Clash of Civilizations
by
Jaime O. Perez
Turn The Other Cheek
“But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:39
Walter Wink, a theologian and biblical scholar suggests that Jesus never preached passivity in the face of institutional abuse. He writes, “It was a time of slavery and Jesus was usually talking to common folk and many of his listeners were slaves. (At that time) Slaves were reprimanded by a slap with the back of the right hand to the right cheek of the slave.
But to strike a peer, someone equal, someone would use a fist and hit directly, usually to the left cheek.” Jesus directed slaves to turn the other cheek.
According to Wink, such an action had the following consequences, it forced, “the hitter to hit the slave as an equal; alerts the hitter they are treating him as a lesser person; allows the abuser to see that they are abusing their power and to consider changing their behavior.” The message to turn the other cheek commands, therefore, that one should show love for one’s neighbors even when they abuse you but also point out the unjust nature of their acts and provide them an opportunity to change their minds.
What does this have to do with loving the enemy that would strike us and how does it apply to what we experience today?
Wink suggests that what looks like passivity may be a third way, “When Jackie Robinson became the first black player in major league baseball, Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers pressed this intensely competitive athlete to agree that for three years he would take whatever abuse was heaped on him without a word. Robinson finally said, ‘Mr. Rickey, are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?’ Rickey replied, ‘I'm looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back.’ When Bishop Desmond Tutu was walking by a construction site on a temporary sidewalk the width of one person, a white man appeared at the other end, recognized Tutu, and said, ‘I don't give way to gorillas.’ At which Tutu stepped aside, made a deep sweeping gesture, and said, ‘Ah yes, but I do.’"
Clash of Civilizations
I recount Wink’s words for two reasons. One is as a means to challenge those many who insist on dividing the world according to the categories of Samuel Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations.’ Human beings are more than their skin color or their religion. It makes it a ludicrous exercise to minimize people in this way. Yet, the history of racism has so distorted our ability to think beyond easy stereotypes that it becomes difficult to speak beyond the ‘master bias.’
In this issue, we covered opinions by those who identify along a singular dimension; Muslim and Black. Yet, closely reading the commentary of members categorized in such a manner, one can see the folly of doing so.
A few years ago, I was involved in war games in a special class at the John F. Kennedy School. In a game we played that clustered people by race and religion, it was found opinion regarding many issues, from war to abortion to distribution of values that race and religion were not the primary predictors.
In other words, people grouped as black, white and Hispanic tended to agree along value dimensions, not by race or ethnicity. It sounds trivial and trite to say but, nevertheless, in my opinion, it is deeply and profound revealing: blacks, whites and Hispanics do not tend to think like other blacks, whites and Hispanics.
What this means is that we have to figure out a way to think beyond race or suffer the delusion of a Samuel Huntington world divided along racial and religious lines.
Self-Help
The other reason Wink is instructive is that the United States has little choice but to succeed in Iraq. The view set forth by Kenneth Waltz, that in a self-help system, the use of force is the primary tool of choice is clearly illustrated by the increasing violence in Iraq today. Until the self-help system is changed to one with a central, legitimate authority that democratically represents all sectors, the situation will not change.
To speak of Iraq solutions, we must necessarily speak of recognizing sectarian prejudice without falling into the trap of institutionalizing discrimination and creating a nation of sectarian zealots. Turning the other cheek and suing for peace before an institutional solution is found is to expect the impossible. Let us resolve to seek peace and turn the other cheek.
Happy New Year
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This perspective first appeared in Border Observer, Jaime O. Perez, Editor