TJP

Wars what are they good for?

Byron A. Ellis

Wars by nature are illogical and often fought in the name of god. Of course, they are not fought in the name of the true God. Warring countries and non-state actors wantonly kill civilians. It is estimated that in 1945 about 140,000 civilians died in Hiroshima and 75,000 in Nagasaki as a result of the nuclear holocaust. Fifteen mass gravesites have been identified as a result of the 1989 invasion of Panama, but an official account of civilian deaths has never been released. In Iraq over 3,200 American soldiers have died and officially over 24,000 wounded; the unofficial count of wounded, however, is much higher. And, countless numbers of Iraqis have died, wounded and displaced; here too, there is no official count of civilians. In the Lebanon-Israel conflict civilian casualties were between 700 and 1,000; most of the casualties were Lebanese civilians.

Many in the United States see present day conflicts from a religious or even biblical perspective. And, they tend to frame conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, from Judeo-Christians perspective. Some even believe that they are anointed by God to rearrange the Middle East and the world. Moreover, they haughtily refuse to talk to those they profess to be adversaries, failing to recognize that they should make friends quickly with their adversaries (Matt. 5:25). They also fail to understand that the philosophy of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is unchristian (Matt. 5: 38-42).

We have also seen the self-righteous praying for themselves and their own country, failing to grasp what Christ tells us in Matt. 5:44-45 to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us in order that we may be the sons of our Father who is in heaven.

Christ expects his followers to fulfill the great commission. He commands us (Matt. 28:18-20), to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that He commanded to us. However, it is impossible to make disciples of all nations by the barrel of the gun, rather we do so by adhering to second greatest commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matt. 22:39).

So, beware of those that advocate hating our neighbors. And, often they do so with Bible in hand and constantly talking about praying.

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