Is Christianity a peaceful religon?
Good question. I do not think it is possible to give a clear yes or no answer, mainly because history has shown that religion and politics are inextricably linked. Both have had and continue to have influences on the other. In the past, Christianity has played a huge part of political decisions made by monarchies in Europe and colonial powers in the Americas. The Catholic Church specifically controlled the political parties in those eras when the Pope still held legitimate political power. The Church in junction with the elite members of European and American (meaning the “New World”) societies decided whose interests were right with God and the law and supported them, and condemned those that weren’t in sync with Christian teachings/policies. Those Christian-political ideals resulted in catastrophically violent events like the genocide of Native Americans under the European Crown, the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades among others.
Presently, though the separation of church and state is found increasingly around the world, Christian ideals still have a profound affect on political decisions – some of which do instigate violence because they push people to extremes. Some examples of where Christian ideals directly influence policy today include the issues of gay marriage and abortion. The laws themselves are not tied to religion, but the voters who put them in place are for the most part conservative Christians who act upon their Christian beliefs. Conflicting views on these two particular issues have resulted in legal action, protests and even violence.
In its teachings, Christianity promotes peace and harmony – at least that’s the general idea. This is especially true when the focus is on the New Testament, Jesus and his concern for the welfare of the meek and poor. But even so, when reading the Bible and applying it to one’s life, it instantly becomes political because it affects what one believes and how s/he relates to others. For that reason, Christianity is used as a tool to vindicate one’s beliefs (if s/he is Christian) and is an excuse for action – whether the action is giving to the poor by serving at a soup kitchen, or fighting on behalf of the poor in the case of liberation theology that helped instigate revolutions in Latin America.
So again – is Christianity a peaceful religion? By teachings, I suppose so – but it all depends on the political theology of each person who studies it. The religion itself is not violent, it is the politics attached to it that can wind up in violence.
I agree that Christianity is peaceful depending on the person who is being examined. I think the violence arises when any person Christian or not tries to gain power over others. It is such a difficult question to answer. History suggests that Christianity isn’t very peaceful but I don’t think that should condemn the future of the religion.
I thought that this blog post went along very well with the reading we read for today on how Christian teachings are peaceful in and of themselves, but when put to practice we often end up with violence and ‘just wars.’ If we were to live in a utopia, similar to John Paul Lederach’s “moral imagination,” where a societies actions actually reflects the religious teachings then I believe that Christianity would finally be a truly peaceful religion. Is this a feasible dream? Now that is a whole different story.
This blog touches on something that I have always struggled with and that is the separation of church and state in the United States. Being our country has been fundamentally Christian it would be impossible to just eliminate those view that thousands have worshiped and founded our country upon. However if we are going to state that we have this separation than I think it should be implemented. In the cases that were brought up in the blog such as abortion and gay marriage much of the basis for those arguments against the movements are religious. One thing that I have always wondered about is in the case of the legal system. What if our next president is not of the Christian faith? Will they too be swearing upon the Bible as others before them have? For our country to make such bold statements as the church and state being separate entities we don’t always seem to act as such.