Rulers who opposed Jesus from the beginning have had him forcibly arrested. He stands before the ultimate ruler of the land, Pontius Pilate. Pilate assumes Jesus is some type of ruler, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus is not such a ruler, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting.” Missing the element of not fighting, Pilate catches the element of attendants and says, “Then you are a king.” Jesus replies, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” It is intriguing that Jesus offsets violent rulers with truth.
Rulers, those who ‘force conformity,’ are always violent and always deceptive about it. They deceive people into being externally controlled. We become like puppets who conform to their puppeteering. Is this why we are born? Is this why we came into the world? Of course not, and yet puppeteering rulers deceive us into believing it is. We stop speaking our truth and start conforming to their violent rule, overt and covert. A group that rejects being ruled as the reason why we are born, why we came into the world, is anarchists. Anarchists attempt to tell the truth about ruler’s overt and covert violence. Anarchy means simply, ‘without ruler.’ It can also mean, without violence, without fighting. Rulers deceptively charge anarchists, or anybody who does not fight, as being naïve. They are charged as gullible about the need for violence, especially about ruler’s and their need to use violence to secure law and order. But it is not the nonviolent who are gullible. Those who are gullible are those who use violence thinking it will bring change. This is especially true of anarchists who fight violently. Fighting under the claim of justice, violent anarchists are gullible to believe they are justified in violently forcing conformity. Rulers make the exact same claim. Both groups, violent anarchists and law and order types, are ruled by a belief in ‘forcing conformity.’ Neither witness conscience, which is to live free from being a puppet of external rule and free for truth. General Smedley Butler (1881-1940) came to the conclusion he had been a puppet of external rule. Butler, a two time Medal of Honor recipient, realized he had been the most gullible of persons. Butler started his military career naively conforming to rulers while believing anarchists were naïve. Over time, Butler grew in conscience and truth telling. Butler thus ended his military career speaking the truth about the violence of rulers knowing its adherents, including himself, were the most naïve of people, “I spent 33 years … as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism … I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. … (and) the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests … In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.” “Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.” Butler hoped future soldiers would not be so gullible as to conform to violent rulers, “If only more of today’s military personnel would realize that they are being used by the owning elites as a publicly subsidized capitalist goon squad” – in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, …
The peacemaker Jesus knew the meaning of his life, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” Warmaking soldiers do not know and thus; For this are soldiers ruled and for this they are trained into the world of fighting, to be used violently by rulers who deceive.
Prayer: Spirit, may truth guide us always.
Question: For what was I born; for what have I come into the world?
November 25, 2018 Gospel John 18:33-37 Christ the King