[GPSCC-chat] Jesus and non-violent resistance

[John Thielking]

So on the Internet, I guess this would look like:

"I don't like Jim Doyle's and Paul (Whats his name)'s attacks on my freedom of speech in this forum. (<: "  (Somehow reversing the traditional smiley of ":>)" just doesn't work too well. Do you recognize it? It takes awhile to see it. Oh well.)  LOL

John Thielking
 

--- On Sun, 5/19/13, Rob Means <rob.means at electric-bikes.com> wrote:


From: Rob Means <rob.means at electric-bikes.com>
Subject: [GPSCC-chat] Jesus and non-violent resistance
To: "sosfbay-discuss" <sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org>
Date: Sunday, May 19, 2013, 10:36 PM


Those of us working for non-violent solutions, and who believe in non-violent resistance to oppressive institutions, will be well-served by re-framing this "turn the other cheek" line. Rather than settle for the Luke 6:29 version, invoke the Mathew 5:39 version which specifies the "right cheek": "Matthew 5:39 <http://biblehub.com/matthew/5-39.htm> But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also."

Although the King James version of the Bible down-played the resistance to authority that Jesus professed, Walter Wink highlights it in his book _Jesus' Third Way_ which offers a non-violent resistance as an alternative to the simplistic fight or fold choice. Here's the background:

   Jesus gives three examples of what He means by not returning evil
   for evil. The first of these is, "If anyone strikes you on the right
   cheek, turn the other also." Imagine if I were your assailant and I
   were to strike a blow with my right fist at your face, which cheek
   would it land on? It would be the left. It is the wrong cheek in
   terms of the text we are looking at. Jesus says, "If anyone strikes
   you on the right cheek..." I could hit you on the right cheek if I
   used a left hook, but that would be impossible in Semitic society
   because the left hand was used only for unclean tasks. You couldn't
   even gesture with your left hand in public. The only way I could hit
   you on the right cheek would be with the back of the hand.

   Now the back of the hand is not a blow intended to injure. It is a
   symbolic blow. It is intended to put you back where you belong. It
   is always from a position of power or superiority. The back of the
   hand was given by a master to a slave or by a husband to a wife or
   by a parent to a child or a Roman to a Jew in that period. What
   Jesus is saying is in effect, "When someone tries to humiliate you
   and put you down, back into your social location which is inferior
   to that person, and turn your other cheek."

   Now in the process of turning in that direction, if you turned your
   head to the right, I could no longer backhand you. Your nose is now
   in the way. Furthermore, you can't backhand someone twice. It's like
   telling a joke a second time. If it doesn't work the first time, it
   has failed. By turning the other cheek, you are defiantly saying to
   the master, "I refuse to be humiliated by you any longer. I am a
   human being just like you. I am a child of God. You can't put me
   down even if you have me killed." This is clearly no way to avoid
   trouble. The master might have you flogged within an inch of your
   life, but he will never be able to assert that you have no dignity.


Likewise, the other two examples in the following verses have been corrupted in most Bibles. Get the longer version here:
http://www.cpt.org/files/BN%20-%20Jesus%27%20Third%20Way.pdf



On 05/16/2013 10:30 PM, sosfbay-discuss-request at cagreens.org wrote:
> Jesus tells us "unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the
> other" but it doesn't take very long before you run out of cheeks, and Jesus doesn't say
> what you do then.


-- Rob Means,1421 Yellowstone Ave., Milpitas, CA 95035-6913
408-262-0420h, 408-262-8975w, rob.means at electric-bikes.com
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