Conservative Christian politics, violence, and Habakkuk

Habakkuk has a violence problem.

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted. (Hab 1:2-4)

Twice he mentions violence in this opening lament. And four more times he mentions it in the remaining two and a half chapters of this short book.

Habakkuk has its own particular historical location, yes, but even on its own terms the book calls out to be universalized. Its historical location and author are there, but shrouded. Its wrestling with the justice of God, the righteous and the wicked has a proverbial, wisdom flavour.

So it’s no surprise that Habakkuk’s problem with violence is widespread through the Old Testament. In fact, it appears that violence is the fundamental expression of sin against others in the Old Testament.

In the primeval history of the world, violence has infamy. The first sin outside the Garden is Cain violently murdering his brother Abel. Lamech is a sickeningly violent figure. When God floods the world in Genesis 6, the concrete expression of the evil and corruption is that “the earth was filled with violence” (v. 11). Later in the Bible, in another book with clear universal significance, when Jonah preaches to Nineveh and they repent of their evil, it is specifically their violence that they repent of.

This makes extra sense, given the binding role of love in the Old Testament law (at least, according to Jesus). In the Ten Commandments, as soon as the focus moves from the realm of right worship of God (commandments 1-4), through the realm of the family where God’s authority is expressed (commandment 5), to the community world in relation to others, the first commandment is “no murder”. Of course, this is not the same word as ‘violence’ (hamas), but the conceptual leap is not far.¹

The bottom line is, violence is a deep, grave sin that reveals a fundamental anger and hatred at others. That’s why as Christians we must be so opposed to it when we see it.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Christian ethics, the connection to violence is often politically fraught. I have noticed a pattern where opposition to the violence of war, rape, institutional and domestic child abuse, and domestic violence tend to be liberal, progressive political issues. The result is that for many conservative Christians, discussion around these issues seem to be muted or somehow defensive, out of fear of appearing too liberal or progressive. We feel we have to jump very quickly to defend state violence with Romans 13, or appeal to the need for forgiveness in domestic violence situations. Of course, any careful discussion of these issues needs nuance. But too often this same call for nuance is lacking when discussing issues like abortion or traditional sexual or gender ethics.

Thankfully, there are conservative Christians who take a stand against the former issues, and who are pastorally and theologically sensitive in conversation about the latter issues. Habakkuk has reminded me that, as Christians who follow a God who deplores violence, issues related to violence, its victims, and its perpetrators should be at the forefront of our ecclesial and public ethics—perhaps even to the same extent or moreso than sexual ethics.

Conservative churches (or any churches for that matter) should be the last place to find strident confidence in the moral value of war. Or shifting the blame for rape or abuse onto its victims. Or verbal abuse and bullying from pastors, among congregations, or at youth groups. Likewise, Christian marriage should never ever be an excuse for husbands laying hands on their wives, and we should continue to be very clear about the deplorable act that domestic violence is.

Christians are disciples of the one who considers loving God and loving others as the most important commands of the law; the one who died a horrifically violent death to unravel and begin to put an end to violence forever. We should have the same violence problem as Habakkuk.

1. The issue of God’s use of violence is too big an issue to cover here; I’ve written on it elsewhere.↩

Thanks to my supervisor, Walter Moberly, for the comment about violence being fundamental to the Old Testament vision of evil.