November 1, 2012:       Daniel Daring        Daniel's previous reflections

Not like Cain, but like Jesus – Mark 12:28-34

They say that we are social beings; they say that we are imitators; they say that mostly our knowledge comes from following others, repeating their words and actions, and emulating their lives. That is what they say; and there is probably a lot of truth to it. Yet, it is a rather scary theory. What will happen if we imitate wrong examples? Can we not end up being assured of doing the right thing, whereas in fact we commit injustice? The ancient Christians were well aware of this possibility, therefore they warned us: “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother” (1 John 3:11-12; KJV).  

Love – but not as Cain  

The story of Cain can be found in Genesis 4:1-16. A believer, and a pious man, who was trying to honor God with burnt offerings and sacrifices, and ended up killing his own brother. History judged him to be of the evil one (1 John 3:12), and warns us against following this example. And yet, we seldom do our homework properly. Jesus joined together two commandments that originally were recorded in two different books of Moses: that of the love of God in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and that of the love of neighbor in Leviticus 19:18. Aware of the pitfalls of a piety that is only concerned with the unseen God, Jesus put the two commandments of love side by side, and declared that there is no commandment greater than these (Mark 12:31). And yet, we have a hard time to keep them together. It seems much easier to declare openly our love of God, to burn offerings and give Him sacrifices, than to love our brothers and sisters. Let me give you two examples on a global scale across centuries.

The Knights of the Teutonic Order were a military religious order founded in the twelth century on the frenzy of the Crusades. After losing the Holy Land to the Muslims, they had to find another place of “mission” that would justify their existence. In 1226, they settled down in Poland with a purpose to evangelize the Prussian tribe that boarded to the north of that country. They were known as the Crossed Knights or the Knights of the Blessed Virgin Mary; they wore a white garb with a huge black cross painted on it. However, they made themselves known as merciless, cruel military men. In just fifty years, they succeeded in wiping out the entire population of the Prussian tribe, annexing their land for themselves. In 1409, they declared a religious war against Poland and Lithuania, gaining the support of the Pope and the whole of the Western Europe. That year, the Polish King, Jagiello said these memorable words: “Next year we either conquer the Crossed Knights or we perish as a nation, and as individuals.”

The United States of America considers itself a deeply religious nation. Its leaders openly acknowledged their church affiliations. Yet, our contemporary history has faithfully recorded the involvement of that nation in many wars or armed conflicts in different parts of the world: Cuba, Vietnam, Iraq;the  bombing of Cambodia, the bombing of Libya; the overthrowing of many democratically elected governments in many Latin American Countries through mercenary forces and military aid, to mention just but a few. All of these were justified in the name of democracy, freedom, and human rights. The only problem one has with this justification is that nations and individuals perished in the process.

I am sure that you can come up with your own examples closer to your own place and not necessarilly as drastic and tragic in their consequences as the two mentioned. Be it global or local, we need to recognize that religiosity which does not take into account the goodness of our brothers and sisters may degenerate into “Cainian” false piety. “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet he hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother. Whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:20-21; NIV).  

Love – like Christ  

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16; NIV); “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (1 John 15:13; NIV). At the beginning of 1980, Oscar Romero, the archbishop of El Salvador wrote a letter to the President of the U.S., Jimmy Carter, pleading with him to stop the military aid to the Salvadorian government, because it was used to destroy the people of that small Latin American country. (For twelve years the U.S. was sending daily $1.5 million in aid, funding the civil war in El Salvador). The letter was never answered; the aid did not stop; and on March 24, 1980 Oscar Romero was assassinated. In one of his last sermons, he said: “One must not love oneself so much, as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us, and those that fend off danger will lose their lives.”

“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). There is no need to clarify who the neighbor is, because Jesus himself declared it in the famous parable about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). It is also not necessary to discuss the relevance of loving oneself first, before loving others, because many psychologist, sociologists, theologians, and spiritual writers have already done it. I just want to state the obvious: this commandment implies that we treat others with dignity and respect. “Do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). It does not permit us to destroy others in the name of God, democracy, patriotism, freedom, prosperity, or any other name you can think of. The one and only thing that the Christian God demands from us is to love.  

Conclusion  

Joining together the love of God with the love of neighbor and making the love of neighbor the proof of loving God,  take away any justification for emulating a “Cainian” religiosity. It seems that God evaluates our piety not in terms of quantity – offerings and sacrifices, but in terms of quality – loving our brothers and sisters the way He loves them. If we have understood it in this way, we may put into practice the famous adage of St. Augustine: “Love, and do what you like.” Be blessed.