Loving our enemies as a way to transformation is a process. So how might such transformation occur?
Walter Wink* argued that a new archetype, pattern or potential is emerging in humankind. He noted that Jesus identified this pattern in his own life when he referred to his actions as the Son of Man or Human Being.** When early Christians named Jesus, the Son of God, they saw this Human Being pattern only in Jesus. They could not recognize it as something evolving in all of humanity. (In psychological terms, Christians projected this potential onto Jesus and couldn't withdraw the projection.)
If Walter Wink is correct and this potential is an evolving potential within each of us, then we are much more than we think we are. (It should be noted that this potential is probably observable in Buddha, Muhammad and leaders of other spiritual traditions as well.) For this reason it is important to experiment with new ways of engaging our enemies.
Discovering our deep Humanity is not mainly about belief but about practice. It's not about discovering “the truth” or trying to emulate some superhuman figure. It's about each of us living into our particular humanity with as much authenticity as possible. In a real sense, the exploration of ways we can love our enemies aids us in growing into our deeper humanity.
This process of “loving our enemies” and “praying for those who persecute us” is difficult. The old patterns of fear and domination are deeply embedded in our primitive brain, in the fight or flight response. It is “natural” to want to dominate and destroy our enemies. For this reason, we are tempted to turn nonviolent processes into tactics for domination. This means that our attitudes are very important. If the processes described in Part 1 are used merely as clever tactics to defeat our enemies, they will ultimately prove destructive.
If the women in South Africa had stood naked before the bulldozers with sneers on their faces taunting the men driving the bulldozers, they probably would have been killed.
If those participating in the prayer vigils at the Capitol had sung and prayed while whispering among themselves that Governor Walker and the Republican legislators couldn't possibly be people of faith, the vigils would have been tarnished. Such prayer vigils would have been much like the religious observances that the prophet Amos condemned (Amos 5:21) when he quoted Yahweh as saying, “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.”
Loving enemies is not an emotional response. Rather, it is an act of volition and trust. We decide to treat our enemies as we treat our friends. We honor their positions even if we don't agree with them. We try to understand their hopes and fears. We trust that such living is more in tune with the Cosmos than is the dynamic of domination and fear.
There is a Native American saying: “Walk a mile in another man's moccasins before you criticize him.” When I was director of Madison-area Urban Ministry, we sponsored a number of dialogue sessions on controversial issues like abortion, the death penalty and homosexuality. We met over a meal. Participants were urged to tell personal stories describing how they arrived at their positions on these issues. But they were not allowed to argue the merits of their position.
As I listened to the stories of people whose views were different from my own; I thought “If I had had that person's life experience, I might hold their view as well.” Most of us left these dialogues holding the same positions we had when we entered. Yet, we left with a deeper understanding and appreciation for those with different positions. These engagements deepened our humanity.
Buddha also had something to say on this matter. He warned against attachment, either positive or negative, because attachment leads to suffering. He advocated “The Middle Path” which means being neutral, upright, and centered. “It means to investigate and penetrate the core of life and all things with an upright, unbiased attitude.... It is concerned with the relationship between thoughts and behavior, and the relationship between behavior and its consequences.”***
The non-attachment that Buddha advocated was not a disinterested detachment. Buddha was intensely concerned about human suffering. He spent the last 45 years of his life sharing his insights. This intense sensitivity to suffering is true for many Buddhists. Joan Chittister tells the story of a Buddhist man who happened upon two other men fighting. He broke up the fight, not because he sided with either man. He broke up the fight because it was too painful for him to see them fighting.
Non-attachment is a non-biased approach to life. In the case of the protests at the Wisconsin State Capitol, a non-biased approach would free us to look at all the possibilities for ending the stalemate in ways that benefit all people. Like loving our enemies, non-attachment provides a fertile ground for third-way alternatives to the present polarities.
When we follow Jesus' advice to love our enemies or engage Buddha's practice of non-attachment, we are more open to out-of-the-box solutions to the impasse. These practices are transformative. They may not transform the enemy, but they certainly will transform those who engage in them. And we all know that a change in the attitude and position of one party in a conflict unalterably changes the dynamics of the conflict. This shift enables the possibility for a transformation in the attitudes and actions of all involved.
If we, who oppose Governor Walker's tactics and his proposed budget for the State of Wisconsin, base our actions on love for him and those who support him, we may initiate processes of transformation that have powerful implications for our state and nation.
* The Human Being: Jesus and the Enigma of the Son of the Man, by Walter Wink
** Many scholars note that Jesus never referred to himself as the Son of God but as the Son of Man, more accurately “the Son of the Man” or “Human Being”. These references can be divided into two groups. The references in the first group clearly equate the Son of the Man with the Christ of Christianity. (e.g. John 1:51 “...you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”) Many scholars believe that these passages accrued as the early church developed. The other group of nine passages are more likely close to Jesus' own words. [(Mk 2:10, Mtt 9:6, Lk 5:24) S of M has authority to forgive sins; (Mk 2:28, Mt 12:8, Lk 6:5) S of M is Lord of the Sabbath; (Mtt 11:19, Lk 7:34) S of M came eating and drinking. They said a glutton, drunkard, friend of tax collectors and sinners; (Mtt 12:32, Lk 12:10) Those speaking a word against the S of M will be forgiven; but one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven; (Mtt 8:20, Lk 9:58) S of M has no place to lay his head; (Mk 8:31, Lk 9:22) S of M must suffer many things; (Mk 9:31) S of M will be delivered into the hands of men; (Mk 10:45, Mtt 20:28) S of M came not to be served but to serve; (Lk 19:10) S of M came to seek and save the lost.] These are the passages that Walter Wink argues are referring not only to the Human Being in Jesus but also to that Human Being potential in all of humanity.
*** “Buddhism, the Middle Path” - (http://www.buddhanet.net/cbp2_f4.htm)
