Is violence natural?

What is natural? Death is natural. Killing for food is natural, right? What about the violence involved in that kill? Of course it is! If violence is natural, though, then why are we so shocked about the the rape, violence, and subsequent death, perpetrated against Anene Booysen? (Read to the end before you judge me!)

As a biology teacher, I'm often faced with having to explain to my kids how nature works - the natural order of things. I have to describe or explain the 'nature red in tooth and claw' idea. This inevitably leads to a discussion about ethics - e.g. Is it okay to hunt?

I have to accept that predators exist, and kill prey, and that a particular species only ever sees another species as food. That's just the way things are on earth, and have been since Adam and Eve were kicked out of Eden.

The Bible speaks about the lion and the lamb lying down together though. Some will argue that it's an analogy, a picture to show that in God's kingdom even enemies, even species that war with each other, can find peace. It's a promise that one day, when Jesus returns, we will enter a time of peace, when there will be no more war, no violence, no death, no suffering, no tears. But that's not natural. Natural means what we do instinctively, without thinking. And that kind of peace isn't natural. Right?

Although this video is old (from 2008), it shows a remarkable series of relationships, between unlikely animals. It's not unique, by any stretch of the imagination. Do a quick search online and you will quickly discover hundreds of videos, photographs, and stories, of unlikely friendships where species that would normally NEVER be found together, love, care and support for each other - going entirely against what is their "natural" instinct.

So maybe God was serious when he said that the lion and the lamb would lie down together - maybe they really will. Maybe it's not just allegorical.

When a leopard hunts, it only does so for food, not for sport, or trophies, or even to stockpile for the winter. While I still find it horrendous to watch, I can rationalise it to myself. When human beings turn on each other like this though ... violence for the sake of violence... I don't understand that and I can't rationalise it.

Yet, if violence is 'natural', then why are we so upset? I think the obvious answer is that violence is NOT natural. Violence, even between a predator and prey, is not natural. Animals killing each other is NOT what God intended, and I have come to believe that that is yet one more effect of the Fall, one more sinister and all-pervading effect of sin. If it were, then we would be able to watch animals killing each other without even the slightest twinge of a reaction (even in our inner most private thoughts where our rationalisations can't reach).

I long for the peace of two enemies coming together in love and mutual companionship, when all animals will live side by side in peace. I long for the day when the peace that existed in Eden returns to this world. I long for the day when we will truly love and care for others (and not just ourselves or our immediate family and friends).

Violence may be part of our nature NOW, but I don't believe that violence is natural. If it were, then we wouldn't be so outraged, nor would we feel so sickened, by the events this week. No, violence is not natural, which is why we have to fight it everywhere that we encounter it - starting with ourselves, and our children.

Teaching our kids that being angry is acceptable, but losing our temper is not, is, I believe, an important first step. We have to teach our kids (and remind ourselves) how to deal with anger and disappointment without resorting to violence - whether verbal or physical. We have to teach them how to respond to pain, without striking back.

Why? Because if violence were natural, then it wouldn't matter who I hit, or swore at, or how much I hurt others. But violence is not natural.

So I'm pleased that the nation is outraged by Anene's brutalisation and her death. I'm pleased that the nation has remembered its heart, and its spirit. I pray to God that her rapists do too, that they find redemption somehow, and somewhere, through this.