Fight the Forces of Evil with Love

• One who seeks your shirt, let him have your cloak also—that is, whenever faced with any form of conflict, do not insist on a bilateral solution. That is, put an end to the conflict unilaterally, at the very outset. • Love your enemy— that is, take your enemy as your potential friend. The response of the believers should not be that of dividing people into two dichotomous groups—friends and enemies. They should not regard hostility to be a permanent state of affairs and then start on a collision course bred out of hatred. Rather by means of good, positive behaviour, all efforts should be made to turn the enemy into one’s friend. Thus Christ enjoined his followers to love the enemy, that is, to turn your enemy into your friend through the demonstration of love. The two-thousand year old history of the Christians tells us that whenever they have found success, it was not achieved by fighting against evil, but by following the above teachings of Christ. For instance, in its early days in Palestine, there was formidable opposition to Christianity by the Jewish community, leading to an exodus of Christians to surrounding countries. If Christianity then began spreading there, it was not because the Christians launched violent campaigns against the Jews, but because, in their new homelands, they practised love and service to the people. Later, persecuted by Rome, they did not fight back, but bore with injustice patiently, while never ceasing to spread the message of love. The Roman emperor himself was led to embrace Christianity in 337 A.D. Thereafter, Christianity spread all over Europe. Formerly a local cult, it now became an international religion. Conversely, when the Christians chose to diverge from their principles — in the 200 year long Crusades — their efforts came to naught with their ultimate defeat by the Muslims. However, with the end of the Crusades came a change of heart and a reversal of policy. Now groups of Christians devoted themselves to reviving the true spirit of Christianity. Other groups made forays into the peaceful field of scientific research. Books in Arabic and other languages were translated on a large scale into European languages, making a major contribution to the Renaissance. The Christian nations of Europe may have suffered defeat in war, but in the field of knowledge and spirituality they emerged victorious, ushering in a new era in history known as the age of scientific revolution.