Do you want the “Apocalypse?” Because this is how you get the “Apocalypse.”
How the fears of extremist Christians shape their reality, and how we can help to heal it.
A document was recently discovered by Washington state Rep. Matt Shea discussing “Christian war practices.”
By his own description (FB video here) the document outlines “just warfare theory.” If you hear him out it may actually reduce the scope of US warfare.
Now I’m all for reducing the terms in which we go to war.
The problem is that this same document (found here) outlines severe conditions of surrender.
Just read them for yourself.
Note, the killing of all non-compliant males.
Shea’s document of just warfare isn’t actually Biblical.
While Matt Shea says this is inspired by a Biblical interpretation of warfare I would like to point out that the Bible, Torah, Haftorah, and New Testament never once mentions abortion. . . or communism.
Clearly, communism isn’t mentioned in the Bible as it didn’t exist for centuries after the writing of the Biblical texts.
Abortion, however, certainly existed in the time of the Biblical writers. It was mentioned in Assyrian law as far back as 1075 BC.
Still, it didn’t make the lists of prohibitions presented by Moses, the other prophets, or Jesus Christ.
Moses did make a law against sacrificing children to Moloch and that makes plenty of sense. Especially if you look into what that sacrifice was all about.
*Trigger warning these accounts are horrible.
According to 12th century Rashi, the act of sacrifice was absolutely atrocious.
Tophet is Moloch, which was made of brass; and they heated him from his lower parts; and his hands being stretched out, and made hot, they put the child between his hands, and it was burnt; when it vehemently cried out; but the priests beat a drum, that the father might not hear the voice of his son, and his heart might not be moved.
Greeks and Romans were also horrified by the act which modern scholars link to the city of Carthage and its worship of Baal Hammon.
… but with full knowledge and understanding they themselves offered up their own children, and those who had no children would buy little ones from poor people and cut their throats as if they were so many lambs or young birds; meanwhile the mother stood by without a tear or moan; but should she utter a single moan or let fall a single tear, she had to forfeit the money, and her child was sacrificed nevertheless; and the whole area before the statue was filled with a loud noise of flutes and drums that the cries of wailing should not reach the ears of the people.
Plutarch, De Superstitione
I don’t know a person around who wouldn’t be violently opposed to these practices. At the same time, this isn’t abortion.
This is human sacrifice and the Jewish people weren’t the only ones disgusted by it. Greek and Roman commentators all talk about how horrible these acts are.
The Bible doesn’t actually mention abortion once.
In fact, out of the five terms for Shea’s “Christian” surrender, four of them aren’t in the Bible.
1. The Bible never mentions abortion.
2. The Bible never commands that foreigners be forced to follow Biblical laws. In fact, the Bible commands that you respect foreigners.
“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”
NIV Leviticus 19:34
3. The Bible never mentions gay marriage. (There are passages that could discourage homosexuality based on interpretation. These are never listed as a condition for war though.)
4. The Bible never mentions communism.
In fact, the laws of the Torah include income redistribution. Every 49 years all land property is redistributed during the year of Jubilee. Debts are also forgiven. This prevents the amassing of generational wealth.
In addition to this there are many laws concerning the taking care of the poor and widows. These weren’t donations, these were laws governing what you could harvest and what you had to give away.
An agricultural tax if you will.
The one “term of surrender” the Bible does mention is the worship of foreign gods. In the Torah, there was justification for going to war with the Canaanites because the Hebrew God commanded it. This was due to God’s promise to deliver these lands to Abraham.
God, however, also used foreign nations to subjugate Israel time and time again.
Showing that the Hebrew God works through his own people as well as foreigners of different religions.
Jesus speaks against war.
Since Matt Shea claims to be Christian and posing a Christian stance on war I would think the words of the Christian God incarnate would be the final say.
“‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’”
Mathew 26:52 NIV
In fact, the only time that Jesus of Nazareth promoted any form of violence was when whipping merchants and bankers out of the temple. (Showing if anything a penchant for anti-capitalism.)
In every other case, he taught peace and surrender to God.
Which is the very opposite of Shea’s document which defines any non-theocratic government as a tyranny.
He then goes on to state that you have every right to lie to, revolt, and even assassinate tyrannical government members.
Once again Jesus is quoted in the Bible as saying
“Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
Mark 12:17 NIV
Jesus never mentions lying to, revolting against, or assassinating Caesar. Instead, he essentially tells his followers to be good citizens and trust in God.
The problem this creates for Christians.
In essence, Shea’s “Christian” document is anti-christian in the fact that it contradicts the teachings of Christ. Further, it poses a number of problems for Christians everywhere.
1. It demonstrates how the religion has been hijacked by extremist politicians.
2. It creates a dangerous precedent which could potentially put Christians in danger.
3. It’s not great for Christian PR.
Beyond the fact that this is the Christian version of “Sharia Law” I wonder if extremist Christians see where this road leads?
Right now they are calling for the blocking of Islamic immigrants due to their fears of a religious based law system.
They believe that religious extremists are taking every opportunity they can to overthrow governments, create acts of terror, and assassinate political members.
For this reason, Republicans are sending troops to stop millions of people seeking asylum. They’re locking kids in cages and they’re turning away refugees.
Along with falsely accusing thousands of people of being potential thieves and rapists, Republicans cite the risk of terrorists sneaking in as one of the justifications for these policies.
We are currently institutionalizing the oppression of populations based on race and religion.
All in the fear that amongst the thousands of people desperately needing care and protection there may be foreign terrorists.
Terrorists who would push for religious laws and public assassinations. The very thing Shea’s document justifies doing when confronted with a nonreligious government.
Where he may claim differentiation is his point that civilians shouldn’t be killed. That said he explains the reason why we shouldn’t kill civilians in terms of the their usefulness as labor. Adding an imperialistic/slavery element to his document.
Now while he is releasing documents like this conservative extremists are unleashing domestic terrorism on Blacks, Jews, Muslims, LGBTQ, and others around the country.
Actively murdering people.
Much of the time this is done with the narrative that they themselves fear persecution.
Fear of persecution creates a hostile system.
It’s important to remember that Matt Shea’s teachings on surrender and the slaughtering of non compliant males is extreme.
These aren’t the teachings being taught in Churches across America, even in many conservative settings this would be considered extreme.
What Shea’s document shows us is the far pole of fear and oppression and it is that fear which is far more common amongst Christian communities.
Many conservative Christians cite Biblical warnings of future persecution as their grounds for fear today.
I was raised in this religion and I know that prophecy has a lot of effect on its member’s psyches. Looking at it from the outside I wonder if that fear isn’t creating the very world that they dread.
The Republican party is currently institutionalizing the persecution of people due to religion.
It is denying foreign refugees due to their religious beliefs.
It is also allowing for discrimination of persons due to one’s religious beliefs. As in the case of denying service or adoption rights to the LGBTQ community.
This is how you get the “end times” and public persecution. You institutionalize religious discrimination.
And then you make enemies by terrorizing and systemically oppressing people.
Enemies that could eventually use that same system of oppression against you.
It didn’t take much skill in prophecy to recognize that future Christians could be persecuted.
Jesus taught at a time when religious conservatism was oppressing the common people.
It is understandable that he and his followers could see that this would also happen to Jesus’s message. Creating tensions between followers of the conservative Christian doctrine and the people they were oppressing.
Christianity has already had a taste of this.
Nero burned Christians and Christians burned “pagans.”
When we oppress others due to our fears we create the reality of the fears we are hoping to avoid.
In its most basic form, this is already occurring in Islamic extremism.
The more we bomb foreign nations, deny their refugees, and install our own governments (which often become tyrannical) the larger the pool of traumatized individuals for terrorist organizations to recruit from.
In the end, we create the very future we fear to suffer from.
How do we change this?
I’d be a horrible life coach if I stopped at the problem. I do believe there are solutions to this.
One of those solutions is to stop the cycle of fear and to give new tools to heal.
Like any change, this starts with observation.
What is creating this cycle of fear?
Looking at it from the outside and remembering what it was like from the inside I would say there are several components.
1. Unhealed Trauma
2. Expectation of Persecution
3. False Information
4. Actions That Provoke Retaliation
Growing up in the Church I knew many people with their stories of persecution.
Cases ranging from the extreme, persecution in foreign countries, loss of loved ones, sometimes torture, to being called out in classrooms as backward, or stigmatized for being morally conservative.
As with most trauma, once we experience it we become hypervigilant in expectation of more traumatizing events.
Now I know that Christianity has been used as a guise to do a lot of persecution.
I’m Columbian. My ancestors were literally butchered when Catholics arrived on the mainland.
I’m not an apologist for Christianity. I do, however, see how the mental state of many conservative Christians is still dealing with their stories of oppression great and small.
If we want to create change we need to recognize this.
Since the culture of conservative Christianity rarely deals with trauma, relying instead on a model of martyrdom, these experiences don’t get healed.
Instead, they’re shared as “testimonies” which then support the cognitive bias of others in the community that there is mass discrimination against Christianity.
This is then sensationalized by big named pastors and conservative news networks.
This leads to more fear and paranoia which is then added to the stressors that everyone is dealing with. The constant running too and fro, the paying of the bills, bad days, bad health, poverty and all the other stressors of modern life.
As well as any other traumas such as deaths in the family, car accidents, diseases, rape.
In peak states of stress, anger, or untreated PTSD, members lash out. As is common to communities with plenty of taboos, this lashing out is often directed at people who aren’t fitting the “right model.”
In this case, the Christian way of living. These people are blamed for the many problems of life, the failures of the larger community.
These are the “outsiders,” believers of other faiths, breakers of taboos, non-Christians, the LGTBQ, people who get abortions. The people who do the activities listed by Matt Shea as non-compliance for surrender.
Of course, these “outsiders” don’t appreciate being judged, controlled, yelled at, or persecuted.
When they respond negatively this is then interpreted as an attack on the conservative Christian’s belief system. It becomes another method of perceived persecution.
This itself has a scientific explanation. When we challenge a person’s belief system it invokes the same response in the brain as physically attacking them.
Psychologists call this the “backfire effect” and it lights up the amygdala just as if we had punched the person.
These “attacks” are then recycled as testimonies, stories by Christian leaders, and “news” accounts of “persecution.”
Understanding this cycle is the first way a person within it can start to see how they participate in it.
It is also how someone outside can start to understand and defuse our interactions with the cycle.
What can we do?
Find common values.
This is the first step to having a meaningful discussion.
It’s very likely a passionate person believes everything they’re saying. If you simply dismiss or attack those beliefs you’ll trigger the amygdala.
This puts them in the fight, flight, freeze response and has been shown to cause people to double down on their beliefs. Even if those beliefs are demonstrably wrong. (Here’s a great study on this behavior.)
Instead, try to find a common value you can both share.
“I hear you say you’re worried for your kids. I love your kids. I love my hypothetical kids. I want the best future for all of us. How do we make that happen?”
When we speak to people’s values it can help relax the brain. Hopefully, they feel heard and we can start to engage in a conversation where the full brain is involved.
Rather than arguing with someone’s fight, flight, freeze response.
Speak to their pain points.
As a queer man with very liberal beliefs, I’ve had to work a lot to be mindful of the backfire effect and the cycle that it creates in my conversations with conservative family and friends.
My identity feels attacked when they list the taboos they’d rather not see me do.
If I’m not careful I then trigger their experience of feeling attacked when I point out that I don’t really care about those taboos anymore.
These conversations don’t go anywhere.
In the endless circular talks I have made and observation though.
Often times when people are talking to me about topic X they’re suffering from topic Y.
It's really topic Y that has them all up in arms.
For instance, maybe they’re talking about immigration but their stress point is really job insecurity and finances.
First I try and focus on the common values. The ability to support our families and know that everyone is taken care of and then I work on speaking to that pain point.
Why are they worried about their job. How is the lack of finances affecting them? Is there something we can brainstorm to help them?
If I can draw their attention to their suffering in a compassionate way it often diffuses their attempt to control or vent on me. Instead, we can work on whats actually bothering them.
This doesn’t work all the time though. Sometimes I can’t get myself to a place where I’m calm enough to do this. I feel too attacked or triggered.
Other times I can’t figure out what the pain point is or get them to acknowledge it.
In these cases, I disengage.
Break the cycle.
I am working on acknowledging that if I can’t better the situation then my participating in a conversation may hurt the situation.
If I can’t respond calmly or resist attacking the other person’s beliefs then chances are I will only reinforce their experience of fear and nonacceptance.
This will then launch them through another round of their cycle and do the opposite of what I want to do in the world.
Honestly, sometimes, I simply can’t resist. My mind boggles and I throw a stone. Later I recognize this only perpetuates the problem and I work on my own mindfulness some more.
The true problem here is paranoia, trauma, and the lack of tools.
For many conservative Christians, the Bible and its interpretation is the only source of coping mechanisms that they have.
And let me tell you, there aren’t that many coping mechanisms listed in the Bible.
I’m all for faith and spirituality and I maintain my own relationship with the Divine but this goes hand in hand with good nutrition, meditation, exercise, therapy, and a whole list of methods to work on stress, anxiety, and triggers.
If we want to make change we need to figure out how to help conservative Christians reduce their stress, heal their traumas, and break their cycle of fear.
This requires that we abstain as much as possible from perpetuating that cycle of fear.
And when possible we share tools to help people deal with their stress, fears, and traumas.
If you need some inspiration about dealing with stress or trauma you can check out these articles I’ve written on the biology of stress, tips to overcome stress, and tools to heal trauma.
Conclusion
I’m not going to lie. Things are pretty crazy right now. Traveling internationally I’m seeing how this craziness is actually happening all around the world.
Much of it is due to US politics.
The fact that some conservative Christian groups are printing out theories for extreme “just war practices” is alarming.
The fact that politicians and news agencies feed these extremist’s fears is even more alarming.
I don’t see a solution coming from the top down. At least not any time soon.
A real solution from the federal level would include tremendous education and social relief programs that help reduce economic stress and provide resources for people to learn coping skills.
Sadly these are the very institutions that conservatives see as threatening.
So we have to work from the ground up.
Be the force of change that creates stress-free environments, provides education, and helps people heal.
Live it, breathe it, make it.
Anything less will be surrendering to our own fears and letting them shape the world to come.
Enjoy and share!
It takes a community and support to make change. If you enjoy the read and see the value, share it with your community.
And join me on my journey of transformation. I’m constantly sharing stories, thoughts, and tools. All the works to help create true transformation.
