Is Violence, Ever The Will Of God?

Shock and awe.  Again.  

Last Thursday, 59, incredibly sophisticated, subsonic, U.S. Tomahawk missiles zeroed in on the Al Shayrat air base in Syria, apparently 'wrecking,' a portion of the Syrian's chemical weapons operation.  

Undoubtedly, the attack fed the hunger of many, who cried we must to 'do something' in the wake of the horrific Syrian infliction of chemical weapons, on innocent, civilian victims. 

And so, the launching of 59, incredibly sophisticated, subsonic, U.S. Tomahawk missiles did something -- but did the missiles do anything consequential -- to really remedy the problem?

Probably, not.  

As the Associated Press reported on Saturday:   

"...The U.S. missile attack caused heavy damage to one of Syria's biggest and most strategic air bases...[But as defense/intelligence analyst Reed Foster observed]...'Although the strike will further weaken the overall air defense and ground attack capabilities of the (Syrian air force), it will not significantly diminish the ability of the Assad regime to conduct further chemical weapons attacks.'  [Col. Hassan Hamade, a Syrian pilot who defected in June 2012, agreed]:  "The bombardment of Shayrat will not have a major effect on military operations of the regime...No matter how extensive the damage at Shayrat, Assad has other options...[To be precise, Hamade] expects the country's third-most active, Saqqal air base, which is also located in central Syria, will fill the vacuum created by the destruction at Shayrat.   (U.S. Strike On Syrian Air Base Has Limited Impact On Assad, Associated Press, April 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/04/08/world/middleeast/ap-ml-syria-air-bases.html

No wonder, Jesus advised:  do not return 'eye for eye,' 'tooth for tooth' (Matthew 6:38-41).  
Not only is it 'flat-out' wrong -- it is also -- terribly ineffective.  Translated:  returning violence for violence lacks efficiency; it doesn't work.  

Jim Wallis alludes to this, in a prophetic 2013 piece in Sojourners, concerning Syria,    

"Military options always have unintended consequences. 

• Entering into the tactics of war can easily bring other players and nations into the war.
• Threats of retaliation and counter-retaliation are always a consequence of military actions.
• Assad himself could respond with even more brutality, which would require another U.S. response that deepens the conflict and creates a familiar cycle of violence.
• Tomahawk missiles and other weapons are not as reliably accurate as are often suggested...One errant U.S. missile killing more Syrian civilians would be the international story, replacing the one of Assad’s alleged chemical attacks.
• The strikes...would not eliminate Assad’s [Syria's ruler) chemical weapons capacity and might not deter further attacks. Nor might they significantly hurt his military forces or cripple his political power. Rather, they could help rally more of his people around him, as often happens when countries are attacked by outside forces..."   https://sojo.net/articles/respond-how-what-were-missing-syria

In light of Wallis itemization, Paul's words in Romans 12 are instructive, providing an alternative to the 'pattern of payback.'

"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written:  'It is mine to avenge, I will repay, says the Lord.  On the contrary:  'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  (Romans 12:19-21)

Pretty radical stuff.  But is it naive?

I guess nonviolence is naive if one can demonstrate that retaliation and revenge really work.  But as Jim Wallis and others (including Jesus) have documented, retaliation and revenge -- don't work.

So, what does work?  A few suggestions

Cost-Effective Containment of Evil.   According to The Fiscal Times, the cost of deploying 59 Tomahawk missiles, was $93,810.000 or 1.59 million a missile! http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2017/04/06/Heres-What-Firing-59-Tomahawk-Missiles-Syrias-Airfield-Cost.  But what if the U.S. had taken that same amount of money and deployed it toward an intervention, that had actually 'worked' -- actually containing the horrific evil of Assad (Syria's ruler)? 

There are no simple or 'guaranteed' non-violent options, but there are options.  For example:  a) new, more imaginative diplomatic negotiations, which, in the case of Syria, focus on persuading Syria's closest allies (beginning with Russia), to persuade Syria, to stop their insane method for resolving diversity and differences; b) new, more imaginative sanctions, which block or quarantine a particular country, either literally (like the blockage/quarantine of Cuba, during the Cuban missile crisis) -- or figuratively (economic sanctions) -- thus pressuring them to 'cease and dissent' evil; c) kidnapping, and thus capturing the evil head/s of an evil regime, and imprisoning them -- thus removing them from power (such as the U.S. kidnap/capture of Miguel Noriega, head of  Panama, in 1989, minus the invasion [in the case of Noriega] -- utilizing a special ops initiative/mission, etc).  

Provide A Refuge For Persons to Flee To, Away From Violence and Injustice.  It's amazing, but persons afflicted by evil find a way to flee evil, on their own initiative -- if -- they have a place to flee to.   In the case of Syria, 5 million refugees, to date, have fled that fractured/confused country, entering Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Montenegro, Austria, and Germany. But only a few have entered the U.S. (about 3,000) -- because of the reluctance of the U.S. to provide welcome.   

Along with petitioning the U.S. (on both a national and state level) to be more welcoming to victims of violence, we can also support agencies that currently welcome such folk.  In the case of the Syrian crisis, one Christian agency with a 'broad welcome mat,' offering long-term support, is Operation Mobilization.  Consider reaching out, and offering your assistance to Operation Mobilization  https://www.omusa.org/areas/country/syria -- or -- another Christian relief agency, of your choice.  

Live-Out Peace In Your Own Life And Relationships.   If 'none of the above' seems workable to you, do something, begining with a new resolve to peace-build within your own relational world.  It's always an option that can work, if you choose.  So, bury the hatchet.  Don't lick the wound.  Defuse the verbal 'missile,' in your own realm and space.    

I didn't notice until recently, but scripture infers that violence is actually evil: "The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion."  (Psalm 11:5, emphasis added);  "Have regard of your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land." (Psalm 74:20, emphasis added); "Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame, and destroyed forever."  (Obadiah 1:10, emphasis added).

Thus, Shane Clairborne concludes:   "Violence is evil. The violence of Assad is evil. The violence of Trump is evil. [The violence of you, of me is evil]  Jesus shows us another way. Do not repay evil with evil" [adapted].  For as Martin Luther King goes on to instruct:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." (emphasis added).

And so this Holy Week, focus on light and love, not retaliation and revenge.   For out of Jesus' non-violent response to the most extreme example of violence, ever -- the Cross -- came the most glorious victory, ever -- the triumph of Easter Day!