An American Christian Chapter XII — Violence & Militarism
By: An American Christian
Tags: Writing, Christianity, Abuse, Violence, Church

When I was a wee lad, still learning how to pronounce ‘banana’ the right way, I was fully immersed in Sunday School. I was taught all those wonderful Bible stories like Jonah and the Whale and Adam and Eve. Stories about King David and all the adventures he went on while running from the evil King Saul. Noah’s ark was a favorite because it involved all the animals, and who can forget the story of Abraham?

Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash

Yes, at five years old, I was already exposed to more stories of obscene violence than from any slasher-film binge I’ve been on as an adult.

Jonah was supposed to go to Ninevah to warn them of God’s murderous wrath, and when he tried to escape, God sent a storm that threatened to drown the whole crew of a ship to get Jonah’s attention. When the crew threw him overboard, God totally chilled and had a giant fish swallow him instead. He stayed alive in its belly, burning in stomach acid until he was ralphed up on the beach to do what he was told.

Adam and Eve, well, they were just shitty people because they realized that they were naked after listening to a talking snake. King David was a misogynist, a pig, and a rapist, as well as a serial murderer, but hey, he asked for forgiveness from God, so it’s cool. Noah’s ark is just the story of planetary genocide, and Abraham abandoned his son because he was a bastard child. Not to mention just about killing his other son to prove how loyal he was to God.

The Bible, especially the old testament, is chock-full of horrifying stories of extreme violence and obscenities. Sodom and Gomorrah were the cities God annihilated with fire and brimstone because of their impenitent sin. This is something modern-day preachers try to use as an example of homosexuality despite being contradicted several times in both the old and new testaments.

Once in Ezekiel, which describes that the cities were selfish:

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:

She and her daughters were arrogant,

overfed and unconcerned;

they did not help the poor and needy.

They were haughty and did detestable things before me.

Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”

Ezekiel 16:49–50

Another mention came straight from Jesus as he described their unwillingness to help people:

“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”

Matthew 10:15–6; see also Luke 10:11–2

The story mentions the men of Sodom asking Lot to “know” the two men he brought in. Ministers again describe this as a form of sex, often citing that the men of Sodom wanted to rape the male visitors. This story is further exasperated when Lot offers his two virgin daughters instead. When Lot and his family flee the city as God destroys it, Lot’s wife looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt for the sin of missing her home. Later on, Lot’s daughters get him drunk and rape him so they can bear children.

While the Bible is indeed full of stories like this, it’s also full of unmitigated violence and war. God is often pissed off at other people groups and asks his chosen people to wipe them off the face of the earth. He often required his people not only to murder an entire race of human beings but to slaughter all their livestock as well, just for the hell of it.

I know there’s more context than this, but let’s look at this objectively: The God of the old testament is one mean cuss.

Throughout the entire Bible, there is war after war, God’s continual wrath, unnecessary pain, and suffering because of some archaic practice, and incomprehensible violence committed on behalf of God’s will. From genocide to murder and slavery, to rape and incest, to the constant subjugation of women.

If you look at the Bible as a collection of stories and myths no different than The Odyssey, The Divine Comedy, Beowulf, or Dante’s Inferno, then a lot of the stories make sense. A vengeful and bloodthirsty God fits within the context of human pain and suffering.

The new testament tones down a lot of violent rhetoric because it focuses on Christ’s life and His followers. Jesus was the promised savior of humankind; the Son of God brought to earth to die as a final sacrifice for all sins. The Prince of Peace. The Lamb of God. Humble Savior to all of Humanity.

It was always strange to me hearing Pastor Ben Jones preach sermons based on the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ while talking about how we were in a war against the unbelievers. He would often tell us that Jesus was misrepresented as a pacifist and was really a mighty warrior, striking down the enemies of God and fighting the forces of evil. Those forces just happened to be the ACLU, the LGBTQIA+ community, liberal politicians, Catholics, Muslims, Communists, occasionally the Jews but never Israel, Pro-Choice activists, Hollywood, Lord of the Rings and/or Harry Potter, Rock Music, definitely Rap Music, Agnostics, Spiritualists and Atheists. The full list is just too long to write out.

It wasn’t just because Ben was a dick. He didn’t come up with this on his own. This bile and hatred of the other are not only pervasive in evangelical circles but the norm. It wasn’t always like that, though. Most sects of Christianity, outside of Southern Baptists and Calvinists, pretty well got along with the rest of the population, at least in the US until after WWII. This, of course, is not taking into account the dreadful battles between medieval Catholicism and Protestantism. Aggressive factions that still kill each other based on different perceptions of the same dogma.

The Crusades aren’t just a stain upon Christendom’s history; it was an act of attempted genocide based on forced conversion. The Knights Templar invaded Jerusalem in an attempt to free the Holy Land from Islamic control. Not long after, the Templars continued to slaughter Muslims who did not convert to Christianity. Under the Bull Omne Datum Optimum issued by Pope Innocent II (the irony is palpable), the Knights were promised all assets stolen and otherwise acquired from Muslim armies. This gave them unprecedented power, and because they’re human, they, of course, exploited it.