Let me get this out of the way first: ideally, I'm a pacifist. I've never been in a fist fight. I've never been in an offensive military vehicle. I was in the Air Force for four years as a plane mechanic and I got out because I had a hard time being a part of an organization whose job it was to cause death and injury. It's not easy to live with that.
Having said all that now, I have to say that I think a government military is very necessary. We live in a fallen world where fallen people come to power in fallen countries and make dangerous decisions that affect the lives of hundreds, thousands, and millions of people.
Sometimes diplomacy just does not work. A good example of that is WWII. Countries tried to work with Hitler's Germany, compromise with him, and he just did what he wanted because he could. The only recourse was a military response to his military aggression.
I can't say that I really agree with the fiasco that led us into the war with Iraq after 9/11. But, one of the things that comforts me is that we know there was massive oppression and even genocide going on in the North. This war helped to stop that.
Now, about Christians and war. Several things: "Just War Theory" is not in the Bible. It comes from Augustine. There are no guidelines in the Bible for going to war (except for against Canaanites). But there are a few important verses to help our understanding here.
Rom 13--God has given government "the sword," which is technically and literally the sword of execution, but I think this could easily be expanded to national defense. The government has the God-given right to defend its citizens.
Luke 3:14--when John the Baptist was asked by a soldier what to do to live a righteous life, John's answer (which was probably the right one) was that he should not oppress and be content with his wages. Nothing about killing people? Hmmm.....
The bottom line is this: war is horrible and vile and evil. But oppression, genocide, and injustice are also horrible and vile and evil and sinful. I cannot sit by and just "pray for them."
1 comment:
I find myself agreeing with just about everything you say, except for the part where you state that you are a pacifist. Can a pacifist believe and support just wars? Not that the latter is bad, just a question concerning definition more than anything else.
Still, interesting post
Mike
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