I have a confession to make: as far back as I can remember, I’ve always had a mean streak. Deep down, I want vengeance and payback. I don’t know where this desire originates, and I don’t like it, but it keeps showing up.
I had a childhood friend named Alvin, who had a vivid imagination and a bit of a mean streak as well. Alvin claimed that if anyone ever crossed his father, his dad would drive his tank out of the garage and crush the adversary. I never believed Alvin, but I always found his vengeful solutions interesting.
I used to play sports because they’re a great way to release aggression. In sports, revenge can take many forms. I played soccer from junior high through college. Payback had to be subtle, such as holding an opponent’s jersey. I also played lacrosse, which involves body checking and sticks, making retaliation easy. One time during a game, I was running down the field with the ball when an opponent, a few feet behind me, suddenly swung his stick and hit me in the neck. I went down and had to leave the game. He received a long penalty, but when he returned, some of my teammates legally body checked him, and that was the end of him. Vengeance made me feel good, but my moral compass didn’t think it was right.
Fortunately, my faith reminds me, “Make peace, not war, most of the time.” (The Hitlers of history demand war.) I see Jesus more as a peacemaker, not a pacifist.
That said, my initial reaction to all the terrible events happening everywhere right now, here and abroad, is to take my metaphorical tank or lacrosse stick and handle everything. But I also realize that the current administration wants me to take my tank out so it can obliterate me.
Protesters must continue to pursue effective peaceful solutions. So far, my main approach has been joining large-scale nonviolent protests nationwide that involve thousands, if not millions, of people. The No Kings protest on October 18 this year drew some seven million protesters around the world. Our nonviolent protest in Santa Ana, California, attracted over five thousand people.
I subscribe to a blog called Faith and Reason, which periodically posts thought-provoking entries titled “Letters from Peter,” written by Peter Laarman, a retired United Church of Christ pastor who continues to be a justice activist. He shared the story of Argentina’s “dirty war” in the late 1970s and ’80s, when brave women—mothers, grandmothers, sisters, wives, and daughters of those abducted—protested daily against Argentina’s repressive right-wing regime, which had “disappeared” about thirty thousand people, simply by banging their pots and pans with a spoon. This went on day and night. Long story short, that regime had to give up. The women’s joyful noise was deafening, and eventually the repressive regime surrendered.
When I heard this story, my tank and lacrosse sticks disappeared. I now envision a country full of people who oppose what is happening today, whether at government offices, military bases, detention centers, or Washington, DC. My new vision is that this joyful noise could end the Trump dictatorship and allow us to start again, protecting our fragile Constitution and democracy.
This idea is so refreshing, so nonviolent, so peaceful that I see it as the “weapon” to end this dictatorship and Project 2025.
Will you bring your pots and pans to protest daily?
PeaceLoveJoyHopeKindness
Bil
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P.S. People often ask me provocative questions about current events, both religious and secular. I have found that some of these questions are being asked universally. I’ll be periodically alternating regular articles with one of those questions and my answer. I invite you to send me your question to bilaulenbach@yahoo.com.
Photo courtesy of Doc Searls (CC BY-2.0)
Good idea!!
One of the biggest dilemmas for Christians is how to fight fairly and effectively without crossing the line. We cannot merely sit on the sidelines offering “thoughts and prayers” “(I am SO tired of that response.} History is replete with examples of what the righteous had to do to eliminate injustice. Plus, even Jesus had his fill with the crooks of this day— the Pharisees who took their corruption into the temple and cheated the poorest of the poor who came to the temple to offer sacrifice. We must be active in our fight against injustice.