Jesus encourages looking at ourselves truthfully when tempted to be critical of others, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” “You hypocrite!” “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” Doing so makes us fruitful for others and for our communities, “For every tree is known by its fruit.”
The blinding beam in our eye could be to act as a supremacist and not be fruitful with communion, to inflict suffering and not be fruitful with love, to violate others and not be fruitful with creative healing power. When early hypocritical rulers like Paul and Augustine helped soldiers like Constantine and others turn a blind eye to Jesus’ encouragement to be truthful and thus fruitful, they started an institution. They modeled it on the religious institution surrounding them, Militarism – a cult of ranked supremacy, a creed of justified abuse, and a code of sanctified violence. Thus institutional christianity has in its eye the blinding beam of a priesthood – the cult of supremacy; the blinding beam of a cross based theology – the creed of justified suffering; and the blinding beam of a just war tradition – the code of violence. These blinding beams result in sighted people wisely departing from an unfruitful institutional christianity. But oddly, not always departing from its unfruitful parent religion of Militarism. Militarism set the beams that blind self-titled Christians, especially in the U.S., whom we tend to criticize as hypocrites. But they are the same beams that blind all soldiers, police, wardens, guards,… Do we criticize these U.S. warriors as hypocrites? U.S. citizens are likely to see these blinding beams clearly in the eyes of other soldiers, for example, from China, Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Russia, and more. Do we laud Russia’s soldiers when they dominate, abuse, and violate through surveillance, jailing human rights activists, and killing Russian peacemakers and, of late, Ukraine citizens? Do we laud Ukraine soldiers when they fight back? In this universe of soldiers, U.S. citizens have seen U.S. soldiers dominate, abuse, and violate, for example, in their invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Did we laud the invading U.S. soldiers? Did we laud the Iraqi soldiers when they fought back? The U.S. Empire and its soldiers have, for centuries, been operating with the same blinding beams of supremacy, abuse, and violence here in the U.S. U.S. soldiers operating this nation’s reservation system and plantation system and colonial system have made us blind with Militarism’s beams of supremacy, abuse, and violence. Are we who want to be peacemakers part of this universe of soldiers with beams in our eyes who see fit to criticize others for the splinters in theirs? Soldiers in the U.S., trained to dominate, abuse, and violate, routinely see splinters in the eye of the modern Civil rights movement, in poor people’s vices, and in puritanical woke practices. Rarely, if ever, do soldiers see the beams in their own eye of Militant white supremacy, Militant capitalist wealth vices, and Militant warrior practices. If we claim sight it is because we have removed the beams of supremacy, abuse, and violence and are fruitful with communion, love, and creative healing power.
“He’s five feet-two and he’s six feet-four He fights with missiles and with spears… Been a soldier for a thousand years He’s a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain, a Buddhist, and a Baptist, and a Jew And he knows he shouldn’t kill And he knows he always will Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you And he’s fighting for Canada He’s fighting for France He’s fighting for the U.S.A And he’s fighting for the Russians… And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way And he’s fighting for Democracy He’s fighting for the Reds He says it’s for the peace of all… without him How would Hitler have condemned them… Without him Caesar would have stood alone… And without him all this killing can’t go on He’s the Universal Soldier and… His orders come from far away no more They come from here and there and you and me And brothers, can’t you see? This is not the way we put the end to war” (The Universal Soldier – Buffy St. Marie)
Prayer: Spirit, help me see.
Question: How am I a soldier? How am I a peacemaker?
February 27, 2022 Gospel: Luke 6:39-45 Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time