Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
By Any Means Necessary

By Any Means Necessary

Last updated on: March 3, 2015 at 6:00 pm by John Beckett

By Any Means Necessary 2015-03-01T13:27:50-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is there such a thing as a just war? When is personal violence acceptable? Under what circumstances are magic users justified in casting curses?

The reaction to Fighting Evil Is Not A Fantasy Sport has been overwhelmingly positive. The criticism it received came from hawks, not doves… though I suspect some of my pacifist friends politely declined to comment. Its primary purpose was to argue against those who want to use the evil of the Islamic State to create a holy war of Christianity vs. Islam, but it concluded with a prayer that is clearly and undeniably a curse.

I cursed the Islamic State to a painful death and a stern judgment, followed by oblivion. No bathing them in white light, no mirror spells, no prayers for their conversion to some other religion. Death and oblivion.

That’s not a very universalist thing to do, now is it?

I sometimes joke that while I don’t believe in hell, I’d be willing to create one for telemarketers. The human desire to punish those who harm us and others is strong, and sometimes our instinctual desires are not compatible with our higher values. I became a universalist long before I left Christianity because I could not reconcile the idea of infinite punishment for finite sins with a God who is supposedly all-good.

But when I read about the things the Islamic State does and I hear their plans for the world, I don’t just want them stopped. I want them wiped off the face of the Earth and their vile ideology forever wiped out of consciousness.

Does that require consigning them to eternal oblivion? Maybe.

I don’t know what comes after death. Maybe the atheists are right and we’re all headed to eternal oblivion. Maybe there is a heaven and hell… though I think it’s highly unlikely. Maybe reincarnation is real and the members of the Islamic State can look forward to many iterations of harsh lives and brutal deaths.

Or maybe the ancient Egyptians were right and their hearts will be weighed against the Feather of Ma’at. If so, they have sealed their own fate – no negative confession will hide their crimes.

Ma’at

I don’t have the responsibility of determining their afterlife and I’m glad I don’t. I do have the responsibility for stating what behaviors I will and won’t tolerate in this world. The Islamic State has gone far beyond the “gentle correction” and “forceful restraint” stages – they’re now clearly in the stage where they must be stopped by any means necessary in order to prevent them from doing even greater harm.

This curse violates the Wiccan Rede: “an it harm none, do what you will.” I’m not a Wiccan, but the Rede is a good general guideline for living. But as with all general guidelines, what’s simple and easy in the middle gets complicated around the edges. We’re in constant competition with others, not to mention the fact that we must kill and eat other living things in order to live. The Wiccan Rede strikes me as primarily a public relations campaign to convince the public they have no reason to fear witches.

But as Peter Grey said, “In our desire to harm none we have become harmless.” We tolerate the intolerable. We preach being non-judgmental and so we decline to pass judgments that are necessary. We refuse to pick up the sword and draw clear, bright lines around harmful behaviors. We refuse to cut the false away from the true. We hesitate to use the sword to defend ourselves and others against evil.

Yes, it’s a slippery slope from “by any means necessary” to Guantánamo Bay and waterboarding. But the slippery slope isn’t just a logical fallacy, it’s also ethical laziness. It’s a refusal to do the hard work of examining each situation on its own merits and making a clear call as to the most virtuous course of action.

Winston Churchill was right: “to jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.” Benjamin Franklin was right: “there was never a good war, or a bad peace.” But Martin Luther King, Jr. was right too: “peace is not the absence of war but the presence of justice.”

Will this curse rebound on me? I’ve seen no evidence the Three-fold Law is real, and karma is far more complex than some supernatural system of moral accounting. However, ordinary experience tells us that when we do dirty work we can’t keep ourselves spotlessly clean.

But sometimes dirty work is also necessary work, and if we are committed to justice and not just to keeping ourselves clean, we won’t be afraid to get our hands dirty.

I’m not the President of the United States – I can’t order military attacks on the Islamic State. I can’t pick up a rifle and go fight them. But I can pray for justice, and sometimes prayers for justice have very specific requests. I have no interest in punishing the Islamic State. I have every interest in stopping them – by any means necessary.

Previous Post

March 1, 2015

The Lore vs. UPG – A False Dichotomy

Next Post

March 5, 2015 Portals by Sharon Knight

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What traveling companion of Paul was a physician and historian, writing two New Testament books?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Silas Barnabas Luke Mark