WHAT PART OF “THOU SHALT NOT KILL”
DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?
Introductory Reflection: Kirkridge Retreat: Liz McAlister, September 2004
What I want to share with you tonight is excerpts from a piece that appeared in The Onion , late September, 2001 – I think it presents the theme of this weekend very well…
Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday.
God: "Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said God, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. "Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."
Worshipped by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, God said His name has been invoked countless times over the centuries as a reason to kill in what He called "an unending cycle of violence."
"I don't care how holy somebody claims to be," God said. "If a person tells you it's My will that they kill someone, they're wrong. Got it? I don't care what religion you are, or who you think your enemy is, here it is one more time: No killing, in My name or anyone else's, ever again."
The press conference came as a surprise to humankind, as God rarely intervenes in earthly affairs. As a matter of longstanding policy, He has traditionally left the task of interpreting His message and divine will to clerics, rabbis, priests, imams, and Biblical scholars. Theologians and lay alike have been given the task of pondering God's mysteries, deciding for themselves what to do as a matter of faith. His decision to manifest on the material plane was motivated by the deep sense of shock, outrage, and sorrow He felt over the Sept. 11 violence carried out in His name, and over its dire ramifications around the globe.
"I tried to put it in the simplest possible terms for you people, so you'd get it straight, because I thought it was important," said God, called Yahweh and Allah respectively in the Judaic and Muslim traditions. "I figured I'd left no room for confusion - putting it in a four-word sentence with one-syllable words, on the tablets I gave to Moses . How much clearer can I get?"
"But somehow, it all gets twisted around and, next thing you know, somebody's spouting off some nonsense about, 'God says I have to kill this guy, God wants me to kill that guy, it's God's will,'" God continued. "It's not God's will, all right? News flash: 'God's will equals 'Don't kill people.'"
God praised the overwhelming majority of His Muslim followers as "wonderful, pious people," calling the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks rare exceptions.
"This whole medieval concept of the jihad, or holy war, had all but vanished from the Muslim world in, like, the 10th century, and with good reason," God said. "There's no such thing as a holy war, only unholy ones
"Read the book: 'Allah is kind, Allah is beautiful, Allah is merciful.' It goes on and on that way, page after page. But, no, some assholes have to come along and revive this stupid holy-war crap just to further their own hateful agenda. So now, everybody thinks Muslims are all murderous barbarians. Thanks, Taliban: 1,000 years of pan-Islamic cultural progress down the drain."
God stressed that His remarks were directed at anyone whose ideological zealotry overrides his or her ability to comprehend the core message of all world religions.
"I don't care what faith you are, everybody's been making this same mistake since the dawn of time. Muslims massacre Hindus, Hindus massacre Muslims. Everybody massacres the Buddhists. The Jews, don't even get me started on the hard-line, right-wing Israeli nationalists, man. And Christians? You people believe in a Messiah who says, 'Turn the other cheek,' but you've been killing everybody you can get your hands on since the Crusades."
Growing increasingly wrathful, God continued: "Can't you see? What are you, morons? There are a ton of different religious traditions out there, and different cultures worship Me in different ways. But the basic message is always the same: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism... every religious belief system under the sun, they all say you're supposed to love your neighbors, folks! It's not that hard a concept to grasp."
"Why would you think I'd want anything else? Humans don't need religion or God as an excuse to kill each other—you've been doing that without any help from Me since you were freaking apes!" God said. "The whole point of believing in God is to have a higher standard of behavior. How obvious can you get?"
"I'm talking to all of you, here!" continued God, His voice rising to a shout. "Do you hear Me? I don't want you to kill anybody. I'm against it, across the board. How many times do I have to say it? Don't kill each other anymore—ever! I'm fucking serious!"
Upon completing His outburst, God fell silent, standing quietly at the podium for several moments. Then, witnesses reported, God's shoulders began to shake, and He wept.
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Years ago, Daniel Berrigan wrote this statement: "It's a hell of a way to spend one's life - objecting to the killing of people!" And yet that is what has circumscribed and, to a degree, molded the lives of both presenters at this retreat. We assert that violence does not save, that war does not bring peace, that might does not make right. They never have and they never will.
In the course of this retreat we will:
• listen for God to speak rather than speak for God;
• explore the metaphor of the journey not the fortress;
• look for forgiveness rather than victory;
• pray for a new heart rather than a successful foreign policy.
We will be guided by Jesus '
• concern for victims, outcasts and the marginalized
Matthew 5 begins with the Beatitudes and then announces that we are salt of the earth and light of the world. Then that Jesus has come to fulfill the law and the prophets. Then concerning anger, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation and love of enemies.
photo by Jody Kolodzey