Faith, in a Culture of Violence

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know about the recent murder of Charlie Kirk, a religious conservative, co-founder of Turning Point USA and an influential voice in the Trump administration. He was reported to have been shot in Utah by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson who was apparently opposed to Kirk’s teachings.

It comes several months after the fatal shooting of Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, 55, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark. They were murdered in their home by a person described as “a far-right extremist.”

An article on the website, A Mighty Girl, posted by a friend on Facebook, quotes the Center for Strategic and International Studies that between 2016 and 2025, there were 25 attacks and threats targeting elected officials, political candidates, judges and governmental employees that were motivated by partisan beliefs.

It metastasizes

Spencer Cox, the Republican governor of Utah, had this to say about the Kirk killing, according to the New York Times: “We can return violence with violence. We can return hate with hate, and that’s the problem with political violence — is it metastasizes, because we can always point the finger at the other side. And at some point, we have to find an off-ramp, or it’s going to get much, much worse.”

“Mr. Cox’s impassioned remarks, delivered as the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, stood to the side, seemed in some ways to be a direct rebuke to the language of vengeance and the politics of blame that prominent members of his party, including President Trump, have used in the days following the shooting,” the article said.

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Later remarks by Gov. Cox became more partisan. And I should say here that from what I know of Charlie Kirk, I’m not a fan. But he didn’t deserve to be killed for expressing and promoting his beliefs.

The problem is not just political violence, of course. Shooters recently took the lives of children and youth at shootings in Minnesota and Colorado, part of what seems like a never-ending pattern. And we can’t overlook the violence in our homes and offices, and the gratuitous violent remarks on social media.

So, what should be the attitude toward violence of people searching for God in the Christian tradition?

“You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I say to you, do not resist one who is evil,” says Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. “But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well.”

Could there be a Jesus teaching that is any more ignored than this? As with many of Jesus’ teachings, Jesus is using hyperbole to get across his point that violence can never be the answer to our controversies and conflicts.

Black Ants vs. Red Ants

I recall as a small boy watching ants at the bottom of a tree near our front yard (Ok, I was a bit of a nerd; also, we didn’t have a lot of toys.) and being amazed that the red ants and black ants regularly killed each other in a constant war. I thought, “How stupid!” Evidently, they are no more stupid than human beings!

In my view, the vaccine of justice is the answer to the epidemic of violence. Much violence results from widespread inequality, in the U.S. and internationally, socially and politically. I know this sounds naïve because there is such a thing as “evil.” But more equality - and this is a long-term fix - would result in less violence.

One of my favorite papal comments is attributed to Pope Paul VI, who died in 1978: “If you want peace, work for justice.”

 

 

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