Pastor Note #142: Violence & Cruelty in America: Who Is My Neighbor?

Violence & Cruelty in America: Who Is My Neighbor?

Violence and cruelty are increasingly becoming defining markers of American culture.  As I re-read that line, I considered adding “again” to the end of it.  But then I thought, “Have there ever been times when at least some segment of American society was not subjected to violence and cruelty?”  Well, in any case, Americans are as willing as ever to justify the inflicting of violence and cruelty on their neighbors.

In order to do that, of course, a person first has to convince themselves that their neighbor is not actually their neighbor.  To recognize someone as my neighbor is to see them as a human being, made in the image of God, worthy, therefore, of respect and honor, worthy of my love.  But if I want to be cruel and violent toward someone or some class of someones, then I have to ask the question that was asked by that religious lawyer, “Yes, but who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)  I have to convince myself that this person is one of “them” and not one of “us,” in other words, that they are not my neighbor and, therefore, someone I don’t have to love.

If migrants into America are not my neighbors, then I can treat them with cruelty, harshness, and violence.  If, however, migrants into America are my neighbors, then I have to treat them with something that looks like – and is – love.  That doesn’t mean that I have to get rid of all border controls and rules for legal immigration.  But it does mean that I must not treat migrants with cruelty, harshness, and violence.

There are, for example, people whose social and political views are abhorrent to me, views that offend me to my core.  If such people are not my neighbors, then I can treat them with cruelty, harshness, and violence.  I can demean them, shout them down, even shoot them dead.  If, however, such people are my neighbors, then I have to treat them with something that looks like – and is – love.  That doesn’t mean that I have to agree with them.  It doesn’t mean that I cannot argue against their views.  But it does mean that I must not treat them with cruelty, harshness, and violence.  It means that I must not shoot them dead or in any way affirm someone else who does shoot them dead.

Now, I get this requirement of loving my neighbor from my Christian faith.  But America is a secular society.  You do not have to be a Christian to be an American.  Christian Americans and non-Christian Americans have equal standing, equal rights, and equal responsibilities.  If you are a non-Christian American, you don’t have to accept this biblical mandate of loving your neighbor.  But it may be that Christians and non-Christians alike might agree that a society in which everyone loves their neighbors consistently and tangibly would be a good society in which to live.

In any case, I am particularly addressing this little essay to my fellow Christians who live in America.  For you and me, this really isn’t at all complicated in principle.  We can follow Jesus.  Or, we can decide that some human beings are not our neighbors.  But we cannot have it both ways.  Said another way:  We can follow Jesus.  Or, we can use cruelty and violence toward other human beings.  But we cannot do both.  It’s either cruelty and violence or it’s Jesus.

Those of us who claim to be Christians are more and more being drawn into a societal war, one in which we are being encouraged to refuse to recognize others around us as our neighbors.  Plainly, in this superheated environment of societal warfare, some of us who claim to be Christians are having a hard time recognizing that we are, in fact, being encouraged to stop following Jesus.

James has some very forthright things to say about this sort of differentiating among people, this deciding who is and who isn’t worthy of my love as a neighbor.  After what can only be called a blunt condemnation of favoring some people over others, James concludes his argument with these words:  “If you direct your way of living toward the scripture’s royal law – “Love your neighbor as yourself” – you are doing beautifully.  But if you treat people with . . . favoritism, you become a merchant of sin, showing yourself to be someone who breaks the law.” (James 2:8-9)

This is a moment in American life when those who are utterly committed to following Jesus need to champion this call to love our neighbors – all of our neighbors – that is, everyone – no exceptions.  America needs us now.  If ever there has been a time for the followers of Jesus to renounce and denounce violence and cruelty, this is such a time.  To be sure, there have been many other times in our nation’s history for us to do that, and in all of those times, there have been at least some followers of Jesus who have stood up against cruelty and violence.  This is now such a time for us.

This is a time when followers of Jesus must unwaveringly insist on love of neighbor as a core social value, a value that requires action.  Followers of Jesus in America must assert themselves in making love of neighbor, with its firm rejection of cruelty and violence, the centerpiece of our engagement with the wider society.

A truly Christian engagement with society must not endorse cruelty or violence or any form of coercion.  As the flames of anger, fear, and hostility engulf others in American society, the followers of Jesus have the opportunity and the responsibility to rise up as a firebreak.  It is incumbent on those of us who aspire to follow Jesus that we proclaim and live out a different way.  If we don’t do that, we are not following Jesus.

So, if we want to be followers of Jesus, obedient to his calling and his way, then we cannot stand back passively while our society bursts into flames.  We will need to speak out and act out love for our neighbors and rejection of the hostility and cruelty.

I myself have not done this perfectly or consistently.  But I mean to redouble my efforts to more faithfully follow in the way of Jesus, in the way of love of my neighbors – all of my neighbors, those who are like me and those who are very different from me, and especially those who are weak and vulnerable to abuse.

• I will be more careful with my words, especially when interacting with or speaking about those with whom I profoundly disagree.
• I will strive not to demean anyone, because demeaning others leads to contempt for others.
• And contempt for others leads to hostility toward others.
• And hostility toward others leads to a tolerance of cruelty and violence toward others.
• And tolerance of cruelty and violence toward others opens the way to a society of cruelty and violence, which is demonic and the antithesis of a society shaped by Jesus.

I hope you’ll join me in this.

© 2025 Gary A. Chorpenning

Related posts:
Pastor Note #134/Bible Note #55: Love of Jesus, Love of Neighbor
Pastor Note #138: The Way of Jesus: Selfless Service OR Coercion and Domination?
Pastor Note #132: Anger and Following Jesus
Bible Note #37 — Deuteronomy 23:24-25: Provision for Neighbors in Need
Bible Note #62: Compassion & the Anger of Jesus–Mark 3:1-6

Photos by GAC