Wrestling With War: Part Five.

Part One of Wrestling With War
Part Two of Wrestling With War
Part Three of Wrestling With War
Part Four of Wrestling With War

Too much of our thoughts on war begin and end with our particular political affiliation. These are probably gross generalities, but if you’re of a more “conservative” bent, you don’t think twice about war. Even if you consider yourself “Christian”, you consider war a proper response to most conflicts. If not war, you definitely don’t mind a little aggression or “bullying” to achieve your parties desired end. If you’re of more “liberal” bent, perhaps you struggle with war because of the sociological implications. But there’s a good chance that you probably think Bush is a redneck and since he likes hunting with guns, he naturally likes to negotiate with guns.

To be honest, I don’t really have much use for either side. I’m like my friend Tad, if you put a gun to my head, you can mark me down as a Libetarian. Or the Green party.

I think the Republican platform has value while simultaneously missing the point. I think Democratic platform has value while simultaneously missing the point. Both sides have many valuable things to offer to the conversation on war. And both sides probably end up doing more harm than good.

The hang-up for me is when we tend to think that God is a god of either the right or the left. This either/or choice leaves very little room for any options that aren’t on the far end of either spectrum. There is very little middle ground.

As it relates to war, there are very few people who think outside the traditional lines of their particular party. It has more to do with Republicans not wanting to look like Ted Kennedy, Michael Moore, and Hillary and Democrats not wanting to look like O’Reilly, Coulter, Hannity, or worse yet . . . Bush. It has more to do with these things than actually seriously thinking and sorting through the implications of war. Very rarely do you see a Republican against war or a Democrat for it. This is saddening to me because it tells me that most of us aren’t really wrestling with the issue, so much as we are doing what we’ve always done.

Believe it or not . . . God is beyond these traditional lines. Beyond our politics. And God is probably more concerned with the deaths of innocent civilians in Lebanon and Israel than he is with the polarizing war rhetoric that takes place on tv, print, radio, and web.

When our politics dictate our foreign policy on war and terrorism, we tend to slip into the mindset that places the United States at the center of God’s economy. Where God is more concerned with our freedom than the freedom of the rest of the world. God is more concerned with our peace than the peace of the rest of the world.

I’m all about national pride, but there’s a point when it can become idolatry. Nationalism to the extent that it silences the voices of other perspectives that are not American, or Western, has nothing to do with national pride and has more to do with putting our trust more in national power, politics, and policies than in God. This is idolatry.

Surprisingly to many people, God has just as much interest in Libya and Lebanon, Syria and Sudan, as he does in America.

I think Brian McLaren says it best, “If I were to go to the heart of my concern and try to express it in one sentence, here’s what I would say: Many Christians in America seem to have confused Caesar and Christ. We seem to have confused a “kingdom of this world” – our nation – with the kingdom of God. The will and interests of our nation have become associated with the will and values of God.”

Being able to put aside our will and interests is a difficult thing to do. But I think that is what we must do if we are to approach the problem of violence, conflict, and war afresh.

To be quite honest, I just don’t have much time for any politician, leader, or average joe’s thoughts on war if they haven’t been willing to step outside their particular political framework and to think deeply about war.

We have to start there. We can’t seriously engage with the implications of the words and actions of Jesus until we arrive at a point where we realize that Jesus was neither a Republican or a Democrat, an American or an Iranian. If we approach this war in Iraq, the war between Lebanon and Israel, the escalating crisis with Iran, Syria, and North Korea . . . if we approach these things from an entirely nationalistic, American perspective, then I think we are going to come to some very poor conclusions.

There is something incredibly wrong with the church and Christians when there is more “noise” for Israel defending itself than when the images of Abu Ghraib came out. There is something incredibly wrong when the church and Christians secretly and openly root for Israel and say very little when soldies rape and kill innocents in Iraq. There is something incredibly wrong with the church and Christians when we applaud the death of the perpetrators who fire rockets into Israel and say nothing of the deaths of Lebanese civilians. There is something incredibly wrong when we spend billions in Iraq fighting for injustice and not in Rwanda, Sudan, or Chad where the same injustice is happening.

Why is that we pick and choose what we support? Why do we applaud some things and sweep others under the rug? Evil is evil and must be named as such.

So what do we do from here? Try ignoring Michael Moore for a few days and listen to someone without an agenda. Try ignoring Hannity for a few days and listen to someone without an agenda.

Realize that Jesus wasn’t white. Didn’t carry credit cards. Didn’t drive a Ford or Chevy. He didn’t pledge allegiance to a flag. Never carried a gun and never raised a fist. He never cast a ballot and never hung out on a ranch with a President. He never artificially created lies for a documentary. And Jesus never attacked anyone nor defended anyone with violence. He never rode in a tank or flew a B2.

Instead he rode a donkey and turned a cheek.

And somehow that was more powerful than anything we’ll see with the $467 billion we have set aside for our 2007 defense budget.

Part Six of Seven Next . . .

Tags: Democrats, Republicans, Politics, War, Emerging Church, Lebanon, Israel, Jesus, Brian McLaren