The Myth of Redemptive Violence

The stories we tell have great power. Some stories are factual, at least to the best of our memory. Other stories are true, but not necessarily factual, these stories reveal something about human nature, the way of the world/universe, or what Marcus Borg called the truth behind the truth. Then there are stories that we continue to tell and/or liveout. Stories that perpetuate harm. Stories that benefit a minority at the expense of the majority.They myth of redemptive violence is a story we, as humanity, have told for as long as we have been telling stories. Unfortunately, it is a myth we have continued to live out believing eventually it will get us a different result. It is the story Walter Wink calls, "the victory of order over chaos by means of violence. It is the ideology of conquest, the original religion of the status quo." Wink goes on to say in his book The Powers the Be: Theology for a New Millennium that all too often religion promotes this mythology saying: Religion exists to legitimate power and privilege. Life is combat. Any form of order is preferable to chaos, according to this myth. Ours is neither a perfect nor perfectible world; it is theatre ofperpetual conflict in which the prize goes to the strong. Peace through war, securitythrough strength: these are the core convictions that arise from this ancient historicalreligion, and they form the solid bedrock on which the Domination System is founded inevery society.But this doesn't have to be the myth we live. This doesn't have to be our story. Wink also goes on to state, "The reign of God means the elimination of every form of violence between individuals and nations. This is a realm and a possibility of which those imprisoned by their trust in violence cannot even conceive."In this episode, Jenny and Phil take a look at this myth, the suffering it is causing in our world today, and offer an invitation to a "Third Way."