Christians and War

I got a very thoughtful email from a reader named Doug, who asked “How do you reconcile your beliefs about the war on terror and the fact that you are a Christian?” Doug struggles with the issue, wavering from one position to another.

One side says no war is justifiable and the other says we must, in order to survive, fight this and hard.

With the more recent events unfolding in Israel and Lebanon my heart is full of more dread and heavy with sadness. Have I lost my will to fight? Or I am coming to terms with my personal religious beliefs? Does this mean I no longer support our current positions in the war on terror? I find myself waffling more and more as the crisis in the Middle East worsens.

War is hell. Good people and innocent civilians die. Can a Christian support this war or any war and still consider themselves a Christian?

This is the debate I keep finding myself in. As a nation I believe we had no choice but to respond. I read several blogs, including yours, like LGF, Captain’s Quarters, Powerline, Instapundant, Wizbang, Winds of Change, Belmont Club and many, many more. There are more but it would be difficult to list them all here. Some like USS Clueless (Steven Den Beste) and ejectejecteject.com make for some excellent essays and when I read them I always go into agreement that they are right. We must respond and take the fight to the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. We must not wait and respond to attacks we must attack them on their turf and bring the battle to them in order to win this war. But this is only the first steps. There is more and it will take many years to see this through.

But as the Anchoress has said “we are at war. It’s not nice.” Do we really have, as a nation, what it takes to see this through? The terrorists are betting we do not and judging the reactions from our main stream media and “defeatacrats” in congress they may be proved right. Can this war on terror survive the next 2 election cycles (2006 and 2008) and beyond? Will all that has been accomplished so far be lost? Have we really accomplished anything? Can we afford it (massive debt)?

I personally see this as a long war and it may take 10, 20 maybe 30 years or more. I do not believe we can maintain this current effort that long and through all those election cycles with most of America now becoming tired of the fight and weary of the constant negative news cycle.

As a nation I believe we, and Bush, had no choice but to respond. And I think the response chosen was the right one. But it involves more. It requires more. The problems in Iran and Syria and North Korea must be addressed and we have accomplished nothing until they are. Do we really have the nerve and backbone to see this through?

As a nation we must respond but as a person I have troubled emotions. I believe in forgiveness and granting others the right to live there life as they want to. I wish all my contacts that I meet every day the peace I seek so determinedly. I do not judge anyone lest I be judged myself, it is right in the Lord’s prayer “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” and I have always tried to do just that. So there it is my struggle reconciling my beliefs as to how we respond as a nation with how I would as a person. They are constantly at odds with one another.

I can understand his struggle, because I struggled with it too, albeit for a shorter time. I replied to his email:

I believe that Christians can – and must – support just wars. Whether this war is just, is up for debate among many people, but I believe it is. I believe it is poorly framed – that the war is actually against a subset of Muslims who have been waging open war against us since 1979, but we steadfastly refuse to acknowledge it. Even now, it’s normally described as a war on terror, as if a method of a attack could be an enemy. The best essay I’ve read on that form of category error is Dan Simmon’s story, here: http://www.dansimmons.com/news/message/2006_04.htm

Jay Tea’s post at Willisms today was also very timely in light of your email: http://www.willisms.com/archives/2006/08/fearful_victory.html

One essay that was particularly interesting to me was by CS Lewis in The Weight of Glory – sorry it’s not online, I had to buy the book to get it. It might be at your library. The essay is Why I Am Not A Pacifist. He spends some time on how to arrive at moral certainty, addresses the concept that wars do no good – remember he fought in a WWI – and this quote really struck me:

“The doctrine that war is always a greater evil seems to imply a materialist ethic, a belief that death and pain are the greatest evils. But I do not think they are. I think the suppression of a higher religion by a lower, or even a higher secular culture by a lower, a much greater evil. Nor am I greatly moved by the fact that many of the individuals we strike down in war are innocent. […] The question is whether war is the greatest evil in the world, so that any state of affairs which might result from submission is certainly preferable. And I do not see any really cogent arguments for that view.”

He gets a little snarky when he says, in response to those who say “Turn the other cheek”:

“I need not point out – for it has doubtless been pointed out to you before – that such a Christian is obliged to take all the other hard sayings of Our Lord in the same way. For the man who has done so, who has on every occasion given to all who ask him and has finally given all he has to the poor, no one will fail to feel respect. With such a man I must suppose myself to be arguing; for who would deem worth answering that inconsistent person who takes Our Lord’s words a la rigueur when they dispense him from a possible obligation and takes them with latitude when they demand he should become a pauper?”

I agree that this war will be very long. It’s already been going on for a quarter of a century, and we’re just now gearing up to fight back. If we mobilized like we did for WWII, it would not take long to finish – but I’d be very surprised if that happened. I also have been trying to keep in mind the idea that God is sovereign. If we lose, if we become a dhimmi nation, as is likely, the benefits for Christianity are huge. Look at how the church has grown under persecution in China, for example. Every time the church is persecuted, it grows exponentially. I love America, and I am a patriot, but I’m mindful of the fact that what is good for my country is not necessarily good for the Kingdom where I hold eternal citizenship. I wrote about that here: http://www.pursuingholiness.com/2006/03/13/we-still-have-the-right-to-not-obey-islamic-law-remember/

Doug responded:

I guess my biggest problem is that I feel like 2 different persons sometimes. On one hand I believe I am a compassionate loving person, as I believe Christ instructed us and wants us to be. Then when I think about what is going on in the world, terrorism, I get pretty steamed and have no compassion for them at all. As a matter of fact sometimes I wish a speedy meeting with Allah.

Then there are times when I pray for them … the terrorists. Are we not supposed to pray for our enemies? I do not pray hoping they will change I just pray for them. I guess in a way I hope they find what I am trying to find namely peace and happiness. I guess I feel like it is up to God to sort this mess out but that does not mean we can sit passively by and do nothing. I think I am doing the best I can.

I agree, we do need to pray for our enemies. First and foremost, for their salvation. Aside from the fact that we are called to pray for the lost in any event, their salvation would certainly solve the problem of terrorism. And I think it’s pretty hard to pray for people who would like to kill us – even in the abstract, as American Christians are far more removed from this conflict than, say, Christians in Indonesia or Lebanon who are in imminent physical danger. But that is exactly what, as Christians, we are called to do. But while we are praying for those who persecute us, I agree with C.S. Lewis – “The question is whether war is the greatest evil in the world, so that any state of affairs which might result from submission is certainly preferable. And I do not see any really cogent arguments for that view.”