its not terribly surprising that as the world continues to globalize that there will be conflict between the cultures. as samuel huntington recognized years ago, there will be a clash of civilization. BUT this is very saddening to me. there is no surprise when evil people do evil. but when supposedly righteous people do horrible things, this is a grievous thing.
when i say this, i refer to the “evangelicals” in kenya (and various other african nations) that are killing in the name of Christ. has the world gone mad?! sure, some might say that it was always so…but it still saddens me when brothers of mine are committing atrocities and representing Christ all the mean time.
why is it that the “christians” in this world feel so threatened by this clash with the muslim world? do we not believe that the truth will set us free? do we not believe that Christ will conquer after all? are we fearlful that Christ will not be king? or have we not truly trusted in what God promises of the new Jerusalem?
you see, as Hebrews points out, we are sojourners, just passing through. we realize that our citizenship is in another city, a new Jerusalem. so why should we feel threatened by these “savage muslims”???
instead, we shouldn’t focus on the political schematic of the world, but what we are doing to share the truth we have within ourselves with the rest of the world. instead of killing muslims as representatives of the west and Christ himself, we could be willing to accept defeat and live under oppression so that the Good News may prosper.
think if the apostles had taken Jesus’ charge in a militaristic sense. they would have started a revolution and created a “free” state of Israel long before 1948. but they didnt. instead, the apostles were themselves oppressed and killed for the sake of the Gospel. and instead of pushing their worldview through power, they chose the weak things to confound the wise. it was in his humility that Christ conquered, and should we be any different???
Filed under: Christianity, Politics, Religion, War
Pete,
I agree with you. I think it is a bad argument, but folks associate ‘all’ religions (mashing Christianity in with everything else) as essentially power plays and that you can twist the teachings for violence. Seen in the Crusades, Christians are still getting accused of being just like any other ‘religious’ people.
John Kang
Hrmm… I agree, but then again, I don’t. Christians are not the only instigators in the world. Yes, we are held to a higher standard, I do not disagree. But there have been more Christians martyred in the last century than the previous 19 combined (ref. Voice of the Martyrs). I hesitate in hearing anything that would minimize the unbelievable efforts that Christians are already making in loving when their lives are at stake.
john and brad
i agree completely with yall. there is no question that there are many followers of Christ who have been and are being persectued. i dont mean to belittle them. what i mean is to get the attention of those in the church who blindly support the slaughter of other human beings because they are “holy warriors” or what have you. and there are many in the world who see themselves as christian warriors. there are warriors (although both of yall know where i feel convicted on that matter, but there is room for people to disagree on the conclusions) who may be doing something with noble intentions. but then there are some who are using “christianity” as an excuse for power. that is what i was addressing. good discussion.
peter
Before I speak I will say I am 100% against the war in Iraq.
Two verses share a hint of why.
“He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and every ones hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all their brothers.” (Genesis 16:12)
“His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.” (Genesis 25:18)
From a secular standpoint we have conducted the war all wrong. Our government intentionally lied to Americans to justify this war. Iraq did not even have planes in the sky when we attacked with our planes. Iraq was actually a defenseless country. America proved nothing, but ignorance by attacking Iraq. In Iraq we are fighting an unrighteous war.
Following an old testament biblical standpoint on war we could say we are supposed to kill every person including men, women and children. God in the past made it clear to Israel not to leave any descendants behind. We are going to have to deal with the descendants of all the Muslim fathers we killed. America has been very foolish.
Christians who supported this war need to repent for doing so. Jesus was not an advocate of war and neither should a quote unquote Christian president. Is Bush really a Christian or is Bush an arrogant power hungry president with a disgusting hero complex? No matter what we think one thing for sure is now Islam is the fastest growing religion and it is because a war we started has drawn attention to Islam. In this war we have actually drawn some attention away from Christianity and the attention that is left for Christianity is negative attention.
I am going to stop writing now before I get too emotional and ruin my morning.
Just to throw a grenade into the argument,…. (sorry, lol), Calvin did come to believe and defend that there was such a thing as a “just” war… I am not familiar with the argument, but it may not be as black and white as I truly wish it were.
josh
i agree…there are definitely some crazy things that we espouse as christians that are not obeying God’s commandments nor are they prudent, etc. thanks for the comment.
brad
i agree… calvin wasnt the first, augustine was the same way. but both of these men had very high standards. anyway, my main purpose wasnt that of iraq, but of going on a killing rampage in the name of our Lord.
good discussion.
peter
Israel’s wars in the Bible were either self defense (not preemptive strikes) or God ordered or wrong.
I think it is scary that George Bush claimed God told him to attack Iraq. I think this is just as interesting as Pat Robertson’s false prophesy about hurricanes after Katrina striking large U.S. cities to execute God’s judgment.
Our government is guilty of lying to it’s people for financial gain. Follow the money. Check out Dick Cheney’s investment portfolio as some of it has been made public online. He is betting on an American economic collapse. Our government has sold us to aerospace / defense companies, medical insurance and drug companies. What was once a nation under God like Israel has now been sold into slavery working more hours and carrying more debt then any nation. I guess if we carry a burden of debt it keeps the amount of productivity per person high.
American’s are afraid to even think about the possibility that this is true.
Methinks moi’s lill’ ole YouTube film parody sums-up the human race’s CULTural and religious experience(s) 99.99%-wise.
How wonderful to find your blog and especially this post. Though I do believe that there are just wars and ones fought in self- defense but I hate it when people relate Christians with only war mongers and marauders.
Right wingers in American government do not represent Christianity! All Christians and Republicans do not support people like Rumsfeld and Cheney in their every whim or special interest. And thank God for that.
I just wrote this little post to emphasize that Christianity, largely, stands apart from religions of vendetta, revenge, violence etc,
http://emberglow.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/the-role-of-religion-in-the-middle-east-conflicts/
Love and peace,
Ember.
thanks for stopping by…i commented on your post.
pb
http://www.harmlessasdoves.com
Peace!
laura thanks for the link…
peter