Turning the other cheek

"If someone slaps you one the one cheek, turn the other towards him as well."

-Jesus-

This saying is not far from the core of Jesus' teachings. The core being: "love your enemies", this saying is part and parcel of that core. How many Christians have thrown up their hands in frustration crying out: "This is impossible, this cannot be done in the real world!". This has been the mainstream Christian sentiment for 2000 years. As such, society in general has remained silent about the subject. But there are always exceptions, there will always be people looking to mock the concept, as the the clip below demonstrates:

This is from a popular 90's movie, "Dragonheart". Did you notice what the shooter calls the man he shoots in the rear(with a grin)? "Turn the other cheek, BROTHER." Why does he call him that? Because the shooter in fact, is a monk. This is a common Hollywood movie trope; the priest/monk who does not adhere to the teachings of Jesus, but instead, stands up for the values of the world. What business does a Christian monk have holding a weapon? None, but that is Hollywood for you. You see, if you display one of Jesus' most devoted followers(like a monk) making light of, or denying the teachings of Jesus, you are making a subtle and veiled statement that the teachings of Jesus are absurd.

The next clip is of the same sort. It is from "The bells of saint mary's". The boy has been getting beat up regularly, and this nun has been wanting to help him get out of the mess in a non-violent way, but, of course she realizes "that isn't how the real world works" and takes it upon herself to read up on the art of boxing, and to teach the boy how to defend himself:

Boy- "Gee sister! this sure is more fun than turning the other cheek isn't it?"

Nun(awkwardly joking)- "Well...I'll admit, it is easier on your face."

Again we have that same trope, the highly religious person ultimately realizing that the teachings of Jesus do not really work in the real world.

Now, even if this teaching is generally disregarded by society, and openly mocked by some, nevertheless you sometimes find examples coming from Hollywood that go against this grain. Instead of mocking and invalidating the idea, they elevate it, and attempt to show how valuable such a teaching can be, how powerfully it can affect the world. The next example is from a movie about Jackie Robinson, the first Black man having a chance to play in the White man's baseball league:

Do you see how profound they made the teaching out to be? Knowing what baseball has now become: a sport fully integrated with black and white players, we can see how powerful Jackie's choice was in changing public perception. His turning the other cheek, did in fact, change the world for the better. It is hard to overstate how much his behaviour helped shift public perception away from a racist mindset. Now, he became famous, so it might be argued that he had more power to change public perception due to this. That leads me to the last clip, which is indeed my favorite. This is about everyday people, in everyday circumstances. About a father who has returned from the Vietnam War with PTSD, and is trying to put a life back together for his family:

Would you suppose that those children who received the cotton candy would ever forget that act of kindness? Surely not. Does that mean that they became little angels from that moment on? Probably not. But Jesus never taught that goodness brings immediate and drastic outward results. Goodness changes things slowly and surely. He compared it to a mustard seed; "Which being smaller than all the other seeds, when it has grown, becomes a great tree, and the birds of the air come and nest in it's branches." For the most part, it is small acts of goodness done by everyday people that bring about immense change over time. In watching this last clip, at the climax of self-sacrifice and it's explanation, did you not sense something miraculous in it? Sometimes the greatest miracles are not ones that can been seen outwardly, but instead felt deep within.