Frederick Nietzsche said love for enemies was an ethic for cowards, deserving of contempt, not respect. Sociologists and anthropologists observe that many societies define themselves in terms of the other, the enemy everybody hates, and that once the enemy is vanquished, the society either has to find a new one or suffer an identity crisis.
So perhaps it was one of Jesus’ most courageous moments when he said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” And perhaps it is not only the most difficult mandate, but also the most realistic and authentic and true. Perhaps, given the historic reality that every war to end all wars is simply the prolegomenon to the next war, and given the reality that our penal system seems to succeed best at training and motivating prisoners to become more efficient and more violent criminals when they get out.
Given the personal reality which we have all experienced—that hatred breeds hatred, or as someone succinctly put it, “’an eye for an eye’ merely leaves two people blind”—given all that, perhaps Jesus is the final realist and instead of ignoring or blowing off his moral teaching as too weak, too vulnerable, perhaps we should be taking it seriously and entertaining the notion, at least, that love for enemies may be a very practical strategy.
Dr. Willy L Mafuta,
Senior Pastor,
Hopewell United Methodist Church, Hopewell, NJ 08525