#186127 - 04/25/10 09:04 PM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: Paul I]
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shakey56
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Registered: 03/31/04
Posts: 1889
Loc: where the wild roadrunners roa...
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The cynic in me says you had better spread your cheeks while you turn em, cuz you are gunna get screwed.
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#186247 - 04/27/10 12:17 PM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: shakey56]
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MerryA
Member
Registered: 01/10/04
Posts: 10887
Loc: Tennessee
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Jesus spoke in parables - I do not take "turning the other cheek" literally. Most importantly IMO, He is telling us we are no longer under the old law. These scriptures mean to me we should not seek revenge and physical violence is not a solution to an offense.
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#186254 - 04/27/10 02:15 PM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: MerryA]
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Paulwa_dup1
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Registered: 02/12/05
Posts: 4951
Loc: Washington
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Merry is right but even greater than the turn the other cheek rule is the forgiveness of 70 times 7 times or when ever you are asked for forgiveness. But I think Jesus expects us to forgive even when it is not asked and we should not hold any grudges because we are all God's creation and veangeance is His, He says. So in the end if we forgive, God will set things aright in the end.
Paul
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#186286 - 04/27/10 07:32 PM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: Paulwa_dup1]
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Linda252
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Registered: 03/15/06
Posts: 475
Loc: Auburn, WA, USA
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Here is the UU take on this scripture passage. "To hit the right cheek with a fist would require the left hand, but in 1st century Jewish society, the left hand was only used for certain unclean tasks. The only possible way to hit the right cheek with the right hand was with a backhanded blow. As the biblical scholar Walter Wink points out, in Jesus' time, a backhanded blow was not a blow to injure, but to insult, humiliate, or degrade. It was not administered to an equal, but to an inferior. Masters backhanded slaves;....The point was to put somebody back in their place. However, by turning one's cheek, one makes it Impossible for an attacker to hit again. It is an act of defiance, a way of saying, "I am a human being, just like you. I am your equal.I won't take it anymore." When a large number of people begin behaving like this, Wink suggests, the result is social revolution..."
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#186298 - 04/27/10 09:52 PM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: Linda252]
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ghoti
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Registered: 04/06/02
Posts: 8469
Loc: Ishpeming, MI 75.128.229.255
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Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
IMO the key words are "that ye resist not evil". How can that be interpreted as anything other than a command to practice passive resistance against aggression?
Edited by ghoti (04/27/10 09:56 PM)
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#186302 - 04/27/10 11:52 PM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: ghoti]
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MerryA
Member
Registered: 01/10/04
Posts: 10887
Loc: Tennessee
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Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. IMO the key words are "that ye resist not evil". How can that be interpreted as anything other than a command to practice passive resistance against aggression?
Jesus did not practice passive resistance IMO - prior to the time of execution, He would often leave an area to avoid a mob or to evade arrest. He spoke against the current religious leadership, not passively but in the temples, calling them hypocrites and angering them. Yet He asked forgiveness for those who murdered him. He forgave his disciples for abandoning Him.
To me "that ye resist not evil" is saying we should not reply to anger with anger. Taken in contest with all of Chapter 5, there is much more to the text IMO.
Taken in context with the beginning of Matthew 5 - the Beatitudes:
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
He tells us plainly here the attitudes and behaviors that will be blessed. The scriptures following the Beatitudes explains these are new laws, replacing the old law of Moses, and how they are different.
IMO the lessons of Matthew 5 can all be found in the Beatitudes.
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"I was curious. Since I'm not a cat, that's not dangerous."
- Greg House
76.22.172.94
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#186310 - 04/28/10 08:43 AM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: MerryA]
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ghoti
Member
Registered: 04/06/02
Posts: 8469
Loc: Ishpeming, MI 75.128.229.255
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OK, but by "passive resistance" I meant the forms of non-violent protests mounted by Ghandi and Martin Luther King. In that sense "passive" doesn't mean that you just ignore evil but rather that you speak out against it strongly while renouncing violence in your protests. IMO both Dr. King and Ghandi used Jesus as a model.
Jesus certainly spoke out against wrongdoing but he never advocated or allowed violence among his followers. IMO that's what he meant by "turning the other cheek".
Edited by ghoti (04/28/10 08:44 AM)
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#186913 - 05/17/10 05:19 AM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: ghoti]
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ævory
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Registered: 04/04/05
Posts: 9657
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This is from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
The same comment is repeated nearly exactly in the Book of Luke. Jesus is clearly telling his followers to practice passive resistance rather than responding to attacks with a counter-attack. This is the approach that was used successfully by both Ghandi and Martin Luther King but appears to be largely ignored by most Christians in their daily lives and certainly has never been followed by our government.
Our Father, Who Art in Heaven, I thank thee for this...that neither Ghandi nor Martin Luther King ever ran nor became elected to the presidency of the United States of America.
AMEN
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#186915 - 05/17/10 05:32 AM
Re: Turning the other cheek
[Re: ævory]
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MerryA
Member
Registered: 01/10/04
Posts: 10887
Loc: Tennessee
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That is why we have separation of Church and State in the US. 
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"I was curious. Since I'm not a cat, that's not dangerous."
- Greg House
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