Many, many TV shows and commercial films are emphasizing revenge. They portray revenge, or vengeance, as a worthy response to being wronged. I wonder. How will that work for a person of faith in God?
First, does getting revenge make anything better? Usually not. Closure doesn't come that easily. Sure, it might put an evildoer away, or under six feet of dirt, but in the process does it turn the revenge-seeker into a monster like the wrongdoer? What we don't understand about the "eye for an eye" passage is that for primitive, near savage tribes people this was a limitation, not a permission. They would take a life, or the lives of a village, for an eye. Under the Old Covenent God was saying, "ONLY an eye for the loss of an eye. No more!"
(That makes the documented Civilian death from violence in the ten year Iraq war of 111,842 - 122,325 look pretty evil when compared the the few thousand that perished in the Twin Towers attack. Especially when you realize that Iraq had nothing to do with the Twin Towers attack.)
People of the Jewish faith have a limitation on the amount of revenge God permits. Christians have a more severe limit. "Love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you," said Jesus of Nazareth.
Whew! That doesn't resonate with contemporary entertainment at all! It doesn't resonate with the right-wing church and evangelist movement either.
So, was Jesus just a crackpot, or are contemporary spokespeople for him getting it all wrong?
Leave a comment and let us know.
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