Story By: Dr David Tutty

Many of us find watching the television news difficult. Many choose not to watch the news at all. It always seems to be bad news full of conflict, crime, violence, wars, alliances and enemies.

It is difficult to see these stories day in and day out. It is difficult to hear of those harmed or killed. Yet it is not difficult for us to make judgements about whoever are the perpetrators and what punishments they deserve. We do not have much difficulty in identifying others as our enemies.

At one level, naming enemies is a very normal human process. It is a response that comes out of hurt or fear because of current or past hostilities. We want to protect ourselves and those we love and support. We name as our enemy any who try and dominate us and harm us.

Yet the most innovative feature of Christian faith is Jesus’ call that we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:44). Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus “did not point his finger at those who wrongfully condemned him and put him to a cruel death” (Mass at Bari 2020). Our pope emphasizes that Jesus, when he was on the cross, called out, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34). Jesus did not judge those who condemned and crucified him but begged his father to forgive them.

When we think of Jesus’ commands, we mostly think of his call to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves. The story of the Good Samaritan was a response to the question, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus told this story in the full knowledge that his listeners understood that the Samaritans were despised and seen as enemies to the Jews. Therefore, to love our enemy is one part of loving our neighbour as ourselves.

To love our enemy begins with our willingness to honestly understand the causes of the hostilities. Truth- telling is needed, not only of what happened, what violence and harm was done, but also of what shaped and formed particularly the perpetrators. Psychologists and counsellors tell us that people who speak or act violently carry unresolved trauma and need healing. Their violent words and actions have come out of the woundedness that they carry.

Psychologists also tell us that the perpetrator often does not know nor appreciate the harm that their violence causes. This is what Jesus was saying when he said that those who crucified him did not know what they are doing. This is part of the trauma reality. A perpetrator’s trauma limits what they see, what they take in and what they remember afterwards.

Just as this woundedness impacts individuals, it also impacts the actions of groups and even nations. Australia is a nation that carries much trauma. Our colonial forebears made themselves the enemies to First Nations peoples. Our forebears were the perpetrators of violence. We benefit now from this violence and continue the colonial structures. 

This is also the root cause of what is happening in Palestine. After centuries where Jewish people lived in peace all around the Arab world, the Israeli nation has made itself the enemy of millions of Palestinians. After many decades of wars and military occupation both sides carry huge trauma. The extreme violence and destruction that is happening in Gaza will not bring peace but it will only increase future trauma and future violence.

So we, like the Israelis, need to see that we carry perpetrator trauma and we need healing. We need to take truth- telling seriously. To love the enemy here is to learn to love ourselves enough to seek healing. To love the enemy here is to understand that we need to grow in empathy and learn how to act without violence of any sort.

And we need to pray for this healing. I also ask that we pray for healing of all perpetrators of war, be that in South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine, Russia, Myanmar, Mali, Niger, Somalia, DR Congo and everywhere else there is military conflict. May they know that violence is never the answer.

And … please watch the news. Check your personal biases and those of the news outlets. Look for news that comes from the experiences of those who suffer most. Use this as a source of prayer and as a way of learning to love.