|
~
Redemption ~ The Deception of ‘Redemptive’ Violence Throughout recorded history there is a perception that the use of violence is actually justified, and there is evidence that the use of violence is not only condoned by us, but on the basis of a false belief being, that certain violence is 'Redemptive.' To understand the deception of the belief that any violence can be Redemptive we must first understand what redemption means. From this understanding we will gain clearer insight into the way we are deceived into using violence for what we believe are ‘good’ ends. To redeem someone or some thing is to buy back by expenditure of effort or payment – or - to make up for by a compensating factor – or - to purchase the freedom of. To use violence towards another is to perform an injurious, damaging, detrimental and destructive act. By its own definition, violence is a process of retribution, an "eye for an eye" as the saying goes. Given the disparity between the purposes of an act of redemption, to free, and the purpose of an act of violence, to ‘coercively’ bind through punishment,’ how is it that we have come to believe in Redemptive Violence? Surely the processes involved in an act of 'Redemption' and the processes involved in an act of 'Retribution' are mutually exclusive (total opposites), yet for centuries all levels of society have clung to the belief that violence in the ‘right hands' or 'for the right reasons’ can be justified. In example after example taken from any of the man-made systems whether of nations, society, judiciary, religious, familial or individual, the justification for violence is firmly embedded in the belief that ‘punitive violence’ redeems those who are ‘violent.’
Deceit of Violence by Nation toward Nation as Redemptive. When nations use force of arms to subdue a nation perceived by them to be violent, the ‘righteous’ nation does not see this use of violence as stemming from the same negative force that ‘inspires’ the ‘violent’ nation. In short, the nation using violence to punish perceived ‘unjust violence’, has, by slight of thought, ‘redeemed’ their own violence because in their eyes, it is justified as being ‘for the good of the people.' For centuries this deception has ‘redeemed’ this act of 'war' murders in mans’ eyes because man, whether king, prince, priest or paupers have been deluded by the false belief that such 'warring' violence is sanctioned by God. God never sanctions the use of violence. Deceit of Punitive Violence by Judiciary toward Offender as Redemptive All nations have a system of rules with the power to enforce these rules through a legal system. These rules are seen as ‘for the good of the people,’ and when individuals do not comply to the rules, violence, again perceived to be ‘redemptive,' takes the form of denying freedom through incarceration. How then would God view the violent act via the stroke of a magisterial pen incarcerating an offender of a traffic infringement? How in fact does man’s law reconcile the incongruence between the brutalisation of the offenders, while incarcerated, with the belief that this is ‘for their own good'? In truth there can be no such justification because even man can see that being brutalized is unjust punishment for such a minor offence. What then do we need to see because we are blind as to what is really going on in our legal system? Simply that God is the only Righteous Judge, and that if and when God decides that it is time for the ‘offender’ to pay a karmic debt, it doesn’t matter what the ‘offence in man’s eyes’ is, the magistrate will be used to facilitate God’s retribution on the offender. The disparity between sentences meted out by judges for offences that appear to warrant similar punishment, attests to ‘God at work’ in the courts of man! Unfortunately, the deceit that legal violence is somehow ‘redemptive’ allows people of the legal system to be ‘used’ by the negative force of God, and in so doing, they place a seal on their soul ensuring a time when they too will undergo God’s retribution
Deception of the Belief that the use of Redemptive Violence doesn’t Apply to Me! Where are we as individuals in this quagmire of the violence of redemptive violence? Firstly, if there is a "just war" being fought by our nation and we continue to support the system enabling this war through finances garnered through our taxes, we are right on the front line! We really need to accept that continuing to pay the wages to create a war machine makes us liable under God’s law. 'As you Sow so shall you Reap' is an unavoidable Karmic process. Secondly, if we continue to support a political and legal system, where we ‘hire’ others such as politicians, police, lawyers, magistrates or judges, to mete out punishment on our behalf, we are not exonerated from the consequences of the punitive actions of these because they are employed by us!. Thirdly, and perhaps the most difficult to identify, are the daily acts of criticism of others we condone in ourselves because we justify them as – "caring enough to put others right," or because we see it as being for ‘their own good." This is no less the violence of redemptive violence than the act of war by a nation perceiving itself as "righteously" fighting an ‘unjust’ regime, yet using violence to set things right! Negative criticism is the act of punishing someone for a perceived ‘wrong’ we believe they have committed against us. In the act of this type of criticism we want the other to see how deeply they have offended us, hurt us, wronged us. We may in fact be criticising them for failing in consideration when they leave a mess around but in that act are we not in fact saying to them "I accuse you of not caring enough for me to do what I ask." This is both subtle control of another and retribution for past acts of thoughtlessness which have left you feeling uncared for The justification we use to transform the violence of criticism into a redemptive act does not stand up too well to scrutiny because, if we are motivated by a desire to improve the other for their good, we would make a positive observation, not voice a negative criticism. Negative criticism shows itself in our need to "make the other see and acknowledge how badly their behaviour has made us feel" or, in the need to make them ‘squirm' with guilt for having imposed the behaviour on us. We need to accept that negative criticism has more to do with what we like or dislike, what we can or cannot accept, what we judge to be correct or incorrect, or is a judgment of behaviour that goes against our belief of how things should be done, said, valued or believed, than it has to do with ‘caring enough for the other person to put them right'! Our negative emotional response to the negative behaviour of others creates conflict acting as the fuel that feeds the fire of a negative cycle that leads to chaos. Can we really have been so blinded that we believe the ‘slight of hand’ sophistry in this argument, that we believe any act of violence whether of personal criticism, system incarceration or national murder in war can ever be anything but violence. The sad truth is "yes," we have been so deceived simply because we have forgotten that there is a God, and that there is a Law of God that bears no resemblance to man’s laws. Under God’s law no form of punishment can be justified, let alone justified as an act of redemption, because punishment of any kind only brings chaos to both punisher and punished. Under God’s Law the only way we redeem others is to give people the wisdom of the word that peace and non-retaliation in all situations, and is the only response required by us. To redeem ourselves on the other hand, all that is required is to show God by our actions that we will comply to God’s one command to be loving and forgiving. Under God’s 'Law of Equal Return,' those professing to be 'kind and loving' Christians, Buddhists or of Islam or any other named religion, are in fact deluded souls due to their monetary support of the punitive (redemptive violence) systems of man as by tax and licence fee levy they condone, support and fund the anti-god doctrine of control, invasion, subjugation, enslavement, punishment, killing and destruction. Eternal ongoing suffering is the consequence for any person failing to now amend their ways. Only educate offenders - only fund benign community effort. ~ end ~
|
