Its roots are deep and entangled around issues related to race, .
gender, class, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and economics, among others. Violence .
pervades our past, shapes our present reality and threatens our future. Violence is not far .
removed from our lives. It is very close to home, indeed, it is often in our homes. .
Children see murders on the street, witness domestic violence in their homes and are .
assaulted with a constant stream of violence on the movie screen, on the television and on .
the radio. Children not only observe violence on a daily basis, they are often its victims. .
Adults have often responded to violence through isolation, building higher walls and .
fences, buying more sophisticated burglar alarms, purchasing guns for protection and .
abandoning life in the public sphere. Meanwhile the governments response is too often to .
build more prisons, eliminate opportunities for rehabilitation and cut prevention programs .
which would offer young people an alternative to violent street and homes. But the .
question that is that Does the Bible condemn violence? The fact is the Bible contains .
plenty of violence, some of it promoted by God. God demanded genocide of pagan .
peoples so they would not lead the Jews into paganism. In Deuteronomy 7 "When the .
LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out .
before you many nations-the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, .
Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you-and when the LORD .
your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must .
destroy them totally." How can a God of love and mercy wipe out every one including .
children. These enemy nations were part of Gods creation as the Israelites were. They .
were basically told by God to hate their enemies, yet 'Love your neighbor' is the second .
of two commandments given by Christ The bible also advocates for love for your .