Light and dark

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

It was light and darkness.

The second week of Easter was filled with life - and death.

On Monday, April 16, a lone gunman - driven by hate, anger and probable mental illness - ended his own life and those of 32 other people. No motive has been directly attributed to Seung-Hui Cho, but his homemade video, photos and writings indicate a tormented soul, filled with darkness.

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On Wednesday, April 18, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ban on partial-birth abortion. This procedure allows a late-term fetus - most often able to live outside the womb - to be delivered almost completely before its head is pierced and its brain suctioned out.

The court's decision was a triumph for life.

While numbers are difficult to estimate, since reporting is done reluctantly at best, estimates are that at least 2,000 such abortions happen each year. (However, pro-life organizations consider the procedure to be under-reported.)

It is poetic - and for Christians, a sign of God at work - that this triumph of life should follow a triumph of death. Especially in the Easter season, when resurrection triumphs over death, violence and evil.

Last week played a theme that has become too common: violence.

Jesus died violently at the hands of people filled with hatred and fear of the truth.

Countless children have died violently through a brutal abortion procedure shrouded in misinformation.

Thirty-three people died violently in Virginia for no clear reason except a definitely clouded view of reality and truth. (It is also interesting that New Jersey is a death penalty state, so that, if Seung-Hui Cho had not ended his own life, it most likely would have been ended for him by the state.)

This common theme of violence must be met by Christians with a common response - a resounding "no" to violence. We have many examples to follow - first and foremost is Jesus Christ, who prayed on the cross for forgiveness for his murderers.

And we have a recent example in the Amish community of Lancaster County, Pa. After the murder of five of their children on Oct. 2, 2006, they offered forgiveness and prayer with the family of the murderer. They have not sought revenge or retribution, and Montreal's National Post reported that the community has established a college fund for the children of their children's murderer.

"I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life then, that you and your descendants may live." God speaks these words in the Old Testament (Deut. 30:19). (The more familiar adage "an eye for an eye" also comes from the same Book of Deuteronomy - 19:21.)

The answer of what to do in the face of violence is clear - though not easy. However, if we want to live, and see our children live, we must work against violence in all forms. And the only way to do this is to promote non-violence wherever we can.

During this Easter season of life, we must - each of us - ask ourselves what choosing to be non-violent means in our own lives.