A biblical response to the Correspondents’ Dinner attacker’s manifesto

 

A gunman who entered the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25 left behind a “manifesto” that framed his actions as consistent with Christian belief. In a note included in a criminal affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, he anticipated objections, responded to critics, and apologized to his family, colleagues, and others.

Cole Thomas Allen, 31, a California resident, was charged on April 27 with multiple offenses, including attempting to assassinate the president. His manifesto outlined grievances with the administration and identified officials as targets, though the president was not named.

In this 1,000-word document, he quotes Scripture, talks about Christian behavior, and ends it by thanking his family “both personal and church” for their love.

What is clear is that the shooter identified as a Christian and attempted to justify political violence using Scripture. It is then prudent that Christians wrestle with the reality that one of our own chose political violence to bring about what he thought was good.

In such a tumultuous political climate that we are in in the United States, I think it’s worth a look into this topic because justifying violence with Scripture is far too common. Though not unique to 21st-century America, many well-meaning Christians could fall into similar traps if we are not truly grounded in the way of Jesus. So let’s examine his arguments.

“Turning the other cheek”

“Objection 1: As a Christian, you should turn the other cheek.

Rebuttal: Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial. I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration.

Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.”

Allen imagines the first objection to be a call to “turn the other cheek,” a reference to Matthew 5:39.

This verse is definitely a call to avoid violent retaliation. In context, Jesus is taking a principle people are used to and asks them to rise to an even greater standard. While the law says “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” (5:38), we are told:

“[D]o not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles” (Matthew 5:39-41, NLT).

This is unlikely to be one of your favorite teachings of Jesus. It demands we accept violence done to us, give up our property, and willingly accept more labor than what’s expected. The self-sacrificial way of Jesus forgoes retaliation in favor of “going the extra mile.”

But Allen says this only applies when we are the ones oppressed. We don’t “accept” oppression by turning the other cheek when others are oppressed.

And in some ways, he’s right. Christians are supposed to help the oppressed! We can choose suffering for ourselves, but we shouldn’t commend others to suffering in the same way when they don’t choose it.

However, none of that supports a leap to use lethal force against authorities!

Because “turn the other cheek” isn’t the only reason to not use violence against those we disagree with. In the very same chapter, Jesus tells us that:

• The merciful (v. 7) and the peacemakers are blessed (v. 9).
• Murder is wrong (v. 21).
• We shouldn’t even be angry with one another (v. 22).
• Don’t curse each other (v. 22).
• And we should love our enemies (v. 44).

None of that squares with the shooter’s attempted actions!

The way of Jesus, as depicted in the Sermon on the Mount, paints a fundamentally different picture of our enemy. Even when they harm us, we don’t get to just harm them back.

“Give to Caesar” 

“Objection 5: Yield unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Rebuttal: The United States of America are ruled by the law, not by any one or several people. In so far as representatives and judges do not follow the law, no one is required to yield them anything so unlawfully ordered.”

“Yield unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” is found in Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, and Luke 20:25. It’s Jesus’ response to a trap that the Pharisees are setting to get either Rome or the Jewish people mad at him.

Jesus amazes them with an adept answer: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

The shooter’s note responds that the United States of America has laws. And if the leaders don’t follow the laws, we don’t owe them anything. Essentially, we don’t have to follow unjust leaders.

But Allen’s rebuttal seems more like a response to someone quoting Romans 13, which states clearly: “Everyone must submit to governing authorities.” Though instead of responding that we don’t follow unjust laws, he extends it to unjust leaders.

Like earlier, there’s some truth here. Christians don’t blindly follow laws or leaders. We do give what belongs to God to God, which is everything! Our allegiance is to God when God’s ways oppose the direction of the state.

Yet, once again, this doesn’t justify assassination! That’s a leap far out of the bounds of Jesus’ teachings.

And remember, the “governing authorities” at the time God first passed along that instruction through Paul were led by the first emperor to openly persecute Christians (Nero), and a government so corrupt that it’s difficult to imagine we will experience their equal in our lifetimes. If those first generations of Christians were called to submit to them, it’s hard to see how we could justify ignoring that command from the Lord today.

Behind the manifesto

I am not interested in nor qualified to comment on the state of Cole Allen as he wrote this note. But many of us can probably relate to frustration with the world as it is. In moments of weakness, we may be tempted to believe a “little bad” can produce a “lot of good.” We should resist that thinking—and we should never use Scripture to justify our own agendas.

We will all experience dissatisfaction with those in power, and we should care deeply about those who are mistreated. Wanting change is right. But Jesus cares about how we pursue it. The means matter, and violence—especially assassination—is not a faithful path.

In a democracy, we are afforded many ways to pursue justice. Christians should commit to those paths that God can bless as we seek a better world.

 

Denison Forum