Mike\u2019s ass, we must be the moral superior.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 No\u2013a thousand times, no!<\/p>\n

I applaud both of the recent presidents (Trump and Biden) for at least starting a withdrawal from endless combat and not committing to more violence.\u00a0 They both took heat for the messiness of doing so.\u00a0 And, we will also face criticism when we rally for new ways that contradict the norm.\u00a0 But, the faint whispers of peacemakers of the past calls to us like the drumbeat of a faithful army.\u00a0 The voice we harken to will make all the difference \u2013 the call to peace and the call to vengeance often sound the same.<\/p>\n

Violence can never be the answer \u2013 may we never forget!<\/p>\n

Be where you are, be who you are.<\/p>\n

Karl Forehand<\/p>\n

Order Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authentic<\/a><\/h4>\n
Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father\u2019s Heart and The Tea Shop. He is the creator of\u00a0The Desert Sanctuary<\/a>\u00a0podcast. He is married to his wife Laura of 32 years and has one dog named Winston. His three children are grown and are beginning to multiply!<\/h5>\n

Support us on Patreon<\/a>\u00a0 *\u00a0 \u00a0The Desert Sanctuary Website<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember where I was on September 11, 2001.\u00a0 I was a pastor still trying to find his way in a fundamentalist Bible church.\u00a0 We had survived the year 2000 which many people thought might be the end of the world.\u00a0 It came and went, only to usher in the infamous 9\/11 which most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4370,"featured_media":2179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1150,1147],"tags":[1156,971,1123,1153,245,248],"class_list":["post-2176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-violence","category-war","tag-9-11","tag-peace","tag-retribution","tag-revenge","tag-violence","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"\nNever Forget, Violence is Not the Answer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I remember where I was on September 11, 2001.\u00a0 I was a pastor still trying to find his way in a fundamentalist Bible church.\u00a0 We had survived the year\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thedesertsanctuary\/2021\/09\/never-forget-violence-is-not-the-answer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Never Forget, Violence is Not the Answer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I remember where I was on September 11, 2001.\u00a0 I was a pastor still trying to find his way in a fundamentalist Bible church.\u00a0 We had survived the year\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thedesertsanctuary\/2021\/09\/never-forget-violence-is-not-the-answer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Desert Sanctuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-12T11:52:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-12T12:11:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1333\/2021\/09\/pexels-pixabay-208674-2-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"511\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karl J. 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