Springtime/Laughing in the Face of Evil

Well, friends, I never thought it would happen. But, after months of cold and snow and waiting under blankets until the heater kicks in, I think it’s safe to say that Spring is finally gracing Northern Ireland with her presence. 

Sometimes she decides to hide for a few days, but lately it seems like we’re getting fewer days like this...

and more like this...!

 

 

And we’re starting to experience that strange, strange phenomenon that I associate with Alaska and Iceland and living too close to the Arctic Circle – longer days. Sometimes the gloom of night doesn’t fully settle on Northern Ireland until 9 pm! It’s really throwing off my biological clock. 7 pm usually rolls around and if I’m not paying attention to the clock, my brain translates the amount of light coming in through the window as “4:30 pm”. It’s weird, guys. But it’s a pretty cool experience, and it’s kinda fun! Apparently in the summertime, it won’t get dark until 11 pm!! What a weird world.

Ok, on to the good stuff! 

I want to tell you a story about how Jesus calls us to laugh in the face of evil. A couple of weeks ago, the YAVs had a workshop/discussion with Beth Corrie, a professor at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, GA. She’s been on leave in Northern Ireland, and agreed to talk with us about the definitions of violence and nonviolence, and how that knowledge can be applied to our work contexts as well as to Christian theology. She asked us to read part of Walter Wink’s Jesus and Nonviolence, a brilliant and insightful look at the example Jesus sets for nonviolence.

I LOVED THIS DISCUSSION!

Definitely one of my favorite conversations we’ve had since being in Belfast.

This explanation of the powwow might seem a bit like school, but I’m a BIG OL’ NERD, and really wanted to share these insights with you!

Pretty much everyone knows what violence is, and could define it if asked to. In our discussion, we came up with these charts, giving examples of violence in its many manifestations. 

 

But is nonviolence synonymous with passivity? Is it weakness? Is it the absence of action? NO! It is the opposite of these things!

Our animal instincts give us two options for dealing with assault and confrontation: Fight or Flight. Walter Wink explains that Jesus demonstrates a THIRD WAY for us, a sort of intelligent evolution above our animal instincts, in dealing with an oppressive force.

Nonviolence is a learned, creative response that breaks the spiral of overt or covert violence. The best examples of nonviolent action often use humor, creativity, and cultural relevance to up-end the present power structure. Walter Wink calls it “aikido-like”, which is a brilliant comparison. In aikido, martial artists use the momentum from their opponent’s moves against them – the attacker’s own throws and punches become their downfall. When used effectively, nonviolence works in the same way, making the oppressor look foolish or powerless in their attempt to assert their own strength.

“The Powers That Be literally stand on their dignity. Nothing depotentiates them faster than deft lampooning. By refusing to be awed by their power, the powerless are emboldened to seize the initiative, even where structural change is not possible.” 

-- Walter Wink

            One of my favorite examples that Walter Wink uses is Jesus’ story about the man who is so poor he only has his outer garment as collateral for a loan. (Matthew 5:40) When the “Powers That Be” (the Roman empire) sue him for his outer garment because their exploitative system has left him unable to pay back his debt, Jesus suggests that he offer his inner garment as well… AKA his underwear. Why is Jesus telling his poor audience to strut around in their birthday suits? Because “nakedness was taboo in Judaism, and shame fell not on the naked party, but on the person viewing or causing one’s nakedness (Gen. 9:20-27).”  In this case, the Roman creditor, the one holding your outer garment and your underwear, is left standing embarrassed, shamed, and the cruelty of the system he represents is as exposed as your bare bum in the afternoon sun outside the courthouse!

           

“Here is a poor man who will no longer be treated as a sponge to be squeezed dry by the rich. He accepts the laws as they stand, pushes them to the point of absurdity, and reveals them for what they really are.”                

-- Walter Wink

Can you imagine how Jesus’ audience must have laughed at the thought?

Sometimes knowing the cultural/historical context for Jesus’ teaching makes all the difference, and the other examples Jesus gives in Mathew 5:38-41 are just as subversive!

White Flour, a children’s book written recently by David LaMotte, wonderfully illustrates Jesus’ advocacy of clowning in the face of hatred. Below you’ll find a video reading of the book, inspired by events that happened on May 26, 2007 when a KKK march came through Knoxville, Tennessee.

(Shout-out to Meg Pabst who introduced me to this book! Holla!)

Yet you have forgotten the Lord, your Creator, the one who stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth. Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors? Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies? Where is their fury and anger now? It is gone!

Isaiah 51:13