The Absurdity of Violence by Rev. Rachel Marvin-Borger
In Star Trek episode “A Taste of Armageddon,” the starship Enterprise encounters the planet Emeniar VII. A small landing party beams to the planet. They soon learn that Emeniar VII is at war with the neighboring planet Vendikar. This war has persisted for five hundred years.
Soon, the landing party learns of an attack from Vendikar. The planet has been hit. This is strange because no impact was registered by the party's senses or equipment. While Emeniar VII officials state that there is destruction, none is perceptible.
This is when it becomes apparent that the war between the two planets is being carried out completely by computer simulation. Fictitious weapons are directed and fired at a location on the opposite planet’s surface. At this point, the computer tallies the supposed number of casualties. Then, citizens are called on to report to disintegration chambers.
There is a peculiar sort of peace being held together by violence. The two planets have chosen stability, predictably, and what is manageable over and above the safety and flourishing of their people. They have traded any hope of actual peace for the mainstream of the status quo.
Eventually, Captain Kirk destroys the war computer. The people are distraught. This may cause an escalation in the war. This may mean destruction on another level. The violence that results may be worse than the controlled version to which they were accustomed.
Or, Captain Kirk posits, it could be the perfect opportunity to pursue peace. After the status quo of violence is rejected, maybe the new normal could simply be free from warfare altogether. There is something absurd about the way that the people on Emeniar VII and Vendikar have clung to violence as if there is no solution and no way forward. It has become so ingrained in their collective psyche that they have carried on ways to automate and simulate their warfare. How much simpler to simply lay down their arms.
Emeniar VII’s leader has this exchange with Captain Kirk:
Anan 7: There can be no peace. Don't you see? We've admitted it to ourselves. We're a killer species. It's instinctive. It's the same with you….
Captain Kirk: All right. It's instinctive. But the instinct can be fought. We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands, but we can stop it. We can admit that we're killers, but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes. Knowing that we won't kill today. Contact Vendikar. I think you'll find that they're just as terrified, appalled, horrified as you are, that they'll do anything to avoid the alternative I've given you. Peace or utter destruction. It's up to you.
We can become so desensitized to violence that we don't recognize its absurdity or its frailty. The status quo on our planet is violence. The status quo on our planet is war. And we accept violence as a necessary evil and an evil that is impossible to avoid rather than give up our pseudo peace that exists in the current status quo. People war against people. Nations war against nations. Our concern is usually how to win, instead of how to stop warring in the first place. We cling to the status quo about how violent our world is and must be and how to protect ourselves in violent ways
What would happen if instead we could imagine an entirely new way to relate to one another? What if, when we approached others, violence was not even an option? What if no matter how scared or out of control we might feel, violence was not even an option? What if no matter what we might gain or stand to lose because of someone else's actions, violence was not even an option? What if we could see the absurdity of hurting one another and the benefit of putting our weapons aside?
When Jesus was faced with the arrest that would lead to his immense personal suffering from violence, he did not meet the occasion with causing pain or ruin to others:
When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. (Luke 22:49-51)
Instead of attacking to maintain self-preservation, Jesus restores those who treat him with enmity. “All who live by the sword will die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) But Jesus shows us a better way. If we refrain from retaliation in kind, we challenge the status quo and open the door for a peaceful way forward.
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
(Isaiah 2:4)
