In this final week of the Easter season Jesus speaks of having been true to those given to him. He understands one, will not be true to him, Judas, the “son of destruction.” “I protected them… and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction.” Jesus’ protecting and guarding were done nonviolently. People who persist in protecting and guarding others violently are being true to Judas who betrayed Jesus using armed guards.
A pernicious and yet routine betrayal of Jesus is to call oneself Christian while acting like Judas, one who betrays Jesus with armed guards. Such betrayal is deep in the U.S. psyche and is becoming more deadly. Calling itself a Christian nation, the U.S. continues to train and deploy armed guards. The armed guards have included self titled Christians who are white supremacists and past or current members of U.S. police forces and the U.S. military. They are racist men who seek training in violence. Government reports have long shown that such white supremacists then put that violent training to use against people in the U.S. One resource, Irregular Army by Matt Kennard, details the military providing ‘moral waivers’ to known skin-heads and neo-Nazis. White supremacists have also long been recruiting soldiers, especially those returning to the states after tours of duty and already trained in violence, for membership in their para military groups. The white supremacists blend into the armed violence.
One such white supremacist who served 20 years in the military, 13 of them in Special Forces, used his armed guard training stateside. He used it at the Jewish Community Center in Kansas City one year ago. On that day, two people given to Mindy Corporon, her father and her son – neither of whom happened to be Jewish – were murdered. During this Easter season, on the year anniversary of their deaths, she is being true to Jesus and to them: “We must take a stand with the idea that it is better to ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” She is therefore gathering people together for “Seven Days” of understanding, love, and kindness. Seven days, replicated again and again, in which we can be true to love.
Prayer: Spirit, help us in these harsh days of violence to be true to love.
Question: How can we stop segregating the violence done in our world and recognize it as all spawned by the same religion of Militarism?
May 17, 2015 Gospel John 17:11b-19 Seventh Sunday of Easter
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