Violent revolution fails because it is not revolutionary enough. It changes the rulers but not the rules, the ends but not the means. Most of the old repressive values and delusional assumptions remain intact. What Jesus envisioned was a world transformed, where both people and Powers are in harmony with the Ultimate and committed to the general welfare - what some prefer to call the "kingdom" of God.
If Jesus had never lived, we would not have been able to invent him.
- Walter Wink, from The Powers That Be
i'm reading this book for work and it's really, really awesome - the author mentions that madeleine l'engle gave him the idea for it, and the theology is very much like hers. in this section, he's going through different interpretations of the crucifixion.
i don't want to overexplain it. but by being blameless and accepting punishment, jesus overthrew the system in which a scapegoat is punished [john 18:14]. and overthrew the system in which violence is used as a solution. not just overthrew the society of his time, or the evil people that existed then and still exist, but the whole system that we live by, that makes us believe we kill people to make things better. because that doesn't work. huh. [see, i'm very controversial here.]
violent revolution fails because it is not revoltionary enough...
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