I do not remember the last time I
was so conflicted inside. For the first time since I started blogging, I am not
writing because I am full of ideas that correspond, whether they may be in an
outlandish or useful way. This time, I am torn in multiple directions,
intellectually and spiritually. But one thought comes to mind clearly: It is so
easy for us to contextualize what Scripture says, is it not? That being said, I
guess that means I will need a Scripture for the basis of this blog, right?
Well, I have one. The 21st Century King James Version of Matthew
26:52 reads, “Then said Jesus unto him, ‘Put up again thy sword into his place,
for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.’”
One of the main topics in the
headlines of the news today is bullying. This morning, I happened to catch a
portion of the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda conducting an interview with
Kelly Wallace, Chief Correspondent of IVillage and psychologist Jennifer Hartstein.
At first, I was not listening, but then as I started to overhear what they were
agreeing on, I nearly lost my ever-loving mind! Now, keep in mind, this is
coming from the perspective of a man carrying scars from past bullying
experiences. I cannot accurately speak for you ladies out there reading this…or,
can I? So, just for a minute, go with me on this somewhat elaborate ‘rabbit
trail’, will you?
My first memory of confliction, in
regards of what to do when standing up to a bully, was in the 3rd
grade. I remember this so vividly that it could have easily been yesterday. His
name was Christopher Brownlee. He got in my face and landed two blows to my
stomach. As I stood there, hunched over and gasping for breath, my mind and my
spirit cowered. Oh yeah, I chickened out! I just turned and went to tell my lame
excuse for a 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Tapp, what had happened. And
yes, I have been quoted telling my wife that in regards to grade school 1-12, I
did not have a good teacher until 4th grade (Judy Fletcher, if you
ever read this, I am not referring to Kindergarten at all. That is a whole
different world J)
Anyways, the second bully came along in 5th grade, and this time he
had a ‘gang’ with him. People actually wanted to join his pitiful chorus of
cronies that made him that much more ‘intimidating’. So, to tally it up, that was
TWICE before middle school that I felt like a whipped pup. “If he hits you, hit
back!” “No, tell a teacher.” “You are not allowed to start fights!” “Tough talk
is just that…talk.” All of these thoughts and demands from external stimuli ran
through my head and wrapped around my heart like a python night and day, until
one day, another kid pushed me to the limit on the playground after I had found
out that he had embarrassed one of my friends and ran his mouth to me. I snapped
and shoved him to the ground with all my power. He got up and walked off…and I
felt fantastic!! Justice, in my mind, had been served!!
The problem was the satisfaction
wore off, especially with fresh wounds I accrued in junior high. They diminished
around high school, but the wounds were still there. Now, it is nearly two
decades later, and I love me some good fighting movies. Classics, such as The
Outsiders and Escape from Alcatraz, are among some of my favorites. There are
more recent movies such as Deuces Wild and Green Street Hooligans that I just enjoy.
Does this mean I am going to practice what I watch on television or these films?
Of course not! Will I apologize for watching them and being entertained? No. Do
I believe bullying someone is just? Absolutely not! Do I believe that someone
needs to take a stand and say, “Enough!”? Of course, I do. Should kids live in
fear as they walk the halls of our schools? The thought disgusts me. Does this
interview I heard today, with four women saying, “Violence is NEVER the answer,”
make me want to go irate? Yes, indeed! But,…
Do I believe, as Dave Ramsey said
on his radio show the day after Osama Bin Laden was killed, “There is only one
answer to a bully: bloody his nose,”?... This is where I am feeling conflicted
inside. I just don’t know. And I think I desperately need some insight from
those wiser than I and I need to explore the Bible even deeper. Earlier, I did
find this excerpt from the Bible Gateway Blog in regards to 9/11:
“The Bible contains many stories of injustice, tragedy, and
suffering inflicted on God’s people. The afflicted people respond with all the
emotions we would expect: anger, disbelief, fear, indignation, and even doubt
in God’s sovereignty. These are the same emotions that flood through our minds
even today, ten years after the event, as we remember watching those twin
towers fall. But time and time again, the Bible writers remind themselves—and
us—that God is in control, and that our most important spiritual response to tragedy
is to look to God’s endless love and incomprehensible faithfulness:
I will never forget
this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I
remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never
cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. (Lamentations
3:20-23, NLT)
To turn your face to
God in the aftermath of tragedy is to defy the power of evil, and to place your
hope in the one Person who can bring good out of even the most horrifying disaster.”
I was reading a chapter today in
Shane Claiborne’s The Irresistible Revolution called “Pledging
Allegiance when Kingdoms Collide”, and in the text he quotes Tony Campolo
saying, “We may live in the best Babylon in the world, but it is still Babylon,
and we are called to ‘come out of her’.” Claiborne asks one of his kids about
how he feels about 9/11. His response: “Well, those people did something very
evil…But…’two wrongs don’t make a right’. It doesn’t make sense for us to hurt
them back. Besides, we are all one big family.” *sigh* Even my favorite
President to read and study about, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, started to rethink
his cold-warrior tactics towards the Soviet Union in his address to the
American University in Washington, D.C. on June 10th, 1963: “…our
most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe
the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal.”
My wife
and I watched a disturbing commercial in the movie theatre the other day of
this little girl reacting to her doll in a parallel fashion of an abusive
parent, yelling at the doll and threatening to “…give you something to cry
about if you don’t stop!” This commercial will destroy anyone’s heart, I
believe.
…Whew!
Now that you have taken the rabbit trail with me (or perhaps, seen ‘how deep
the rabbit hole goes’)…
I hope you can see how torn, muddled and disputed
I am inside, friends. And I hope that you will leave some of your thoughts to help
me with battling this epidemic of… My Goodness! Taking a stand or turning the
other cheek? Do we practice allegiance or restraint? Do we show justice or
mercy? Is it all situational? Are we just making the text of the Bible ‘fit
into our own agenda’?
Also, I
would hope that all of you would take the time to first go to the links I have
posted below to summarize it for yourself, to do your own thinking:
And, on that note, the floor is
yours, friends.
~B
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