“We have to stop demonizing people by calling them whitewashed tombs and vipers.”
That might have been a quote in the AD 30 Jerusalem News when a scribe or Pharisee complained about the language Jesus used to describe them. But I’m betting Jesus would have said something like: “I’ve known demons. I’ve cast them into a herd of pigs. You goats are no demons.”
Brad Bull
The demons Jesus herded were not created in God’s image; human beings were and are. Thus, we are always within the grace of repentance and redemption. We also have the free will to continue our diabolical behavior and must be stopped through just means.
Today, some talking heads complain that comparing authoritarians in general and Christian nationalists in particular to Nazis contributes to hostility by “demonizing” them. However, to compare authoritarians to Nazis is not demonizing them because Nazis were not demons; they were human beings. They were power-hungry, fear-fueled human beings who did things like calling for the firing of people who expressed criticism of the government. They also hypocritically applauded, ignored or downplayed those who called for the mass execution of the mentally ill.
“To compare authoritarians to Nazis is not demonizing them because Nazis were not demons; they were human beings.”
One of the most complicated paradoxes in Scripture involves Jesus being seen as the fulfilment of the “Prince of Peace” described by the prophet Isaiah even though Jesus himself said he didn’t come to bring peace.
In fact, the passage is so easy to take out of context I’m reluctant to repeat it, but here is Matthew 10:34-36: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”
The reference to a sword must be held in tension with the fact that Jesus reprimanded Peter for taking up a sword against one of those helping arrest Jesus. Jesus’ use of the singular “a sword” — as opposed to the plural “swords” — accents the metaphorical nature of the remark. Regardless of the debate over just-war theory versus pacifism, it is clear Jesus was acknowledging that truly following the path of discipleship would lead to conflict with those who sought worldly power and affluence as opposed to sacrificial servanthood.
Later, the Apostle Paul scolded church members who sowed division — saying in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither followers of himself nor Apollos, and that church members needed to tolerate each other’s dietary preferences. Yet, Paul and Barnabas got so upset with each other they went their separate ways — even if united on the same mission.
The question of the appropriateness of unity or division is like the question of lemon or sugar. Good lemonade requires a balance of both. But what kind of behavior merits the divisiveness or negative labeling? After all, one of the despicable tools of Nazis was labeling Jews as “rats.”
If our example is Jesus, he divisively labeled as “whitewashed tombs” and “vipers” those who were exploiting religion to gain power and lucre and who made religion oppressive. He also said he would divide the righteous “sheep” from the unrighteous “goats” by whether or not they dealt generously with those in need.
While the described goats ignored the needs of the poor and hurting, Nazis were even worse by first actively tormenting those different from themselves and then murdering them. But they weren’t demons. Neither were the people Jesus chased out of the temple while bellowing, “You have made this (sanctuary) a den of robbers.” He didn’t say “demons”; he said “robbers.”
However, Ephesians 6:12 says we don’t struggle against flesh and blood but against “cosmic … spiritual forces of evil.” That sure sounds demonic, but we have to be careful not to see that as being like the head-spinning scene from The Exorcist. If we think of it that way, lay people without holy water might develop an attitude of “Why try?”
Paradoxically, by seeing authoritarianism not as demonic but as the even-worse threat it is, fueled by the “spiritual forces of evil,” we will be better able to oppose it as we cast off the paralyzing false guilt of “being divisive.”
“Those opposing the evil of Christian nationalism must not ignore our own capacity for evil.”
This requires caution. Those opposing the evil of Christian nationalism must not ignore our own capacity for evil. I expect others to do their best to confront me and lead me to repentance when necessary. We must desire to be sheep not goats and especially not vipers.
The bottom line is this: To compare people to Nazis doesn’t make them demons any more than comparing people to Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts makes them angels. If authoritarians don’t like being compared to Nazis, the best way not to be compared to a duck is to stop walking and quacking like a duck. Meanwhile, the best way to be like Jesus is to do a better job of caring for the needs of the hurting than the goats and vipers are doing.
In response to an abbreviated version of this message posted on social media, a friend texted: “I find the comparison (of MAGA) to Nazis more disrespectful to Jews than to Nazis. The Holocaust was real, but we’re not there yet.”
I replied: “One horrible way to disrespect Jews killed in the Holocaust is not to learn from the horror and prevent it from happening again. Prevention is better than cure. There is little to no distinction between 1930 Germany and 2025 USA.”
I cited Trump’s recent comment that it should be illegal for people on public airwaves to criticize him. A Fox News personality called for the execution of mentally ill homeless people and his co-host nodded. By the time the “gas chambers” are operating, it will be too late.
The phrase “not there yet” indicates the problem. If we as a culture were headed toward church, I wouldn’t say, “We are not to the brothel yet.” We already are on the wrong path and need to get on a new one, quickly.
The path of authoritarianism is paved with toxic fear that inevitably leads to persecution. This abusive power must first be labeled as the path of Nazi-like evil that it is. Such signposting will enable us to barricade the path of self-centered domination and choose, instead, the path of humble service.
Brad Bull has served as hospital chaplain, pastor and university professor. One of his earliest memories is of seeing The Sound of Music in a theater and his father giving a loud ovation to Captain Von Trapp shredding the Nazi flag.