The Law of Retaliation

"Guided by the Law of Retaliation, violent warfare defined the relationship between their tribe and others for centuries. That is until they personally encountered a group operating under a different law."

The Law of Retaliation

Examples in History

The Law of Retaliation has regulated humanity from the beginning of time. The Old Testament law along with Hammurabi’s Code posited that justice is equitably served through obedience to the maxim, “eye for an eye; tooth for a tooth” (Exo 21:24). Within Confucius’ Analects one finds the rule, “That which you do not desire, do not do to others” (Analects XV.24). While this rule sounds wise it is only comprehendible in a culture’s ethos that views retaliation as a form of justice. 

Among the Aucas

The Aucas are a native tribal group living in Latin America whose culture possessed a worldview that held viewed all peoples outside of their tribe as cannibals. Guided by the Law of Retaliation, violent warfare defined the relationship between their tribe and others for centuries. That is until they personally encountered a group operating under a different law. 

Five male foreigners traveled by plane in order to make contact with this Amazonian tribal group. To establish relationship with this notoriously violent people, the foreigners sought a gift exchange by lowering gifts from their crop plane flying above their village. Success of the gift exchange inspired confidence among the foreigners to pursue a personal relationship. Unknown to the foreigners, however, is their pervasive cultural ethos to fear all people outside of their tribal group. In fact, some motivated by their fear believed the foreigners were seeking to entrap them in a cannibalistic plot. Upon the naïve foreigner’s personal contact with the tribal group, warriors among the tribe arose to murder these five men.

To complete the work their husbands started, two of the widowed wives made plans to personally contact the tribal group. Prior to their husband’s deaths they learned the Auca language from a native girl living within their base camp. Assisted by the native girl they journeyed into the jungle to find the Aucas. What awaited the Auca people when the women found them was vastly different from the retaliation they were accustomed to. The women’s response to the Aucas, in light of their husband’s deaths, shattered their ethos and forced them to revaluate their previous understandings regarding foreigners. 

What was the response of the women that caused such a dramatic change in the worldview of an entire group? Instead of seeking retaliation, the women forgave their husband’s murders, lived among them and learned their culture in attempt to develop empathy with them. The ethos demonstrated from this behavior is completely antithetical to the Law of Retaliation that predominates the world’s cultures (Buswell 2007:14-15). 

Buswell III, James O. 

2007 4: Review: Worldview, theology, missions. In Winter, Ralph D., Stephen D. Morad and Beth Snodderly (Eds.), Expanding world lesson overviews 4th Edition (pp. 14-18). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.