Jesus addresses disciples, “Full authority has been given to me both in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”
Jesus’ address is often called the ‘The Great Commission.’ Persons he has helped shape as peacemakers are sent out to give authoritative witness to the Way of communion, love, and creative healing power. Peacemakers do so amidst rulers deploying soldiers to dictate domination, enemy making, and violence. Jesus’ Great Commission can be contrasted with Militarism’s Great Compliance. Militarism’s Great Compliance can be seen recently in Belarus’ President Lukashenko deploying soldiers to force down a commercial airline. He did it to capture, torture, and perhaps kill Roman Protasevich, an independent journalist unwilling to comply with his rule and soldiers and instead living an authoritative witness to conscience. The ruler Lukashenko is not alone in his demand for compliance. It is evident in China’s Jinping, Russia’s Putin, Saudi Arabia’s bin Salman, Israel’s Netanyahu, also by rulers of the British Empire and the U.S. Empire, and in so many more rulers and, as well, in every plundering CEO and street gang lord. All deploy obedient soldiers to force compliance of people to their dictates. All, to varying degrees, diminish the authoritative witness of conscience. Rulers and their soldiers / police tell us their force is for our protection. It is not. Their force is for their domination. When rulers and their soldiers / police force compliance, they de-moralize us. Their demands, their force, diminish our moral authority. They train us, usually from a very early age, to comply with their demands. They expect our cowed compliance. It shows that we accept their dominate-subordinate relationship model. Any hint of non-compliance – in manner, speech, or action – offends them. Our non-compliance offends the soldier / police officer personally and offends empire socially. We are guilty of a crime – deposing them of their dominating, enemy making and violent morality. It is the same crime of which they charged Jesus, who 2,000 ago who also de-moralized rulers and their soldiers’ domination, mistreatment of him and other commoners as enemies, and doing violence to them.
Behavioral scientists have long known that a very small percent of the population, near 4%, have an insanely diminished conscience and threaten our safety – typically males, who show early onset signs. Unfortunately, under the morality of rulers and their soldiers / police, violent criminality is addressed by improving the rule of law. But the rule of law is set by practitioners of violent criminality – rulers and their soldiers / police. Boys, trained toward domination and a willingness to act violently, sometimes seek socially unacceptable expressions of their domination and violence such as crime. Sometimes boys seek socially acceptable expressions of their domination and violence such as soldiering / policing. Rather than addressing and healing the small percent of young boys inclined toward domination and violence judged criminal, other young boys are groomed toward domination and violence judged lawful. Domination and violence abound. Humanity is caught in the vicious and violent cycle of rulers and their soldiers / police. We can defund rulers and their soldiers / police. We can defund them of their domination that demands humanity’s compliance; of their enemy making that demands foreign war equipment and demands the transfer of it into homeland war equipment; of their demand that violence be used to save us when it just keep killing us. We can additionally de-moralize rulers and their soldiers / police – of their domination, enemy making, and violence. We can moralize youth, boys especially, with Communion through open ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic play, toys, books, games, and media, as well as guidance about healthy touch, emotions, and listening from healthy men and women to encourage equality in personal and social relationships. We can moralize young boys with Love through shared prayer, coping skills for dealing with loneliness and hurt, with loss, disappointment, and failure, lessons on dealing with ‘No,’ with criticism, with perceived competition and learning to be resilient mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, witnessing vulnerability, empathy and compassion, as well as sweetness to encourage friendships among neighbors and strangers. We can moralize young boys with Healing through affection, humor, healthy decision making for food, past times, hobbies, schools, careers, along with plentiful social services, mental health programs, community service opportunities, and abundant peacemaking skills to encourage creativity within quiet and conflict.
Prayer: Spirit, guide me in conscience and in courage.
Question: How am I compliant to rulers and their soldiers / police; how do I live authoritative conscience?
May 30, 2021 Gospel Matthew 28:16-20 Holy Trinity Sunday