Love your enemies? Is that practical?

“I do believe this has to be fought on a higher spiritual level, but the more I learn, the harder I find it is to love thy neighbour, when neighbours so willfully do horrible things to each other and others.” —A comment from a reader of my recent badexperiment.com post “A Disturbing Connection.”

Who would not sympathize with that victims viewpoint? Indeed, it may seem that the Bible’s counsel to “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44) simply isn’t practical for individuals targeted by ongoing harassment that includes psychological attacks by community based groups and directed-energy weapons torture. Perhaps you feel that way too. Putting that into practice may be the most difficult thing we are asked to do, especially when confronted by the evil of others on a daily basis!

Here is a motivation that you may not have thought about. Following the admonition to “love your enemies” can mean the difference between good health and bad! A recent study found that a single bout of anger produces effects in the body that lasts more than a week including elevated blood pressure. In fact, blood pressure continues to rise for a week after a single stressful incident! Researchers at the University of California and Columbia University examining the long term effects of anger have concluded that “stressful events have the potential to continue to do harm long after they are ended.” Anger has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease, hardening of the arteries, and other health problems.

Think about it . . . If the mere sight of someone who has done you harm triggers anger, it also burdens your cardiovascular system! That internal damage is compounded if your anger is repeatedly triggered on a daily basis!

I have seen rich benefits in my personal (and admittedly imperfect) efforts to “love my enemies.” Of course, caution is always in order when dealing with such individuals. Yet, I find treating all persons with common decency and kindness emotionally liberating. Unresolved anger is a physical and emotional drain. By refusing to allow anger to develop when targeted by unjust treatment, I have more energy and greater emotional control. I get more done. I am calmer, and less likely to be distracted from what really matters on a day by day basis. This is a daily challenge. However, by focusing on the practical benefits of doing so, I can keep my thinking and actions under control. Responding in this way means my survival and capacity for joy are not diminished, but strengthened. The adversity I face, while being a part of my life, never overwhelms it.

Despite enduring more than eleven years of attacks, I have never suffered from high blood pressure, ulcers, or other serious psychosomatic effects of long term distress. I have never taken any kind of medication or sleeping pills. I have avoided alcohol dependency and abuse, and do not use any illegal drugs. “Loving my enemies” gives me the strength to face my challenges without emotional crutches.

Undeniably, learning to “love your enemies” is a challenge. Yet, it can help you to minimize or even avoid long-term damage caused by distressing negative emotions. That is good for both your mental and physical health. In fact, we can think of the counsel to “love your enemies” as good medicine!

A Reader’s Response:
I found a comment emailed to me by one reader of this article of value. It is quoted below:

“I grasped this concept a few years back and I MADE myself ACT happy. I did this by forcing a smile on my face every time I went out in public . . . even though I did not feel happy, I displayed happiness and soon I started to see the reactions from the community stalkers. They were not happy that I was smiling all the time and a couple of them got very angry at me because I was smiling all the time..This encouraged me even more to continue with my ACT of happiness . . . the result was I indeed did become happy and the physical ailments my body was feeling diminished to the point where I only feel mild attacks to my body . . . I have seen a remarkable difference in my health and also I saw that my community harassers no longer verbally tried to harass me . . . I still get the odd real grumpy person, but I just laugh like crazy at them and give them the peace sign . . . Spread the LOVE . . . It works wonders.” —Submitted by Reader

A recent commenter on my story asked why there are so many references to the Bible in my account of long-term directed energy weapons torture and community-policing based harassment (often referred to as gangstalking). Frankly, I would not have survived the ten years of abuse I’ve endured without reliance on God’s Word. The teachings of the Gospels are my primary protection against the cruel, unjust attitudes and behavior of my antagonists. The Christ taught by word and example how we should view and treat our neighbor. He even taught us to “love our enemies.”  Allowing his thoughts to shape my conduct has been a trustworthy and powerful bulwark against the tides of cruelty that daily seek to erode my humanity.

There is also another fundamental reason why I refer to the Bible so frequently. I strongly believe that the extraordinary abuses I and many others endure would not exist if the churches of Christendom had not failed so miserably in teaching the principles of the Gospels. These abuses are symptomatic of a generation far removed from Godly thinking. Sadly, in truth, it was the corrupt church that pioneered the cruel practices that afflict many today!

The modern day methods of psychological warfare and torture have their roots in the Inquisition, a murderous attempt to stamp out all who disagreed with the church. It began in Europe in the 13th century, and spread to the Americas, lasting over six centuries. Officially sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church, it remains to date the most far reaching and long lasting campaign of torture and slaughter ever conducted. Therefore, we should not be surprised that modernized forms of these practices are being cultivated and employed in the fertile soil of nations of the Christian world.

Peter De Rosa, who states that he is a “patriotic Catholic,” says in his book Vicars of Christ—The Dark Side of the Papacy: “The church was responsible for persecuting Jews, for the Inquisition, for slaughtering heretics by the thousand, for reintroducing torture into Europe as part of the judicial process . . . What history shows is that, for more than six centuries without a break, the papacy was the sworn enemy of elementary justice.”

Victims of modern-day covert torture, psychological attacks and isolation may see a striking similarity in the life of Galileo. Galileo, in the 1600’s was one of the most renowned scientists of his time. His support of the discovery that the sun was the center of our universe was considered criminal by the Catholic church, who taught as doctrine, that the earth was the center of our universe. As a result, he attracted the attention of the Inquisition. Please take note of the tactics employed against Galileo and others by the Inquisition in the book The Crime of Galileo By Giorgio De Santillana: “A man may be belabored (definition: to assail persistently, as with scorn or ridicule) without defense by investigating committees, deprived of a living, or at best, as happened in Inquisition surveillance, under praeceptum non discedendi or non accedendi, which may mean that he is cut off from his family, his friends, or his future, without any reason whatsoever having to be given by the authorities.” To some, those techniques may sound all too familiar: Subjecting a victim to persistent scorn and harassment without protections due by law, destroying his ability to earn a living, causing social isolation, yet, never revealing why the targeted person is being attacked.

Indeed, most modern methods of psychological and physical torture and coercion (including the controversial waterboarding techniques) employed by covert / military organizations were refined or developed by the Inquisition. The modern process of criminal profiling was pioneered by Medieval Inquisitors. Psychological “no-touch”torture methods, designed to destroy the psyche without leaving physical evidence,” are based upon the “Inquisition’s trademark tortures.” The murderous, cruel, and insensible foulness of the Inquisition has darkened the judiciary systems of all governments of Christendom and beyond.

Can we see the link between this shameful religious legacy and modern harassment techniques that are “the sworn enemy of elementary justice?’ The right to a trial by peers, the right to make a defense, the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” and other basic tenets of justice are trampled upon by emerging forms of covert torture and community-based mob harassment. They are nothing more than the practices of the Inquisition in modern form! There is much truth in the proverb that ” . . . there is nothing new under the sun” — Ecclesiastes 1:9. Don’t you agree?

I agree with Galileo’s observation: “Even though Scripture cannot err, its interpreters and expositors can, in various ways.” My clinging to the truth found in the Bible helps me to reject erroneous thinking and abuses. As a Christian, I find the thought of any involvement in such practices repugnant. Indeed, what responsible Christian would willfully imitate Inquisition abuses that Pope John Paul II, in 1994, called a “violation of the rights of the human person” and compared to “the crimes of Hitler’s Nazism and Marxist Stalinism?” Rather than condone or cave-in to such practices, I must stick to the reliable guidance found in the Gospels under all circumstances.

“YOU heard that it was said, ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ However, I (Jesus Christ) say to YOU: Continue to love YOUR enemies and to pray for those persecuting YOU; that YOU may prove yourselves sons of YOUR Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous. — Matthew 5:43-45

Footnote: The image above shows Dirk Willems, a victim of the Inquisition in the 1600’s. According to accounts, he was condemned to death for being a follower of Christ. Imprisoned, and awaiting execution, he was able to escape through an unlatched window. He was hotly pursued by one of his jailers across a frozen moat surrounding the prison. The jailor slipped and fell through a patch of thin ice, and was in danger of drowning. Seeing that the man would perish if not rescued, Dirk turned around and pulled the jailer out of the freezing waters, saving his life. The jailer held firmly to Dirk, who was severely weakened by his imprisonment, and led him back to prison. As a result of his extraordinary act of compassion, Dirk was severely tortured and finally put to death by “slow, lingering fire.”

Dirk Willems’  adherence to Christ’s command  to “love your enemies” cost him great pain and finally his life. In spite of all the cruelty that Dirk had endured, he never stopped showing Christian love . . . Could the same be said of his Inquisitors? Can the same be said of you?  How determined are you to heed the message of the Gospels and show love for your neighbor? Your answer to that question, and mine, determines our authenticity as Christians.