Easter Meditations: Pointing Out Thuggery

The Arrest of Christ (Ilya Repin, 1886)

In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” 

Matt. 26:55-56

I like the fact that Jesus pointed out thuggery.  He didn't use his power to flatten them, but He did point out what was really going on, what was wrong with this scenario.

There are times when injustice should be pointed out. We tend to do that today as a precursor to forcing unethical behaviors to stop, and I think there's a place for that. While Jesus didn't use power or force to stop unethical or immoral behavior, but He also didn't let it pass without notice. That gives me hope, as a person who wants bullying (in its broader sense) to be addressed.

There is too much thuggery going on in this world. People use power for their own gain. Some of the rest of us simply go along with the exercise of force, physical or otherwise, because we are fearful and/or cowardly.  We have ways of convincing ourselves that this is okay, that we are joining a cause that should be joined. We find reasons that make it psychologically acceptable.

Don't get me wrong; the fact that someone is hurt by an action doesn't necessarily make it unjust or classify it as thuggery. The world is not perfect, and people will get hurt. They will find their space limited, their jobs closed out, their perks removed, or their ideology out of favor with the majority vote. These are the results of living on a planet where the resources are not big enough to meet the demand, and where we simply disagree with one another.

But we always have humane methods available to us for addressing issues, versus brutal, punishing ways. Thuggery is found in the attitude with which the person or persons with power carry out their aims. It includes a lack of process, an attitude of coercion, and an absence of empathy for the individual whose world is being limited by what is happening. At its worst, it delights, even finds glee, in being forceful and punitive.

In the midst of the maddened crowd in Gethsemane, Jesus took a moment to point out what would have been a sane and humane approach. At that point, anyone listening could have changed course. It seems we, too, could at least endeavor to do that for one another, even in the "small thuggish moments" of life.