Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991 TAG: 9104010178
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: D-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FREDERICK J. RITSCH III
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A lot of people do not understand why their pastors seem suddenly unpatriotic in times of war. With the war over and victory so quickly and easily in U.S. hands, clerics might even look a little foolish.
Many thoughtful pastors, however, are motivated not by some liberal agenda, but by an understanding of Scripture which sometimes - perhaps always - casts them as at least stinging gadflies and at most prophets.
I'd like to explain just a little of why Christians must always ask hard questions of a nation in times of war.
The lesson of Nazi Germany seems lost on Americans. Rampant, unquestioning nationalism leads to catastrophic results. Most Americans believe our inherent good nature makes it impossible for us to fall into the trap of Nazism.
But Christians are unimpressed by such optimism about human nature. We understand the pervasive, demonic power of sin. And history shows that nationalism has turned too easily and too often into an excuse for sin.
In the United States, the nation's cause is often identified as God's cause. Many clergy - and Christians - are loath to assume that God is on any nation's side. It is a cause for suspicion when any politician uses "God language" to justify political objectives. Christian religious fervor and nationalism were often inseparable in Nazi Germany.
Times of war present a dilemma for Christian leaders.
Certainly, the Old Testament gives exam- ples of faithful Hebrews taking up arms, trusting God for victory. Certainly, the Christian tradition gives us "just war" theory to help us decide what is godly action. Certainly, justice for the oppressed is a key issue in Scripture. And certainly, we have to ask, "What if no one had taken a stand against Hitler?"
But the Old Testament also details the problems that arise in a nation that ties its politics with its religion.
The prophets complain that the people of Israel and Judah put national agenda ahead of God's will, prosperity ahead of justice, trust in military might ahead of trust in Almighty God. The prophets present a veritable obstacle course of tough questions a nation must ask itself if it claims to represent the will of God in either war or peace.
Analyzing the possibility of war by "just war" categories is a worthwhile practice, and it is heartening to see the president and our nation's leaders weighing these matters so seriously.
Still, just when Christians might finally feel comfortable getting on the "just war" bandwagon, we are confounded by the uncompromising teachings of Jesus.
Jesus challenges us to live with each other in a new way. "You have heard it said, `Eye for eye, tooth for tooth'; but I say, do not resist an evil one." "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
His own life mirrored his teachings. Faced with the possibility of bringing the Kingdom to earth by force - using an army of angels! (Matthew 26) - Jesus preferred to submit to unrighteous violence. New Testament writers from Matthew to Revelation hold up this example as the way Christians are to be: self-sacrificing to the point of death; powerless in the face of violent power.
But the line between justice and Christian love is often obscure. If my neighbor is oppressed, ought I not defend him or her? But do we, by engaging in violence ourselves, actually show our lack of faith in God and perpetuate the chaos of sin? No answer is easy.
Just wars, then, are to be entered into with humility, not pride. They are a last resort. We have had to abandon one important value for the sake of another. We will kill people in order to save other people. This is not a task to be entered into lightly or proudly.
After the accidental bombing of an air-raid shelter in Baghdad, our rush to national absolution was disturbing. The quick assignation of blame by some of our nation's leaders was in stark contrast to the concerted efforts of military leaders to find out what went wrong and correct it. While Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf seemed angry that civilians had been killed, many Americans seemed angry that the United States was blamed.
There is a difference.
The proper response to the deaths of non-combatants is shame, regardless of blame. The deaths of grandmothers, mothers, children and the infirm, no matter how unavoidable, should be a source of shame for any honorable nation.
It clearly troubled the military leaders who were trying desperately to avoid civilian casualties. It should have troubled the entire nation. We have caused deaths which pain the heart of God. It should be a matter of shame for a nation, fighting a "just war," that our best solutions are still so far from perfect.
Christians ask questions in times of national crisis in part because we don't have the answers. It is our refusal to acknowledge easy answers that sometimes offends people. When the rest of the world says the answers are easy, Scripture tells us that even easy answers are hard.
After all, Jesus calls us to be peacemakers. That sounds easy: why is it so hard to do?
So we ask questions. We encourage our parishioners to ask questions. It is not because we don't love our country. It is not because we don't support the troops. It is not because we enjoy stirring up trouble, or because we think we have all the answers.
It is because, as oppressed German Christians put it in their ultimatum to the Nazi government in 1934: "Jesus Christ, as He is attested for us in Holy Scriptures, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death."
No other word can carry the same weight. Not the word of the president, or the Congress, or the United Nations. No other word.
by CNB