Advent Peace When There Is No Peace

At a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Pentagon last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth tried to ride the rising tide of the Christmas spirit. “We prepare to spend time together. We remember the ones we love, and we remember the ones that are fighting to protect all of us, to bring ‘peace on earth and good will to all men’ - except narco-terrorists.” Hegseth’s exception for the targets of his illegal strikes on fishing boats was offered with a chuckle - an example of both the dark humor he brings to war crimes and his inability to appear in public without airing a grievance. But he was earnest in his assertion that US soldiers bring the peace that the angels proclaimed at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

Peace through strength is the gospel of every authoritarian regime.

Pax Romana is what King Herod sought to protect when he ordered the execution of children in the ancient Christmas story, just as peace is what Donald Trump imagines his own legacy will be. It’s why he can accept a made-up FIFA Peace Prize with a straight face and continue to insist that he deserves the Nobel. Never mind the children burned up in Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine, or the sick without medicine because USAID is no more, or the immigrant families who have been torn apart by ICE’s masked men, or the thousands who will die unnecessarily because of cuts to healthcare here at home. Authoritarians believe that the way to peace is through the exercise of raw power. Peace is the silence that comes as the whole world waits for the strongman’s next decree.

But this is not the peace we learn in Advent. The call we hear in this week of waiting is the cry of a wild man in the wilderness - Jesus’ cousin John, dressed in camel hair, channeling the great tradition of the prophets. This is not peace decreed from the seat of power; it is peace that begins by protesting the facade of the ruling authorities.

Advent peace disrupts like Jeremiah, who challenged the liars who say, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. It protests like Isaiah, who declared woes against those who legislate evil and rob the poor of their right, making women and children their prey while they pretend to “serve the public.”

The peace of Advent begins with disturbing the false peace. It teaches us to interrupt the religious nationalism that whitewashes evil in public life.

Our lecture for week 2 of Advent in a Time of Authoritarianism is from Thorsten Wagner, an historian of Nazi Germany who challenges our memory of the role religion played in the Third Reich. American Christians often like to recall Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Karl Barth as fellow Christians who stood up to the violence of authoritarianism when Hilter was on the rise in Germany. But most Christian leaders were silent or, worse, complicit in the 1930s and 40s. Far too many understood the Nazi regime to be bringing God back into public life.

We hope you’ll spend time with the discussion questions below after listening to Thorsten’s lecture. You can use these questions with a group in-person or join the conversation in the comments below.

To help deepen our conversation about how Advent can help us grow in our prophetic witness for peace, we’re excited to welcome Diana Butler Bass to Our Moral Moment tomorrow, Tuesday, December 9th, at noon ET. You can join us live on the Substack app or subscribe for free to get the recording in your inbox.

Diana’s new book, A Beautiful Year, explores how the liturgical year invites people into an alternative story, right in the midst of all the stories that swirl around us. “Against the story of Christian America,” she writes, “and amid the bleakness of authoritarianism and Christian nationalism, this story has provided ballast, deepened my sense of identity, and given me hope. I’ve learned to live in and trust its rhythms.”

We hope these rhythms can also be a trust-worthy ballast for you in this season of Advent. And we hope you’ll let us all know what you’re learning and seeing on this journey.

Discussion Questions

1. What does history teach us about the complicity of religious leaders in 1930s Germany? Do you see parallels in American churches today? How is American Christian nationalism different?

2. How did faith serve as resource for resistance for a minority in the Nazi context? What contributed to the small size of this faith-rooted resistance?

3. Last week’s practice for Advent was, “take a risk and stand in solidarity with people you see taking risks around you.” Were you table to practice this? What did you learn?

4. To practice Advent peace, consider what it might mean to interrupt the false peace of your own context. How can you do this in a way that is self-critical, allowing the experience of others to interrupt you?

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