Enemy Love
Eric Martin on fighting fascism, dealing with our enemies, and drawing on our traditions.
By Ben Stegbauer
The Just Word Commentary and Left Catholic bring you the second part of our interview with Eric Martin, author of the new book The Writing on the Wall: Signs of Faith Against Fascism.
Take a look at the first part of this interview, where we explain the context for this beautiful book, as Martin asks the quintessential questions about what it means to be a person of faith in the face of rising fascism today. He draws on his and his friends’ experiences opposing the fascist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
Glossary of figures and links from the interview (see part one for more):
Thomas Merton epiphany at 4th and Walnut
Supersessionism (paragraph 17)
Sojourners article by Eric Martin
Being Catholic in your own way
“I guess part of what I’m trying to do is really mine, what’s already there that’s good and useful, and what’s there that we should be aware of that’s not going to be useful. I think it’s good to name both, and that’s what I was trying to do in here.”
Enemy love
“Jesus just assumes, it seems, we have enemies by saying ‘love your enemies’ on the Sermon on the Mount, not a side passage. But I also know people I love and respect and look up to people who’ve been alive longer than me and done more good work than me, who disagree and say we don’t have enemies…I don’t know what to say except I think it doesn’t sufficiently grapple with the fact that Jesus seems to have had enemies, and knew it.”
Black bloc Mary
“[Mary] is more of a paradox than people give her credit for. Virginal purity, yet the strength of a woman who truly lived and suffered, and in that sense, no virgin at all. Exorcists have said that demons fear the name of Mary above all else. Her name makes them run for the hills. She’s known as the empress of Hell, and demons are terrified of her.” -Interview with Ramona Martinez, from the book.
Being Catholic today
“I can’t even identify myself without [Catholicism]. It’s like asking, I don’t know, what’s important about your heart. I don’t know, I can’t talk about why my bones are valuable…Catholicism is like talking about my heart and my bones and my sinew…It’s the space from which I am and be.”
I love this interview, especially thoughts on "being catholic in our own way", that there are those who are earnest in their faith who have given up on looking to church "authority" for answers. I really appreciate the emphasis on it being useful to name both, that there is injustice at play in any organized system, but there are always people existing within those systems that are aware and aligning their own hearts with the truth. I think this is so important in not lumping all those who identify with catholicism with their authorities that attempt to govern them because especially when it comes to faith, spirit is imply ungovernable, although there will forever be attempts to do so. The insights here are so helpful.