Christians & War

I found it very disturbing in a recent political debate to hear a self-professed Christian advocate:

1. murder in retaliation for an minor offense to one's person and pride such as sand kicked in the face
2. the implication that an offense against the US state is one that will result in going to hell.

You can view the videotape for yourself and form your own judgments. The clip shows the response of Mick Huckabee in the South Carolina debate, when asked about a minor provocation against US warships in the waters near Iran. I would like to examine his remarks more fully as well as those of Ron Paul on the same subject.

Huckabee's first response is that hostile provocations will result in certain death. While I will take issue with that idea shortly, the implication of those doing so will go to hell. I don't believe Huckabee was addressing the theological issue of whether a Muslim is at peace with God. The implication that an attacker of the US will face punishment by God seems much more to be the crux of his statement. This man has stated in the past that he believes God personally favors his candidacy as well as the presidency of the current president. These facts lend further support that an attacker of his, the president's or the US, are in effect attacking God. They would therefore go to hell.

In a sense Huckabee is doing us a favor by laying plain the fact that many if not most America's worship the US state instead of Christ. If they followed Christ, they would be like Him. That they follow the aggressive US state is evident by their own aggressive characteristics, which brings us to the second point - the idea that murder is an acceptable response to minor offenses.

Let's examine what Christ taught us:

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mat 5:3

Now some may argue that state actions are not morally the same as personal ones. I challenge anyone holding this notion to demonstrate it from Scripture. This idea does not come from the Bible, but from this nation's false idol - the government. In this particular case, if you were over in front of your neighbor's house, acting provocatively, and he responded in kind, would you then be justified in attacking and killing your neighbor. Would that action not be murder? Shouldn't we instead accept the offense and consider how we may have provoked it, and then make overtures to peace instead of war? If that is the proper Christian response, then how should it be that we should act like a bully murdering with abandon just as long as we do it with collective consent?

Consider the previous illustration. What if instead of a solo action, you had the support of the other neighbors? What if instead of acting personally, you and your neighbors appoint or hire certain men to do the work of provocation and murder for you? What if instead of a single neighbor, the actions are against another neighborhood next to yours? What if your neighborhood passes laws and elects a leader? What if you continue to escalate the situation in size and scope. At what point is it justified? Is there a certain minimum size for a group of people to be a nation and commit murder and sin without it being sin any longer? This kind of thinking (that a state can perform acts of murder and violence) stems from the worship of the US state as God.

As a last point, I would like to contrast the Christian preacher's response with another man who does not make a point of mentioning Christ for political gain, but his life and speech reflects the teachings of Christ. You can hear his response to the same question near the end of the clip. At this point in time, it appears that most Americans do not support anyone who will not worship the US state. We must pray that God will bring repentance to America and do what we can to urge men to repent and turn to Christ.

In Christ's grace,
Scott