FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP-ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
We are in the midst of protests. Almost two years ago, the protest was about “police brutality” against black and brown skin people, triggered by the murder of George Floyd. Remember it? Police, Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes until Floyd stopped breathing. Some people say that the police were controlling crimes, others say the police were murdering.
This week the protests concern the leaked document from the Supreme Court majority opinion that is likely to remove the rights of abortion that had been in place for about 50 years. And it is interesting that while one group of individuals is rejoicing that “the freedom to kill babies” has been stopped, another group is saying that the opinion is designed to stifle “the rights of women” to have control over their own bodies.
The argument is that the opinion, as written if carried out, opens the way for removing many other rights by the fiat of the Supreme Court. I heard one individual mockingly asking if the Supreme Court has lost its character as the “Supreme” Court or whether it is becoming a “Kangaroo Court, being manipulated by politicians to win elections? It is an interesting question that we might answer at another time, but here the interest is to provoke us to think about whether we see the abortion debate as an issue about “Murder” or the preservation of freedom and the resolution of economic interests for people to carry on their lives?
While thinking about the above, let us not forget the protests concerning the war in Ukraine. While Mr. Putin and some Russians argue that they have entered into the war to liberate Ukraine from Nazi control (an idea called a demonic false flag), much of the world sees Mr. Putin and his Russian generals and fighters as murderers and war criminals. As the people in Ukraine are arguing, the violent actions of the Russians are so egregious that the perpetrators need to be tried at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
At the moment of writing, attorneys are investigating and documenting the cases across Ukraine to establish all the facts they will present to some Court. After one mother saw the dead bodies in the streets of Mariupol, she cried out, “I am going to teach my child to hate the Russians.” And when I heard her outbursts, I mused, “this is the cycle creating murderers worldwide.” But in my situation, who am I to blame that woman when I have not lived with her pain of losing a brother, a sister, or some other relative or friend in the war.
My point is that as we reflect on the cases from the above, we also need to think more personally about the causes of our anger and hatred so that we can stop the killing, even that we are perpetuating, through what some are calling “systemic racism.”
Or let me state it as Jesus spoke of it in the Gospel of Matthew 5:21-22 NKJV:“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says You fool!’ shall be in danger of hellfire.”
As is said, in His effort to prevent crimes of violence such as murder, Jesus sought to root out the attitudes and emotions that drive us. Jesus reached back to the sixth commandment that says, “You shall not kill” (KJV) or “You shall not murder” (in most other translations). In this, Jesus was imposing a positive obligation of the spirit of the law when he traced murdering or killing to its source(s). Jesus spoke of the source(s) in the above in three categories, namely: 1) anger, 2) hatred, and 3) the spirit of competition and aggression.
It is the maintaining of anger and hatred that lead to murders and wars. Even getting angry – with or without a “justifiable” cause – puts us in danger of breaking the commandment that says, “You are not to murder.” In fact, even when causes are justifiable, we need to be careful that we understand where our anger is leading.
I know of a woman who used to excuse her anger by saying, “Offense will come, but woe unto the one that causes it.” After saying that, she would pronounce her “curses” on those she claimed to have caused her to hurt. I used to wonder at her attitude but must admit that I have been tempted to do the same at times.
At those times, I had to hold back and reflect on the words of Jesus: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:44-45 NKJV). The Lord knows that I want to be free from being a murderer, so I have to control my anger and anything that would lead to violence. Can you join me in making a pledge?
