I did not know until about 10 minutes ago that there are two versions of the Beatitudes in the New Testament, one in Luke and one in Matthew.
So, given this appalling level of ignorance, take the following with a grain of salt.
There’s a very readable sermon written by an interesting person who belongs to an equally interesting church, Rev. Dr. Robert M. Bowman of the Independent Catholic Fellowship/United Catholic Church.
Among other things, Dr. Bowman was a candidate for President in 2000.
Dr. Bowman believes that the Beatitudes (according to Luke) make a strong case for Liberation Theology, that school of thought in the Roman Catholic Church that was especially popular in Latin America after Vatican II (1962-65).
Locally, one could hear preaching sympathetic to Liberation Theology at the Paulist Center at 5 Park Street in Boston, at the foot of Beacon Hill, and from former Congressman Robert Drinan, who was forced to leave office by John Paul II.
Liberation theology demands the alignment of all people of the faith, especially clergy, to align with the poor against the rich and powerful. As Dr. Bowman put it: “From being used by the aristocracy to pacify the peasants, (religion) is now being used by the peasants to scare the bejeebers out of the aristocracy”.
Having seen (and been deeply moved by) Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”, I found it fascinating that an evangelical Christian friend of mine told me that the last scene, the call to arms of the triumphant, militant, risen Jesus – was her favorite.
It seems to me, as an outsider to the various Christian faiths, that one would be compelled, having witnessed that scene, to become a militant activist against the horrors inflicted by the rich and powerful through the instrument of the State. This would include, among other things, the death penalty.
Interestingly enough, our Mormon governor, Mitt Romney, is currently pushing legislation to add same to the Massachusetts judicial system.
Just so you know: if someone hurt a member of my family, the state wouldn’t need a death penalty because I’d kill the criminal with my own hands.
So, I’m not against retribution or justice, just state-sanctioned murder. Like what happened to Jesus almost 2,000 years ago.
Nonetheless, as I said above, I’m a simpleton in these matters, so perhaps that’s why I find them confusing.
Years ago, I found it impossible to get my head around that phrase from Roman Catholic liturgy, “world without end”, infinity being a concept I can grasp, but not immortality. A friend told me at the time not to think about it too much because it would drive me crazy.
I think he was right, and probably he’d say the same thing about trying to understand Romney’s claiming to be a Christian and wanting to kill people at the same time.
(Postscript: the Massachusetts House of Representatives rejected Romney’s proposal by a 2:1 margin)