The Myth Of Redemptive Violence By Walter Wink

In Walter Wink’s essay, “The Myth of Redemptive Violence,” he proposes multiple arguments for the ideas surrounding redemptive violence. According to Wink, media has played a major role in rooting the concept of violence being necessary evil in the world in the masses. Wink believes there are consequences for the use of redemptive violence all aspects of life, and believes violence itself will be the end of social order with it being used for pleasure, not salvation. Many theologians have responded with agreeing views on his stance, and of course views that are much different. Along with Wink, independent scholars, social workers, and an extended number of professions have commented and explored Wink’s idea of redemptive violence.

Wink early on explains, very clearly, his viewpoint on violence itself. For example, the first sentence of his essay says, “the belief that violence ‘saves’ is so successful because it doesn’t seem to be mythic in the least” (Wink, 2007). That is to say Wink views violence as

That is “it fails to achieve the objective it promises, and in the process contributes to the state of disarray” (Wills, 7). Wills explains that the issue with in the prison system with redemptive violence is that it eliminates responses which are non-violent, and may even be the more optimal solutions. The main issue Wills sees with the consequences of redemptive violence is that “redemptive violence provides perpetrators with a perfect excuse to avoid the road of inner examination and acceptance of responsibility” (Wills, 10). In turn, those perpetrators will insist any accountability outside of themselves which leads to more unwanted actions and behaviors. Wills presents a similar argument to Gilgun in how redemptive violence is not a save all concept, and it comes with an array of