Why I’m Not a Pacifist (Or Should We Be?)
Why I’m Not a Pacifist (Or Should We Be?) Let’s start with Nonviolence and the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:38-42 New American Standard Bible verse 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ verse 39 But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also. verse 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your [ a ] tunic, let him have your [ b ] cloak also. verse 41 Whoever [ c ] forces you to go one mile, go with him two. verse 42 Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. So Does Jesus’s teaching in the sermon on the Mount to “turn the other cheek” and not resist evil require pacifism on the part of Christians? Since most religious pacifists ground their convictions in a purported nonviolent “love ethic” of Jesus that is understood to be the teaching of Matthew 5:38–42 , it is imperative that the meaning of Jesus’ teachin