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April 27, 2008
Does Religion Cause Violence?
a sermon on Matthew 5.38-48
by
David C. Mauldin
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Mobile, Alabama
Does religion
cause violence and oppression? If so, what can be done about it? You may be
aware that in recent years several prominent atheists have popularized their
anti-religious message. Bookstores do brisk trade in books like God Is Not Great
by Christopher Hitchens and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, as well as
books by Christian authors engaging their arguments. Popular magazines and
television shows have also picked up the debate. This new crop of atheists
contends not just that religion is wrong, but that it is also dangerous, a
threat to the well-being of communities and the world. I decided to preach on
the theme of religious violence for two reasons. First, this is an idea gaining
currency these days—the idea that religion causes violence and oppression. You
may feel it is unfair to paint all religions with the same brush or to consider
Christians today to be the same as the Crusaders or Inquisitors; and it is. But
something more is going on. People are becoming wary of religion. They have seen
it cause people to do evil things, and they have learned to distrust it. I‟ll
have more to say about this before we are through. Second, we Christians never
want to leave it to the atheists to ask a question like, “What can we do to
prevent violence in the name of religion?” Christians have been asking that
question. Sometimes it is good to talk about it from the pulpit. Atheists like
Hitchens and Dawkins—and of course, not all atheists are like them; most have a
live-and-let-live attitude—but these do not because they fear religion cannot be
trusted to keep its side of the “let live” arrangement. They contend that
religion is dangerous. It exacerbates the differences among groups of people. It
absolutizes our values and ideals. In short, it gives us something to kill for.
Does religion cause violence? Yes, they say, of course it does. What can be done
about it? Unfortunately, from their perspective, religion is here to stay. A
hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, atheists assumed religion would
quietly disappear. Now, it seems, the world is as religious as ever, perhaps
more so. Knowing they cannot get rid of religion, they set out to marginalize
it. The solution is to make religion a purely private thing, something you would
be embarrassed to discuss in polite company, something everyone agrees has no
business in politics or the public arena. Push religion into a tiny corner and
make people embarrassed to talk about it, and then maybe it won‟t cause too
Does Religion Cause Violence? 2
much harm. That‟s basically their solution. I think they answered the first
question correctly but got the second one wrong. Does religion cause violence?
How could we say no? We would have to ignore the entire Middle East. You might
say, “Well, look at the situation with Israel and the Palestinians. That‟s about
a lot more than religion. Until modern times—apart from the Muslim conquests and
the Christian crusades—Jews, Muslims, and Christians lived together for
centuries in relative peace.” And you would be right. It is about a lot more
than just religion, but religion is a big part of it. “OK,” you might say, “but
isn‟t this really about other religions beside Christianity. Sure there were the
Crusades and all that a long time ago, but Christians today are not like that,
are they?” Two words: Northern Ireland. Protestants versus Catholics. It‟s a
stain on Christianity we can never erase. It makes me sick to think about it.
Granted a lot more than just religion was going on there too, but again religion
was a big part of it. The sad truth is, oppression and violence have been
perpetrated in the name of every religion, even ones that ostensibly preach
peace, such as Buddhism and Christianity. The short answer, then, has to be yes.
Religion does cause violence and oppression. A longer, more nuanced answer is:
Religion is often the occasion for violence, but the root cause goes deeper.
Consider a few interesting facts: First, some religions glorify war and violence
while others preach peace, yet the followers of all have been guilty. If you
look at their scriptures and doctrines, neither a Christian nor a Buddhist has
any good reason to kill or oppress anyone in the name of their faith. So why
have they? “Well, that‟s just what religion does to people,” someone might
argue. But I‟m not so sure. A Christian believes Jesus is God and therefore must
be obeyed. Jesus teaches the things found in our scripture reading. Then that
Christian persecutes someone because they do believe in Jesus? I know it has
happened. I suspect the cause goes deeper than our atheist friends may suspect.
I believe the real cause, at the deepest level, is our brokenness. Humanity is
in a state of rebellion against God, and so we are estranged both from God and
from ourselves. We are, to use a Christian word, sinners. Might violence and
oppression be rooted not in our religious differences but in our sinful hearts?
Second, we could test this theory if there were a society based on secular,
anti-religious principles. Would violence and oppression be found in a society
without religion? The 20th century gave us several test cases. The Soviet Union,
Cambodia, North Korea, and Communist China all are or were strictly secular.
Religion was officially not allowed (or was very, very tightly controlled). In
fact, efforts were made to stamp out all religion. And what was the human rights
record of these atheistic governments? Good heavens, they were far worse than
anything ever perpetrated in the name of religion! Stalin‟s victims are numbered
in the tens of millions. Cambodia is famous for its “killing fields.” And
honestly, who among us would want to even visit North Korea,
Does Religion Cause Violence? 3
much less live there? When these states did away with religion, the result was
hardly a flourishing of peace and human dignity. And that leads me to a third
fact which is not a fact but a thought experiment proposed by Alister McGrath.
Imagine you could snap your fingers and tomorrow when you woke up, religion
would be entirely gone from the world. No church, mosque, synagogue, or temple.
No scriptures or teachings. No clergy. No believers. Everyone woke up an
atheist. Not a trace of religion is left. Now … would oppression and violence be
gone as well? … What do you think? Would people still abuse one another? Would
nations still go to war? Of course it‟s all hypothetical, but I am certain of my
answer. Of course there would still be violence. People would still be human
beings, after all. Religion is clearly the occasion for much violence and
oppression, but the root cause goes deeper than our religious differences. The
root cause is our fallen human nature. This is why I say that Hitchens and
Dawkins are wrong about the solution. If getting rid of religion won‟t solve the
problem of violence, simply relegating it to the private sphere of society won‟t
solve anything either. In fact, it may do harm. If the root cause is our fallen,
sinful nature, the best solution will be something that addresses that. As
McGrath suggests, if you want to solve the problem of human violence, you need
more of Jesus, not less. So what solution do I propose? I do have one, but I am
afraid it is only partial. I don‟t know what to do about other religions. My
answer is specific to Christianity. I do believe Jesus is for everyone, but I am
not naïve enough to suppose everyone will follow him. My solution is specific to
those who do. For the rest, the best I can say is: Every legitimate government
has a God-given mandate to maintain peace and protect its citizens. We ought to
speak against religious violence and oppression no matter where they come from,
and we ought to resist them, just as we resist violence motivated by any other
reason. When it comes to Christianity, however, I can do better. The solution to
violence perpetrated by Christians in the name of God is not less Christianity,
as if taking our faith less seriously or holding our faith less dearly would
make us less prone to violence, but rather more Christianity. We need to take
Jesus and his teachings more seriously. Consider our scripture reading this
morning. What place does Jesus leave for violence in his name? None! The old law
of “an eye for an eye” was fair. It was just. And it was there, by the way, to
keep violence in check. Without it, you put out my eye, so I kill you. Then your
family kills me, and my family kills … you see how it goes. Retaliation has a
way of escalating out of control. “An eye for an eye” kept it in control. You
take an eye, nothing more. Jesus, however, thinks that goes too far. Don‟t
retaliate, he said. Having grown up in a society influenced by Christianity, we
do not realize how
Does Religion Cause Violence? 4
difficult this teaching has been for many cultures. It has been a major
stumbling block for many on the road to faith. How can Jesus say this? How dare
he ask such a thing? The Saxons, for example, when they first heard the
Christian message, thought it was an emasculating religion for wimps. Jesus
should have killed his enemies and commanded us to do the same. Even when Saxons
became convinced of the truth of Christianity, they found this teaching hard to
understand and hard to live by. It is radical. Love your enemies! How can that
be? Did Jesus have any idea what he was asking? As it turns out, he did. Look
beyond his words to his deeds. Do we ever read of Jesus coercing someone into
making a profession of faith? Was he out there twisting arms for support? No!
And how did he treat his enemies? He refused to do any violence against them. As
he hung on a cross dying, because they had put him there, he prayed, “Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Any Christian who takes the
teachings and example of Jesus seriously can never persecute, oppress, or kill
another human being in his name. One or two of you might be thinking, “OK, I
agree with that, but didn‟t Jesus once say, „Do not think that I have come to
bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.‟ [Mt
10.34]?” Yes, he did; but look at the context of what he was saying—it‟s in
Matthew, chapter 10. He was talking about causing division among people because
some believe in him and others do not. He was not suggesting we use swords. He
was warning swords would be used against his followers. And he was right. In the
New Testament we read of riots in Rome and Ephesus after large numbers of people
began to follow Jesus. In Ephesus it was led by the silversmiths, who made their
money selling idols. Christianity threatened to put them out of business. It is
an old story repeated over and over through history. Jesus saw it coming. He did
not, however, instruct his followers to practice violence. “Wait a minute,” you
may be thinking. “What about the picture of Jesus in the Book of the Revelation,
where he comes as the rider on the white horse to judge and make war? Doesn‟t it
say, „From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations,
and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the
fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.‟ [Rev.19.15]?” You bet it does! And that
picture of Jesus is very important if we want to reduce violence in our world.
How can this be? Simple: Imagine your house has been burned, your family raped
and killed, and you have been beaten and left with serious permanent injuries.
Jesus tells you not to retaliate. It is easy to talk peace and forgiveness in
affluent, middle class suburbs. What about in a situation like this one, which
unfortunately has happened to many, many people in various times and places.
Things like that still happen today. How in the world can you not retaliate? How
can you not hate? There‟s only one way, and that is if you know justice will be
done. Jesus does not ask you to pretend nothing
Does Religion Cause Violence? 5
ever happened. God doesn‟t just indulge sin and pretend it isn‟t there. God
loves justice, and he will set things right. You can count on that. This gives
the guilty reason to repent, and it frees victims not to strike back. “Vengeance
is mine, says the Lord. I will repay!” You bet he will. But if vengeance is his,
it is not ours. Payback is his job, not yours or mine. Personally I never have
any qualms when scripture attributes violence to the hand of God. God is
all-knowing and he is perfectly just. If he chooses to smite, who am I to
question him? But it is so important that we leave smiting to him. I prefer a
God who judges the wicked over one who doesn‟t care enough to make things right.
The One True God is a God of justice, and fortunately for us also a God of grace
and mercy. You can be certain that every evil deed will be answered, punishment
being suffered by the perpetrator or by Jesus on the cross. So judgment by God?
Absolutely! Violence by human beings in his name? Never! One last question you
may have: Does this mean all Christians ought to be pacifists? It is true that
most in the early church were, although we find that fascinating line in
scripture when John the Baptist was telling people to repent and turn to God.
Some soldiers asked him, “What about us?” And he told them, “Do not extort money
from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages” [Lk
3.14]. So apparently neither John the Baptist nor Luke, who included this in his
gospel, found an inconsistency between being a Christian and serving in the
military. In a world like ours, the strong must protect the weak. We cannot have
peace, order, and stability without a strong police force, for example. And the
police must sometimes use violence to protect the innocent. This is not wrong.
And of course, whatever a Christian does for a living, he or she does to the
glory of God. So a Christian soldier or police officer has a God-given vocation
to protect and defend. There is a big difference, however, between that and
violence in the name of God or oppression for the sake of religion. A police
officer who shoots a masked gunman does so in order to protect the innocent, not
because the gunman doesn‟t go to church. Once again we are nearing the end of a
sermon, and you have to wonder why I have preached such a message. After all, it
is not as if I were concerned that any of you might go out and violently oppress
your neighbors. We Presbyterians are polite to a fault. Can you imagine one of
our elders egging a neighbor‟s house because those neighbors won‟t come to
church? It‟s so ridiculous it‟s funny. I am not concerned you will oppress
others, but I do want you to understand something. Many non-Christians in our
society view Christians as narrow, intolerant, and prone to oppress others. Many
wrongly believe that Christianity causes us to view non-believers as inherently
less worthy of respect and human dignity. Now, we can protest all we want that
our faith gives us a higher view of every human being, because every human being
is made in the image of God, is loved by God, and Jesus died for
Does Religion Cause Violence? 6
every human being. We can point out that the whole idea of human rights grew out
of Christian societies. But those are just words. The only way to convince them,
if they can be convinced, is through our actions. This idea is widespread—the
idea that Christianity causes Christians to mistreat others. It gains currency
as our society wanders farther from its Christian roots. It saddens me. I know
there will always be many people like the rich young ruler in the gospels who
understand what Jesus is about and see clearly what he asks of them, then they
turn and walk away. So be it. God gives them that choice. It is sad; but far,
far sadder is when someone rejects not Jesus, not the gospel, not true
Christianity, but a gross caricature. They imagine that Christianity means this
or that—because they saw a movie or picked up a prejudice somewhere. And they
rightly reject the caricature—so would you or I, so would Jesus. But then having
rejected the caricature, their mind is closed to the real thing. Our job, as
Christians, is to live in such a way that they begin to suspect what they have
rejected is not the real thing. We must show them, by our words and especially
how we treat others, that knowing Jesus makes us more loving—at least more
loving than we would be otherwise. God has changed our hearts. We know his
grace. That ought to make a difference—a difference people can see, so that when
they get to know you, they say, “I always thought Christians were petty or
judgmental or whatever, but you are not that way. Perhaps I was wrong about
Christians.” And if they take a fresh look at Christians, maybe they will take a
fresh look at Jesus as well. We have a lot to live down. When many people think
of Christianity their first thought is the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem
witch trials. When many people think of the church they immediately think of the
sex scandals in the Catholic Church or money grubbing televangelists. For many
the negative view of Christianity is prejudice. They have been told that
Christianity is intolerant or malevolent, and they never bother to find out for
themselves. For others, it‟s based on personal experience, a bad experience at a
church or something. Remember to be gentle with people because many
non-Christians do not have a positive or neutral feeling toward your faith. This
should not make you defensive. Instead, you should try to show them all the
beauty and all the good stuff that attracted you to Jesus and causes you to try
to live by his teachings. If we take Jesus seriously, we will prove Hitchens and
Dawkins wrong, because our lives will be more gracious and beautiful because of
our faith, not less. People are watching us. What will they see? If they are
prejudiced against Christianity, will our lives confirm their negativity, or
will we cause them to wonder? … Amen. rev_mauldin@yahoo.com
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