Latter-day Satyagraha

Adam wrote:

I have some questions about your post temples: structures of peace. You talk about justice and charity being intertwined (which is a great idea). However in the LDS faith, is not justice generally connected to a punishment or a form of violence? It appears that in most LDS perspective justice is satisfied by punishment or payment for sin. Does this then make God violent in some aspects?  I am not sure how this is related to the LDS idea of atonement you are refering too. How do you reconcile this in your ideas?

Also, I think that there is peace taught in the temple, but you seem to not discuss the idea of covenant, and salvation being connected to the temple. This is a prime theme of the temple, how do you relate this to peace or pacifism?

mormongandhi said, on August 5, 2009:

Hey Adam (and Eve),

Indeed, I think that your comment is well-placed. The idea of justice, in the context of Alma 42 may be narrowly interpreted as punishment for unrepented sin. Punishment may come in many forms, but in this case it mentions ‘the restoration of God’ – where God restores good unto those who did good, and evil unto those who did evil, according to their works, and according to the law and justice.

If we replaced the idea of God in this passage with a concept of a force or a power in the universe, which abides by principles of mutuality and reciprocity: then it is not God that is violent. Rather it is according to the principle of justice that those who kill by the sword physically, shall die by the sword spiritually, or in other words, they will in consequence of their own violence be ‘cut-off from the presence of God’, who is nonviolent.

The main idea is that we reap what we sow (if we pollute the planet or have unequal or contentious relationships with each other, we reap the consequences of our actions: global warming, poverty and nuclear arms proliferation). Because life is a preparatory state to meet God (and for us to learn to live in peace with God and with each other), life on earth is like a school where we learn the following two eternal principles in our search for justice and at-one-ment (unity):

1. that justice is at the service of mercy (in my mind, this means that justice is the balance of mutuality that returns good unto those who did good: “blessed are those who are merciful, for they shall receive mercy” – that’s only fair) and;
2. that service is at the mercy of justice (Mosiah 4:22: “And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth” – read Mosiah 4 to better understand this principle of rendering service to others because we are meant to and that we should do so fairly).

I believe that God is nonviolent, and that it is also the main lesson that we need to learn, as God embodies both Truth and Love and Truth and Love engender Nonviolence. Attributing the violent consequences of our violent actions to God would be unfair to the ‘weeping God of Mormonism’ (see nobody is saved alone – the zion formula). Because there is war in the world, God meant it to be that way?

the weeping god of mormonism

It is the consequences of our actions that make us unable to be in the presence of God (or to live in a just and peaceful society). Not because God punishes us or does not want us to live in a just and peaceful society (or for us not to be in his presence). The unrepentent and violent soul restricts himself from reaching the loving abode of a forgiving and long-suffering God, and from replicating that abode on earth.

I like the passage where Alma admonishes his son ‘to deny the justice of God no more, but to let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart’. My point of view here is that ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied’:

Many of us are delaying/denying the establishment of Zion, the building of the Kingdom of God on earth, and are making it difficult for “God to be with us” (the meaning of the name Immanuel, another name for the Messiah). In other words, we are delaying/denying the coming of the Messiah among his children and the reign of the Messiah to begin in the hearts of his children.

That’s why the Temple is important: the reason we must turn the hearts of the fathers and the mothers to their children (that they might teach them to live more perfectly through HoPE) and the hearts of the children to the covenants made by their fathers and their mothers (that the covenants made in turn unto them may be realized through the righteous and peaceful living of coming generations), so that we will not all be cursed and suffer at his coming.

Covenants or ‘Covenant-spirituality’ gently encourages the children of God to enter on a gradual path of eternal progression (to gain more truth and knowledge) according to those principles ‘taught in the Doctrine and Covenants’ that are necessary for the establishment of Zion and the building of the Kingdom of God – or that are pertaining to our salvation, if you will. The law of sacrifice and the law of obedience, as well as the laws of chastity and consecration are therefore all linked to peace and nonviolence. This can be treated separately elsewhere, but in the above-mentioned article, I like the HoPE (Holistic Peace Education) approach of the Montessori School when applied to the Temple.

By the way, it is mainly through international treaties (or covenants) that nations, governments and in essence that humanity agrees to establish peace and to work for justice, security and the well-being of all. International law established for other reasons than the above should not be international law. Covenants are therefore also important in the secular world of international politics to promote peace and in our global pursuit of happiness.

In the LDS church, however, covenants are a way for our heavenly parents to bring us closer in line with their wishes and purpose: for their children to live forever and to be forever learning (immortality) and for their son Jesus Christ to live in our midst, as we start leading a christ-like life (eternal life).

LDS with a leaning for a violent interpretation of their religion would rather use phrases like ‘God’s commands’ and ‘our duty to obey’ – but as stated in another article: God’s power to remove sin (man’s inhumanity towards others) is limited. Only we can. They (our heavenly parents) can warn and they can teach us (and thus we may be saved because the atoning sacrifice of Christ will claim the truly penitent), but they cannot force us, neither can they provide indemnity or apologies to the victims of our crimes. We could, if we would.

Are we learning anything if we ‘blindly obey’, or in other words, if the letter of the law becomes more important than the spirit of the law (meaning that the laws we make for ourselves become more important than what they were meant for)?

Remember: justice is at the service of mercy and service at the mercy of justice.

mormongandhi