By Fr. Eugene Hemrick
Yeshua Institute Fellow
American writer and biochemist Isaac Asimov observes: “Violence breeds violence. Acts of violence committed in ‘justice’ or in affirmation of ‘rights’ or in defense of ‘peace’ do not end violence. They prepare and justify its continuation.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. further expounds on the insidiousness of violence.
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So, it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Simply put, violence is a cancer that spreads and destroys our wellbeing.
In Latin violence contains the idea of strength and is defined in the dictionary as a behavior creating physical force intended to hurt, damage or kill someone or something. Implied also is viciousness: doing brutal things on purpose, out of ill-will toward others.
In the first pages of the Bible, God’s creation begins with the history of violence: Cain kills Able. Its saga continues to this day as we experience its darkness on our TV screens, radio, and streets. It is perpetually ingrained in everyday life.
How then can we deal with it wisely?
I once sat on a doctoral dissertation that addressed the psychological effects on children who walked over dead bodies lying on the streets due to war in Ireland. In many cases they just accepted this as a common occurrence. They had become matter of fact, one reason being to protect themselves psychologically again the monstrosities they experienced.
No loving person likes violence. Being a loving person implies being well disposed toward life, country, society and our neighbors. But possessing a good disposition comes with a cost. It means avoiding the temptation for revenge, allowing it to play on our curiosity or to become matter of fact about it. Kindness requires a charitable heart, implying we become advocates for making a unified world rather than tearing it further apart.
St. Paul’s letters and our Christian wisdom contain a heartfelt desire to live a peaceful Christlike life devoid of strife. Therein lies the strength to counter violence’s use of strength.