My overall personal view on politics, being a Christian whose faith is based on the Bible text, has always been that it is an arena where the worst win and where honesty and truth can only be corrupted, compromised and turned into ridicule. The history of politics is for the most part the one of cunning, cruelty and ruthless ambition. 

The Bible itself gives us so many proofs for this. On the social and political level, Jesus was killed through sly and steady pressure of religious leaders on Pilate, ambitious politician who cared most about his career – and none of them cared for truth or for the respect of human dignity and freedom. 

Revelation 13 and 16 warn us on demonic influence on the end-time politicians of the whole world. Therefore, what could a Christian expect and search for in that arena? Should we Christians just stay in our little church and family bubbles, resigned and passive, and wait for Christ to come?

 

Are Christians to be indifferent?

Still, are Christians to be indifferent to just everything that occurs in daily politics? Actually, should they not completely ignore politics? Is there no basis for social activity of Christ’s followers? Should we remain silent to all evil we witness because that is simply not our business? Certainly, the grim experience of WWII, or Rwanda, or Croatia and Bosnia, where, tragically, professed Christians tortured and murdered many, is a striking warning to all who aim at following Jesus.

But does political activity always end up in violence? Is the admonition to

“Rescue those being led away to death;

hold back those staggering toward slaughter." Proverbs 24:11

to be taken only spiritually? The glorious example of Desmond Doss proves one can be in the midst of violence without being violent. But, for sure, that takes faith, love and self-denial.

 

The fear of ‘getting involved in politics’

Ever since the outbreak of student protests in Belgrade on November 1st, spreading on all four Serbian state universities (the private ones are – by no accident – totally loyal to the government, for that is where many highly ranked politicians got their well-paid degrees from), I have been engaged in a lot of discussion with my Christian brethren and sisters through different social media – and I must say there is so much confusion and even conflict on the issue of Christian involvement in different kinds of social activism, especially in the times of deep and open crisis.

Europeans today live mostly in democracies where people can vote and where they elect representatives. Unlike the times of slaves and slave owners, politics in democratic countries corresponds to what the French enlightenment thinkers called a contrat social, which basically means the rule of people through their delegates. No divine rights of kings. So, if the elect individuals do not act for the benefit of the people, they are to be held accountable even between two rounds of elections. The USA is the bright example of that principle.

 

Serbia’s history and Orthodox Christians

Now, paradoxically, this fear of getting into politics characterizes today only (Serbian) Protestants – aren’t they supposed to protest? – for the Orthodox majority in Serbia have no problem with those issues. Why? Because the Orthodox Christians in Serbia had been through five centuries of slavery to Turks, who used constant and brutal violence of all kinds to converts Serbs to Islam. Five centuries of such horror most Western Christians will never be able to understand – but Christians in most Muslim countries of Asia and Africa know and live that horror even in this moment.

Serbs had two armed uprisings against Turks in 1804 and 1815, peasants fighting against an empire at the cost of thousands of lives. They risked being beheaded or impaled to get their freedom to believe in Christ. It was not until 1918 that Serbs had completely ejected Turks from most of the territory of the Serbian medieval kingdom. In Serbia, being a Christian is both a spiritual and political matter. It has always been so because of their history of terrible persecutions and hate. Not to mention the persecution of Orthodox priests and monks during the Communist era of Tito’s presidency. The greatest Serbian poet, Petar Petrović Njegoš, was the archbishop of Montenegro, thus a Christian monk himself. In his famous Mountain Wreath, he says:

“But to trample on the throat of Tyranny

That is the holies of all human duties!”

 

Protestant examples of resistance in Europe and elsewhere

This idea – that we as humans have the duty to fight injustice – is a part of the Serbian Christian archetype and as such is manifested in the student protest we witness in Serbia. Dietrich Bonhoeffer would have understood this, for he lived and died obeying to this principle. So would pastor Martin Nimoeller whose words still matter:

“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Reverend Martin Luther King would have understood it very well, too. He led milions to Washington to plead for the obvious: equality of all men.

I have been asking my fellow Christians since November 1^st: would you join Bonhoeffer and M.L.K? Or would you rather wait for things to settle themselves by themselves? Does anything ever get better without constant effort in this global empire of entropy?

 

I meet the students, I pray for them in my office at university

For thirty years I have worked with students. For the three last months I have been living and working among them in a special way. In my office, when alone, I kneel and pray for them – and for my people and my country. I pray for them all every morning, I pray for them in my bed. I pray for God to give students guidance through the daytime.

 What students actually did was to call for justice and plead their case with integrity. They showed courage, great courage – and hope and belief

I meet them at the entry of my Faculty of Philology: they are always smiling and polite. Intelligent and well behaved. I meet them in halls in those days I come to my job, although we have no classes. In the beginning of February, students and the teaching staff have decided to meet weekly to discuss issues. These meetings have been initiated by students because they said they wanted to hear our opinion on their protest. I also went to a couple of what they call plenum, the general assembly of all students of my Faculty. These general assemblies are the expression of the most direct form of democracy: no leaders, no pressures, every vote and every voice counts. They are aware not everyone in Academia is happy with the forms of their protest, but everyone knows the protest is entirely justified. Unlike some previous protests and blockades, these students are so peaceful, polite, reasonable, organised, calm and serene. This is a phenomenon!

When some of the students of the University of Belgrade went onto their march to Novi Sad, on foot, from Thursday 30 of January to Saturday 1 February – just as right now students come on foot from the universities of Novi Sad, Belgrade and Niš to Kragujevac, where a general protest is to take place on February 15, the Constitution Day – people they met on the way to Novi Sad showed how much they recognize the power of honesty and determination. You must have seen some of those video reports.

 

Isiah and iniquities of rulers

For years, if not decades, Serbia’ ruling class is best described by Isaiah:

“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,

nor his ear too dull to hear.

But your iniquities have separated

you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you,

so that he will not hear.

For your hands are stained with blood,

your fingers with guilt.

Your lips have spoken falsely,

and your tongue mutters wicked things.

No one calls for justice;

no one pleads a case with integrity.”

Before this protest, most people had just endured or even accepted this generalized evil spreading from the government like plague. Intellectuals were like paralyzed. What students actually did was to call for justice and plead their case with integrity. They showed courage, great courage – and hope and belief. Belief in their people’s fundamental goodness, first of all.

 

Media manipulation, economic corruption

What do students want? Students, educated and intelligent, know exactly what they want. They want to have the general corruption of the Serbian society stopped. They want Serbia to go back to its democratic institutions. They want the tripartite system of government to function. For twelve years, these institutions have been stifled and are now completely owned by the ruling party.

Now, Serbia is hostage to the cartel-like party of Aleksandar Vučić, an army of ruthless local or state compradores constantly selling Serbian soil, waters, capital and mine wealth, bit by bit, to Western (eg. Black Rock’s Rio Tinto) and Chinese companies and interest groups, and getting immensely rich through this process. Rigged elections and rigged tenders, an all-pervading nepotism make it hard for the best students and experts to get their deserved place in institutions and businesses.

Many Christians just enjoy being in the Ark, without any concern for those who, outside of our churches, still try to be faithful to some concept of justice

TV and radio stations are now all used as the weapon of the personal war of the President against all his critics, the weapon of mass disinformation, numbing people by reality shows, vulgar celebrities and the worst kinds of music. The President is on almost every TV broacaster several times a day. He never accepts to debate with anyone on TV, an incarnation of the Napoleon of The Animal Farm. At the same time, the parties of opposition, numerous, divided and often in secret cahoots with the government, have lost their credibility.

This is why students have been protesting peacefully for months, clearly demanding not to overthrow the government, but asking the government to do their lawful job. And during these protests students – girls mostly – have been physically attacked by the gangsters hired by local kaids of the ruling party.  We as professors, who support them, have been called lazy and “ungrateful” by the president himself on TV.

 

Can we just say ‘this is nor our battle?’

What are we Christians to think of all this? How are we to react to injustice, violence, theft, corruption? Should we say, as many of my church members say: “This is not our battle. We wait for Jesus to come back. There is no justice in this world and we should not waste our energy on this world.” So many times have I seen Christians comfortably sit in the pew and enjoy their undeserved blessings while ignoring suffering of the “worldlings”. Many Christians just enjoy being in the Ark, without any concern for those who, outside of our churches, still try to be faithful to some concept of justice. Many Christians think that preaching the Gospel means a mouth full of religious slang they must throw on “unbelievers” on every occasion. Still, most Christians behave as if they would be contaminated if they took part in any public protest.

Serbian students in protest made me think a lot about our Christian responsibility for the lost and for this world. Although Jesus’ return will mark the destruction of this world of sin, are we to easily give away this world and all lost humanity to Satan without any resistance? Without battles?

I often wonder if those Philistines in 1 Samuel 4:9, who took the Ark of Covenant, were not at that episode an example of courage and determination, although pagan? Are we to reject even those forms of social activities which are peaceful, but engaged? Are we not to vindicate, in the name of Christ, justice and goodness in this world? Are we not to meddle into public affairs for the sake of our testimony? Or is God absent from this world and lives only in some buildings unseen by most?

 

Is salt to be held in a box or put into a meal?

Why are we Christians here in the world? Not only to shine by our “justice”, but also to warm people by our love. We are to speak up and out and to call a spade a spade.

All great Protestant theologians, just as all Orthodox ones in the past, have felt that responsibility for the people and the State

Are we not to follow John the Baptist? Was his message to the King and the Queen not political? Shouldn’t he have rather kept his mouth shut? Is prophecy not also about warning one’s fellow citizens about injustices and calling for the justice?

“This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” Jeremiah 22:3

To whom did Jeremiah say this? Was this really only for his church members? What about Jonah’s message to the sinful Nineveh? Does our testimony consist only of pronouncing Christian doctrine? Should we not proclaim Christ by being like Him without an obnoxious and empty Church rhetoric?

And are we not to proclaim God’s wisdom in everyday life, even addressing the rulers of the day?

“Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

or you yourself will be just like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly,

or he will be wise in his own eyes.” Proverbs 26

These words of the wise King are the standard for me, as a Christian, a professor and an intellectual with an enormous responsibility towards God, students and my nation.

We are not to answer to corrupt politicians by their own means and measures. We are not to be violent, we are not to lie and steal public money and put them into our own pockets. We must never be like them.

But.

But, we are certainly not to be silent. We must answer fools according to their folly. Our God gives us messages for students, and for governments and for every member of our society. Our answer must match their folly – but it is to be the word of wisdom, God’s wisdom, for the salvation of men and the prosperity of the nation. All great Protestant theologians, just as all Orthodox ones in the past, have felt that responsibility for the people and the State. They have acted as simple and practical Samaritans for the benefit of simple sinful people, scattered sheep without a Shepherd.

 

What are we Christians to think of these protests?

First of all, what are Protestants to think about protests? The answer is obvious.

As a  matter of fact, Luther’s German Protestants and French Huguenots even had to come to arms to defend their freedom of consciousness. Are we to call them evil and without Holy Spirit? Surely, these are not times to use violence but still protests and resistance to the hijacked state machinery should be the duty of every responsible citizen.

Yes, students, as future intellectual elite of the nation, have the duty to react and to raise their voices, they have, for the sake of their future and their nation, to criticize and ask for accountability the leaders of their country.

 

Prayer requests for Serbia

And what should Christians, in Serbia and elsewhere, do for these Students?

We are, first and foremost, to pray day and night for the students as the whole and as individuals.

We are to pray that in days such as these Christians of Serbia make a huge difference and proclaim boldly the truth of Christ

We are to pray for their integrity and their unity – that they remain the beacon of freedom so that all nation can make pressure on the government to respect laws and the Constitution.

We are to pray that they find God and that God’s Spirit abide among them.

We are to pray that they resist those from the Government who already threat them and try to bribe them.

We are to pray that different parties of opposition do not capitalize on these protests – as they openly endeavour to steal student’s lead in this upheaval of all the nation, lest they crash the present unity of students and people.

We are to pray that God prevent the possible outburst of violence, as the ruling party gets more and more desperate and impatient, and this party is composed of very violent tycoons greedy for power and money.

We are to pray that Western countries who have long been exploiting the services of the actual Serbian government stop financing corruption in Serbia.

 

The youth’s enthusiasm for justice and freedom is not in vain

Finally, if we really care, we are to pray that all this enthusiasm and energy of youth believing in justice, freedom and law be not in vain. We are to pray that students and all the thinking people win in this battle – as Gandhi and India won.

The best for Serbian students and Serbian people would be the rule of law and not the rule of one party and its despotic leader. The best for Serbian students and Serbian people would be the general respect of the principle of meritocracy, where the best could be preferred in job interviews, and where knowledge and skills would be preferred to family and party ties.

We are to pray that in days such as these Christians of Serbia make a huge difference. That they come out of their ghettos and proclaim boldly the truth of Christ. Because, although we are to fight for the betterment of our present lives, we must not omit to point to eternity.

Still, we must not forget that in Matthew 25 sheep and goats are judged by what they did for their fellow men in everyday life – not by right/wrong doctrines that divide them.

Many sceptic observers, Orthodox and Protestant, have expressed publicly their concern that student protest might get hijacked or cause civil war. Yes, that is always possible. As for me, I would rather do my best and fail than stay behind the door in order to preserve my earned points of credit on some God’s check list. I prefer to fight evil than saintly let evil thrive in front of my nose. I prefer to make mistakes than to be silent and indifferent.

Those two Levites passed by the wounded man in order to preserve their spotless ritual purity. This is not me. Are you, my brethren and sisters?

Tatjana Samardžija, Associate Professor of French Linguistics, Faculty of philology, University of Belgrade.