Oftentimes, when I go online, I find myself bombarded with negative comments. People online are emboldened to say ugly words that they wouldn’t have the courage to say in person. Anonymity plays a part in this – having a mask means you don’t have to disguise your words – but even those who use their real names online feel tough when they don’t have to stand in front of you and say the words they do. Online mobs can also bolster your confidence through groupthink. All this leads to the dulling of sympathy and the dehumanization of those on the other side. As much as we are loath to admit it, we have to admit that those on the other side are human too – people who share the same loves, hopes, fears, and flaws as we do.
And we are loath to admit this. It’s difficult to accept the humanity of those opposed to you, not only because they are on the Internet but because they are your enemy. To admit that your hated enemy is as human as you are is to admit that you have something in common with them, making you giving your enmity the quality of self-hatred. This is perhaps why demonizing a hated foe is so easy. It’s easier to deceive oneself than to hate oneself.
Is there a way out of this dilemma without deceiving yourself? The Bible has the answer:
“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Luke 6:27-36
“Love your enemies?” Is this madness? It’s one thing to not be hateful toward someone, but loving someone requires commitment. This command is so strange that it makes one’s head spin. How can one love an enemy? It’s no wonder then that this difficult passage has given rise to many different interpretations.
There are a lot of people who take the verse to mean absolute pacifism. The problem with this view is that it fails to consider why militaries are necessary in the first place. A nation without means of defending itself is destined to be conquered, either by external enemies or by criminal elements from within. Any society that’s majority-Christian cannot be pacifistic, at least not in this absolute sense.
Other people try to go the other direction and water down the passage’s meaning into “be nice to everyone.” Besides making Christ’s message trite (and therefore uninteresting), it’d be bad advice. Loving someone does not mean you have to be nice to them. Loving discipline requires being a little mean. If a parent doesn’t punish a child’s bad behavior, they won’t learn to act better. Children will appreciate their parents’ discipline once they mature – trust me, I know from experience. Also, wouldn’t being kind toward evildoers encourage them to continue doing bad things? Why would you encourage someone you love to do bad things?
A tempting option at this point would be to split the difference – to interpret the “love your enemy” to have an implicit “in one’s personal life.” The public enemy, the enemies of your state and country, are to be hated and destroyed in war while, in private disputes, you should be as pacifistic as can possible. This solution tries to combine the high-mindedness of the pacifistic interpretation with a certain level of realpolitik, making it seem attractive to the practical-minded Christian, but this isn’t right either. When the Bible uses the word “enemy,” it makes no distinction between one’s personal enemies and the enemies of one’s nation (see Luke 1:71, Luke 20:43, and Luke 19:27).
The best interpretation of this passage I’ve found is that Jesus here is redefining what it means to be an enemy. Our enemies all have something in common with us, meaning they are friends by nature. What causes them to be an enemy is some adversarial feeling within him that we ought to be displeased by and seek to get rid of while acknowledging
In the context of warfare, this adversarial relationship turns violent, and the Christian responds in kind. However, violence in this context is still loving, like a father who forces his child into time out after misbehaving (albeit far more extreme). St. Paul even says in one passage that punishment can be done for the good of the soul: “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” This is why St. Bernard of Clairvaux could say of the Christian crusaders “if he kills an evildoer, he is not a man-killer, but, if I may so put it, an evil-killer.”
Love your enemy means treating each enemy as a potential friend who is going through some problem preventing them from being your friend. If they cannot become your friend, then it’s a tragedy, as all are meant to be part of the one body of Christ. Love and friendship are meant to be open-ended, not closed-off.
How can we love our enemies? A good place to start would be to pray for those who act cruelly toward you and respond to their insults with “God bless you.” Ask God to help you forgive them, and if they apologize for their behavior, accept it without hesitation. At the same time, be realistic about other people – some people don’t want to mend their ways, and you mustn’t let them hurt you. You’ll only make things more difficult for everyone. Rather, it’s important to pray for them at an arm’s length – specifically, pray that God will save their souls. In the best-case scenario, they will have a miraculous conversion and become friends with you. It wouldn’t hurt you, in any case. Why not try turning your enemies into the friends they’re meant to be?
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