Sermon - Cheeky Nonviolence

     In August of 2000 His Holiness the Dalai Lama appeared in Central Park before a crowd of nearly a quarter of a million people. In January of 2002, four months after September 11th, preparations were being made for His Holiness to return to New York for another big event, this time, to give a talk focused on nonviolence. One moth after this announcement, an article appeared in the New York Times saying the trip was postponed. Given the events of September 11th and the general climate, many, many New Yorkers said they didn’t want to hear about nonviolence, even from the Dalai Lama. Several of those interviewed in the article equated non-violence with being passive, submissive, giving in to terrorism.

     It is commonly believed that there are two ways to respond to violence. One is to turn the other cheek, which is usually interpreted to mean doing nothing.

     The other response to an act of violence is retaliation, an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth. For many people, this is the definition of justice, but as Mahatma Gandhi put it, and recent experiences in the Middle East have borne out, “living by an eye for an eye philosophy means that everyone ends up blind.”

     The idea of turning the other cheek comes from a saying of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount, “if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Theologian Walter Wink argues that when Jesus says turn the other cheek he is speaking about a specific practice that was prevalent in his culture. When people of equal status fought with each other, they used their fists. But a blow to the right cheek came in the form of a back handed slap with the right hand. The backhand slap was the way masters reprimanded slaves; it was the culturally accepted way for husbands to reprimand their wives, for parents to put their children in line for Romans to degrade Jews.

     The purpose of the backhand slap, the right hand to the right cheek, was to insult, denigrate and humiliate one of lesser status. It was a stinging reminder of who held the power.

     Speaking to those who were powerless, Jesus says, when you get a backhanded slap on your right cheek, say to yourself, “I will not be cowed, I will not be humiliated. Say this by standing straight and tall. Turn the other cheek as a sign of your refusal to submit.

     Understood in its context, turning the other cheek was an act of assertive nonviolence. This teaching was never intended to imply that people should do nothing in the face of violence. Cheeky nonviolence is not about becoming a doormat. It is about actively resisting the violence of oppression in a nonviolent way. To turn the other cheek is to stand defiantly. It is to say, you may strike by body, I will not retaliate, but my spirit stands in defiance of your violence. By standing in defiance of violence without striking back, one disrupts the circuit of violence.

     Mahatma Gandhi once said it is the weakling who resorts to violence. The root of violence is fear. Early on in the campaign to free India from British colonialism Gandhi decided to venture into the northwest frontier province of India. He had heard there were freedom fighters in the northwest. They were really tough guys. They were people who lived by the law, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. So Gandhi decided to go meet these people called the Pashtuns. Sound familiar? Well his friends and confidants did everything within their power to keep him from going. They thought it was suicide for him to go. They said, “these are really violent people. Fighting is all they know. They will laugh at you and who knows what else.” But Gandhi said "I must go." His friends said, “You can’t go these people are real fighters”. But Gandhi answered, “I am a real fighter, but I want to teach them how to fight without violence.”

      After a long journey he sat upon a green hill clad only in his loin cloth, surrounded by a skeptical, scowling crowd of hardened fighters. All these men stood around him holding tightly to their riffles. As he sat looking at them, he smiled. There was a great silence and then, out of the mouth of this little dark brown stick figure came the words: “Well, are you afraid? You look to me like you are afraid.” Impatiently they shifted around. “I think you are afraid” He said. “Why else would you be carrying guns if you weren’t afraid?” They stared at him, a little stunned. No one had ever dared to speak to them like this before. But he wouldn’t stop, “You see” he said, “I have no fear; this is why I am unarmed. This,” he said, “is what ahimsa means.” Standing there after a while, the leader Abdul Kahn said, “no fear, huh”. Tell me about this no fear”. “Ahimsa,” Gandhi said, “is perfect love. To extend this love even to those you hate is what makes you fearless; it’s what makes you strong.”

      This story about Gandhi is a story about turning the other cheek. Turning the other cheek is a metaphor for living a life of resistance to violence. Wearing only a loincloth he sat down with those armed-to-the-teeth tough guys, showing them that real strength always and only comes from within.

      We live in frightening times. At a global level we are told that when it comes to violence, especially terrorism, there are basically two alternatives. Respond in kind with violence, or do nothing. And this is no less true in our personal lives. When we are on the receiving end of harsh words or abuse we are conditioned to believe there are only two alternatives, strike back or do nothing. But always, there is a third way. Always, there is a way to respond outside the box, respond creatively, compassionately, nonviolently. The purpose of nonviolent resistance is not to humiliate or hurt those who hurt us, but to win them over. Nonviolence requires the greatest courage. Cheeky nonviolence is an attack on the forces of evil rather than the person who is consumed by those forces. Cheeky nonviolence does not mean being a doormat, but becoming a doorway that opens up the possibility of the transformation of relationships. “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, stand tall and turn the other one also.”