Paul, writing to the Church in Corinth, expresses his wonder at the prospect that the all-powerful God who hurled the universe into existence should reveal himself not in titanic Marvel superhero displays of power, but in the person of a crucified nobody living at the very bottom of humanity:
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Co 1:20–25)
That God incarnate should not only endure an excruciatingly painful death, but a disgusting one–a death universally regarded by Jew and Gentile not only as horrifying but shameful and a badge of disgrace–is something Paul can never get over, nor can the early Church. There is a reluctance on the part of early Christians to depict Christ crucified, much as there remains even today a reluctance to depict him naked on the Cross (which he almost certainly was since the entire point of crucifixion was to maximize the humilation of the victim, turn him into a living billboard of what Roman might would do to all enemies of the state, and induce in onlookers a Stockholm Syndrome identification with the killers and terror of being identified with the victim). There’s a reason that the crowd standing at the feet of the Cross jeered at Jesus. Crucifixion created a victim that nobody wanted to be associated with. And in Jewish culture, there was an additional reason for revulsion at the victim: it was commonly believed that death in this manner was a mark that even God had rejected the condemned since Torah said:
And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God. (Dt 21:22–23)
That is why Christ crucified was a stumbling block and foolishness. And it is why Paul, having seen the Risen Christ, has had his entire perception of the meaning of Christ’s humiliation completely revolutionized, like when the black and white cubes in an optical illusion suddenly stop facing one direction and miraculously start facing the opposite direction. All of Jesus’ prophecies that the last shall be first and the first last, that the least of these are the real heart of the story, that the poor are blessed and the rich laden with woes, snapped into focus for Paul and everything was changed.
I think nothing has changed since that time, and that God still looks first at the least, the powerless and the victims of this world first, rather than looking at the power brokers, movers, and shakers. Accordingly, I posted this over on the Book of Face:
And predictably, I was soon scolded for it:
Two of those flags should never be paralleled … and referencing innocent citizens doesn’t justify it. one wants the other obliterated.
To which I replied:
Yeah. I guess flag depictions are a really solid reason to be fine with the murder of innocent civilians. What was I thinking?
And received this astonishing response:
Your point is taken which is why you don’t go around invading other countries or committing acts of mass terrorism against other peoples and nations who might just declare war in return for your stupidity. Neither Ukraine (for the most part) nor Israel are “murdering” innocent civilians. Murder implies premeditation and the deliberate targeting of civilians. Sadly, the deaths of “innocent” civilians in Gaza and Russia are the result of of collateral damage and not by deliberate targeting. More to the point, war is a punishment for sin. So, is ANY civilian really innocent in God’s eyes when all have sinned grievously against Him and most without remorse? On the other hand, Russia and Hamas have both deliberately targeted and committed heinous atrocities against civilians. What would YOU do if thugs came into your home to kill you, rape your wife, kill her, and take your children? Sit idly by and shout slogans of peace at them? I doubt it.
Half the population of Gaza is children. That you put “innocent” in scare quotes to refer to them tells me everything I need to know about your thought processes. Your insane take on the morality of war is great demented Calvinism, but is not Catholic. “Palestinian children deserve to be blown to pieces because Original Sin” is obscene nonsense.
Which brings me back to my original point. Innocent Israelis and Palestinians are where I start in the Israeli-Hamas War, not the destructive power players in Hamas or the Netanyahu regime, and most emphatically not with the demented anti-Christian theology that pronounces a blessing on the murder of children Because Original Sin. Jesus starts his ministry pronouncing blessing on the poor, the mourning, the hungry, the thirsty, the despised, and the suffering. He blesses children. He does not callously call them “collateral damage” and declare that, really, anyway, they deserve death Because Original Sin.
And so, starting where Jesus does and not with the powers and principalities jockeying for power in this world, I continue to side with the least of these, whatever skin they wear and wherever they are murdered by those powers and principalities struggling for power and serving their people so very, very badly. I side with people like the Parent’s Circle in this video, and with every innocent suffering in this war:
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3 Responses
Okay, I could see the thing about not paralleling Israel and Palestine, because bad faith both-sides arguments would claim that each is equally the other’s victim, which completely ignores the power imbalance between the two. But I get the impression that your interlocutor thinks the power imbalance goes the opposite direction from what it actually does.
Of course, as you say, that doesn’t excuse the targeting of innocent civilians, and I’ll take it a step further and say it doesn’t matter whether they’re innocent or not. So, yeah, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Fair enough. So what? Murder is still murder.
Finally, your interlocutor seems to be ignoring the fact that Israel is, in fact, deliberately targeting civilians. If we generously assume the hospital bombings don’t count (perhaps they made sure there were other hospitals available and confirmed the targeted ones were unoccupied except by terrorists?) there’s still the fact that Israel is collectively punishing the entire population of Gaza by shutting off their water and the electricity needed to run the hospitals.