This is a catechism adapted from the writings of Adin Ballou, whose work was used by Tolstoy in his The Kingdom of God Is Within You. It takes the form of question-and-answer to explain simply but thoroughly the idea that violence, accompanied by our well reasoned excuses for it, is strictly opposed by Jesus. The writings and example of those who question such a basic part of human civilization as violence serve as an unsettling challenge to us Braveheart and Gladiator fans.
Q: Where does the phrase "non-resistance" come from?
A: From the command, "Do not resist the one who is evil."
Q: What does this mean?
A: It expresses a christian virtue that we are called by Christ to live out.
Q: Should the term "non-resistance" be taken broadly, as in not resisting evil at all?
A: No, it must be taken in the same sense that our savior spoke of-that is, not repaying evil for evil. We must oppose evil by every righteous means in our power, but not by evil.
Q: How do we know that Christ commanded non-resistance in that sense?
A: We can see this in the context of his command. He said, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."
Q: Who was he speaking about when he said, "You have heard that it was said"?
A: Of the laws and teachings of the fathers and prophets of the Hebrew people, contained in the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. These were spoken by Noah, Moses and the other prophets, in which they allow for equal punishments to fit the crime, both to punish and prevent evil deeds.
Q: What exactly did they say?
A: "Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him." -Leviticus 24:17-20
"The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." Deuteronomy 19:18-21
Noah, Moses and the prophets taught that a person who kills, cripples or harms his neighbor does evil. To resist this evil, and to prevent it, the person who has committed the crime must be punished with death or physical loss or injury. Wrong must be opposed by wrong, murder by murder, injury by injury, evil by evil. But Christ rejects all this. "But I say to you", he says in the gospel, "Do not resist the one who is evil." Do not opposed injury with injury, but rather take the injury time after time from the man who would be your enemy. What was permitted is forbidden. When we understand what kind of resistance they taught, we know exactly what resistance Christ rejects.
Q: Then the patriarchs and prophets allowed opposing violence with violence?
A: Yes, but Jesus forbids it. A person following in the footsteps of Jesus has no right to put to death a man who has done evil to him, or to hurt him back.
Q: Can he kill or injure him in self-defense, at least?
A: Nope.
Q: Can he file a complaint with the authorities, so that the person who has done him wrong may be punished?
A: No, because what he does through others, he is really doing himself.
Q: Can he fight foreign powers or terrorists?
A: Of course not. He cannot take part in any war or in preparations for war. He cannot pick up a deadly weapon. He cannot fight violence with violence, whether he is alone or surrounded by his fellow patriots, either in person or through other people.
Q: Can he support the work of the government's soldiers? Can he at least support the troops?
A: No, he can't.
Q: Can he pay taxes to a government that rests on military force, capital punishment and violence in general?
A: No, he shouldn't be willing to pay taxes, but taxes are collected against his will. He cannot escape paying taxes without using violence of some kind, so he must offer his property at once to the loss by violence inflicted on it by the authorities.
Q: Can a person following after Jesus vote in elections, or take part in the government or the industry of our legal system?
A: No, because he will not participate in or contribute to government by force.
Q: What is the point of this idea of non-resistance to evil?
A: The point is that it allows a person the opportunity to eradicate evil from his own heart, and also from his neighbor's heart. This idea eliminates doing what has allowed evil to endure for ages and multiply in the world. Whoever attacks another and injures him, encourages in him a feeling of hatred, from which so much evil develops. To hurt another because he has hurt us, even with the aim of overcoming evil, is doubling the harm for him and for ourselves; it is giving birth to, or at least setting free, the very evil that we wish to drive out. Satan can never be driven out by Satan. Error can never be corrected by error, and evil cannot be overcome by evil.
True non-resistance is the only resistance to evil. It is crushing the serpent's head. It destroys and in the end removes the evil impulse.
Q: But if that is the point of non-resistance, can it always be put into practice?
A: It can be practiced like every strength that Christ taught us through weakness. A virtue cannot be practiced in all circumstances without self-sacrifice, suffering, and in extreme cases loss of life itself. But to consider life as more than fulfilling the will of God is be already dead to true life. In trying to preserve his life, he loses it. And in reality, where non-resistance costs the sacrifice of a single life or of some physical comfort, resistance can cost a thousand lives or even an entire people.
The salvation that Jesus spoke about was found in repaying evil with good.
It is much less damaging for everyone involved, victim and oppressor, to act justly than unjustly, to take beatings rather than to resist them with more violence. If all men refuses to respond to evil with more evil, our world would be happy.
Q: But as long as only a few people act like that, what will happen to them?
A: If only one man refused to repay evil with evil, and all the rest agreed to crucify him, which would be nobler for him to chose: to die in the glow of uncompromising love, praying for his enemies; or to live to be a king, whose crown is stained with the blood of the slain? But still, one man or a thousand men, firmly resolved to oppose evil by good, for the most part enjoy a deep and enduring peace, or if they die, they die blesses. If everyone took up the call to abandon arms, there would of course be no evil or crime. If the majority practiced this non-resistance, they would establish the rule of love and good will over those who do evil, never opposing evil with evil, and never resorting to force. If there were a decent sized minority group of non-resistant people, they would hold such a life-giving influence over society that every cruel punishment would be abolished, and violence and fighting would be replaced by peace and love. Even if there were only a small fraction of them, they would rarely experience anything worse than the world's contempt, while the world was unconsciously and ungratefully becoming wiser and better because of their unseen action on it. And if, in the worst case, some of this minority were persecuted to death, they would leave behind them a doctrine, tested by blood in dying for the truth.
May overpowering love be the incorruptible inheritance of every soul who chooses to obey Christ's words.
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