As the nations gets riven by religious fanaticism and bigotry, we Christians must hold our horses on being judgemental and labeling the members of our neighbouring faiths. Are we exonerated? Aren’t our hands stained with blood? Aren’t we convicted of the Holocaust and the Crusades?
We must constantly reiterate with the Psalmist;
“𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦.” (𝘗𝘴 51:3)
Religion and power is a deadly concoction. Such potent is this venom that it conveniently yet subtly converted the crucified Christ into the crucifying Christ by co-opting the Cross as the signet of war beginning with the Emperor Constantine.
Thereafter attempts were made to systematically cleanse (especially through the liturgical texts) the Cross off the imperial smirch by shifting the blame of executing Christ to the Jews from the Roman Empire. The very instrument of inclusion was insidiously transmuted to the instrument of discrimination by the imperial hegemony.
When war is glorified or called for, the injunction of Christ rings ever more strongly;
“𝘗𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥.” (𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵. 26:52)
Christ through His Cross displayed that our God would rather die than kill. Therefore, His invitation is to lay down our lives for our fellow brothers and sisters, not to take any (John 15:13).
“𝘞𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.” (1 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 3:16)
Barbara Brown Taylor, a preeminent American priest and academic remarks;
“𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘰𝘥. “
Stop protecting God; God can protect Godself. As Christ made it very clear;
“𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴? 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺?” (𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵. 26:53-54)
Moreover, a god who needs to be protected is no god at all.
Concluding with the poignant words of Tyler Huckabee, a freelance writer;
“𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵…𝘝𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘺𝘵𝘩, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴…𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯? 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭.”
Praying for peace to prevail with Elias Mor Julius Youth Association, Manjinikkara, Kerala, India. 
~ 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐨 𝐅𝐫. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥
Urho, The Way 