Stanley Hauerwas said the following in this interview (excerpt starts at about 34.40) :
“I didn’t want to be committed to non-violence. I still don’t wanna…I mean, you know, I’m a very violent guy. I tell people that I don’t like the language of pacifism because it sounds like a position separate from your Christology and it is just so passive. But I tell people that I’m committed to Christian non-violence because I have no faith in my ability to live that on my own. So by creating expectations in others I hope they’ll keep me faithful to what I know is true.”
I couldn’t have said it better.
This last weekend I was at the home of some of my friends and we began discussing Christian non-violence. He told me he was surprised to find that non-violence was so important to what I think it means to be a disciple. I was excited to explain my views and I hope he found them convincing. The more of us who try together to follow Jesus in this way the better it will be for us.
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October 27, 2011 at 8:32 pm
The more I reflect on what it means to be a Christian [Christ-follower] I am drawn to two things: 1) That Jesus was extremely non-violent (I do not think the overturning tables in the temple counts as a violent action, that is another story) and 2) the earliest Christians, that is, before Christianity came to state-power, were extremely non-violent. I cannot help but think that an indisputable part of what it means to be a Christian means to be radically non-violent.
Keep in mind this is coming from someone who wanted beyond anything to join the US marines but was permanently medically disqualified (Praise God!) and absolutely adored the US military and military action (sounds pretty sick).