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| Child Prisoners - Auschwitz-Birkenau |
What
if Christ's crucifixion had developed a little differently? What if
Jesus's enemies had not attacked him directly, but instead had approached him with this ultimatum: “Give up your ministry
forthwith or we will brutally murder your mother Mary and your
brothers this very afternoon. We will not touch you personally, on
the contrary, we will make sure that you live the rest of your days
in the lap of ease and luxury.” I wonder what Jesus would have done
given this option. The Christian's viewpoint is colored when
the assumption is made that only the self will be hurt by decisions
made. Clearly, this is often not the case. For example in World War
II, I could have with great ease and equanimity prayed for the gentle
nudging of Hitler's conscience. Forgiveness daily could have flowed
from my heart and lips. Unfortunately, it was really not my place to
forgive, but rather for those he tortured and murdered at
Auschwitz-Birkenau.
And
if I had any empathy at all for the victims of hatred, it of
necessity meant that some prayers would call for enforced justice as
well as compassion. Forgiveness of an enemy when offered for myself
by myself is highly commendable and clearly the Christian thing to
do. It is a much more difficult matter when I presume to forgive in
the stead of others.
We
are often challenged to have empathy – to put ourselves in someone
else's shoes and see things from their point of view. This, it is
assumed, will result in compassion. Often the opposite is true. For
example, the abolitionist during days of slavery was far more likely
to be infuriated rather than filled with compassion when he tried to
assume the slaveholder's viewpoint of people as chattel. There is a
saying that extreme cases make for bad law. Maybe Nazis and racists
are extreme cases and provide little guidance for dealing with less
lurid enemies – say more in the line of “enemies” encountered
in everyday competition – as when two people are vying for the same
promotional opportunity. Today I was at TASCO (a City teen program)
and overheard a young teenage boy say with conviction while watching
a movie “I don't like mean people.” The thought immediately
crossed my mind that here is a true American. I greatly like to
think of my country as a place that does not like mean people. I
like to think that compassion and goodwill characterize it even in times of stress and duress. But we are faced with an enigma –
can compassion extend not only to the innocent but to the guilty as
well – and exactly what form does such compassion take?
Hatred takes on the character of obsessive mental illness – perhaps such an
understanding is a prayerful place to begin.
