Comments on: “Man Down!” – Teaching the Restored Gospel through peaceful analogies

By: Margie Miller

Margie Miller — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:03:22 +0000

Thanks, Rich. That can be helpful.

Welcome to the new poster too. We can use all the peace postings we can get.

And I agree with the thought that images of violence beget violence. I really believe all the violence on TV and in the movies has inspired a lot of the violence we see today.

By: Rich Brown

Rich Brown — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:34:44 +0000

The so-called “two donkeys controversy” has garnered its share of explanations over the years. While Matthew mentions a colt and its mother (donkey/ass depending on the version), the other three Gospel writers only mention the colt (or young donkey). That doesn’t mean the momma wasn’t there, just that Mark, Luke, and John don’t mention her. It seems reasonable to assume that an unbroken colt would need its mother nearby to avoid Jesus looking like a rodeo-rider on his triumphal entry.

Matthew went to the trouble of quoting Zechariah 9:9 and the long-expected messianic king who would come to rule God’s people by first riding into town on a colt. It’s also quite conceivable that when Matthew says Jesus sat on “them,” he was referring not to the animals (and back to the rodeo imagery) but to the garments placed on both the colt and its mother.

All this is to say that the Bible is NOT a history book but an effort of (often theological) persuasion. This, of course, is way more than anybody wants or needs to know in regard to this thread, but I have a fondness for otherwise useless Bible trivia.

By: sethbryant

sethbryant — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:31:21 +0000

Good point!

But someone put it in there, and I have ask for what purpose and with what potential and real outcomes?

By: bewarethechicken

bewarethechicken — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:33:21 +0000

Seth – whenever I try to reconcile something Jesus “said” I just remember that he also rode into Jerusalem on a colt and a donkey at the same time. The Bible isn’t a history book.

By: sethbryant

sethbryant — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:50:26 +0000

mormongandhi, it’s great to have you with us!

Reading this post, I can’t help but think of my time as a soldier in basic training, and the constant chants that we repeated to sensitive us to the use of deadly force. One cadence that a certain drill sergeant loved to sing as we ran and marched, and one that I refused to join in on, was “Uh! Ha! I wanna kill somebody!” repeated over and over.

The camaraderie, vision, loyalty, and duty found within armies and amongst soldiers could be envied by most organizations. Not surprisingly, linking the gospel and war is not a new move, nor is it an LDS move alone. Jesus, too, spoke of swords–something I have trouble reconciling.

The problem–and I think you’ve articulated it very well, mormongandhi–is when these traits and stories are supposedly sanitized from the deadly seriousness of training to kill, destroy, and maim. In fact, violent images always beget violent acts and militant cultures. I think we need new histories, new models, new scriptures whenever the old betray the peace we ought to envision and embody.

By: mormongandhi

mormongandhi — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:30:56 +0000

Thanks to all for the hearty warm welcoming words! I look forward to working with you and to contributing to this site, as I believe its values and objectives, identified in previous posts I have read, fit well with the message of latter day satyagraha!

peace and truth…

By: bewarethechicken

bewarethechicken — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:16:06 +0000

Hah! Nice one FireTag.

By: Matt Bolton

Matt Bolton — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:01:24 +0000

Welcome to Saint’s Herald — you are a great new addition to the cast!

By: FireTag

FireTag — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:55:14 +0000

Excellent post. In fact, in a comment on another blog last night, I was trying to explain how I respected the integrity of pacifists who were willing to maintain their non-violoence even at the risk of their safety. I caught myself trying to explain their level of integrity by starting to write “When push comes to shove…”

By: bewarethechicken

bewarethechicken — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:21:49 +0000

I’ll add my welcome and appreciate your thoughts. Imagery is vitally important in creating theology as we grapple to identify with the nature of the Living God.

I follow Jesus precisely because he avoided and cut against the notion of God as King, warrior, punisher. Non-violence is one of the few universal truths and this continues to be proven.