my wife and i decided to go to a fireworks show last night. unfortunately, after walking at least a mile to get to the St Louis Arch to watch the fireworks over the Mississippi River, we found our daughter didnt like fireworks. she started crying immediately when the started. and ironically, she was even crying while she was clapping. weird, huh?!
anyway, to the point of the post…
something my wife said last night was interesting. she asked me, “do you think celebrating the fourth of july is hypocritical for a pacifist?”
it was ironic, because i had been thinking of the same thing all day. can i, a pacifist, celebrate a date that led to violence and bloodshed over terms of disagreement between a few people? pretend for a moment that this has nothing to do with pacifism, but merely with being a follower of Christ. let us think about the reasons behind that famous date in 1776. it was a group of men who believed that the King of England had become tyrannical toward the British Colonies. therefore, because it is the inherent right of men to throw off heavy yokes, they decided to declare independence. the King (or really the Governor of the Colonies) took this as an act of treason and came with military force to put down the insurrection. a group of farmers decided to attack the British military forces at Lexington. thus began the Revolutionary War. we know the results, America was born and became a separate nation from England.
so are these actions (on the part of the “patriots”) to be lauded? for me, as a pacifist, i dont believe so.
i believe that we, as followers of Messiah, are to bring shalom, not war. we are to turn the other cheek. we are to submit ourselves to the governing authorities (of course, not if they command us to disobey God). but should we go to war-even if we are not of the pacifist tradition-over a heavy tax?
didnt Yeshua say, “render unto Caesar what is Caesars”?
so how can we condone actions of rebellion against the God-given ruler of our colonies when it was merely an issue of “taxation without representation.”?! the King had not commanded us to disobey God. he hadnt given us laws that required us to bow down to a golden image. so how can we rationalize the revolutionary decisions? i dont think there is rationale for beginning a war that led to many, many deaths over something like a tax.
hypothetically, what would have happened if we had remained under rule of the king? i am sure we would have turned out a lot like Canada. they gained independence, without bloodshed. they a democratic country. they are very westernized. although more socialized (and pacifist, if i may say so) than us, they are quite similar to our culture. why would this have been so bad?
so even without being a pacifist, should we celebrate a day that reminds us of our rebellion? should we remember a day that we chose not to love our enemies? should we remember a day that we chose not to turn the other cheek? should we remember a day when we decided to kill rather than to be burdened by taxation? should we remember a day that turned us against our brothers?
so i ask you, should we celebrate the fourth of july?
Filed under: Christianity, Politics, Religion | Tagged: 4th of july, pacifism
i suppose it has much to do with your view of Jesus; was he a mere observer (cuz we cant help but observe the celebration) or a radically nonviolent revolutionary? can we celebrate the nonviolent signing of a bold declaration against tyranny while mourning the violent consequences that it eventually gave birth to?
logan
great response. very good point. the Declaration of Independence was a good non-violent action. unfortunately, the following violence can, and should be mourned, i think.
great balance.
peter
Last time I checked, those men gave you freedom to write what you are saying today. Those men gave you the freedom to believe whateve your want to say.
This King, was trying to govern and destroy people who didn’t believe what he believed. These people were standing up for themselves. These people were sent to “the New World” by the King of England because he didn’t want them anymore. Pretty much, to send these people to “the New World” was a death sentence, so needless to say, the King and England, at the time, didn’t like these Christians. Well, God allowed these Christians to survive and florish. Soon more came and the Church of England came and tried to dominate these Christians, but were they to believe them or God? I believe always that as Christians we obey God. Now, obeying the government is apart of that, but if the government ever told me to do something that the Bible said was wrong, I would only obey God.
So, these men, these Patriots, stood up for their beliefs. They refused to be persecuted and took a stand for God.
If you are a pacifist, what do you think of when Jesus overturned tables and threw men out of the church because they were using the house of the Lord as a market place? This show me that as Christians, we should stand up for what is right. Even if it means we must fight to do it.
Canada “gained independence, without bloodshed” because of the American Revolution. Britain realized it couldn’t control colonies so far away effectively and cost efficiently. The colonies weren’t worth the cost.
me me me
surely that had much to do with their independence. how about the slaves in england? there was no violent war like the Civil War. instead it came about because of a man named William Wilberforce who decided to continually seek the freedom of the slaves.
peter
jessica
i believe there are quite a few factual errors in your comment. the King of England was not trying to destroy the Colonies. the King of England did not “send” people to the New World.
as far as standing up for our beliefs. this is great. there is no question we must stand up. as logan commented above, i think the Declaration of Independence was a worthy stance. however, there is no reason this had to be followed up by violence. Jesus didn’t kill the money-lenders.
peter
Well Peter, if you do your research, you will see that I am in fact correct. The Anglican Church persecuted anyone who didn’t believe their teachings. So, these, non-believers of the Anglican Church had to go somewhere. If you check your history, the only people that had ever sailed up to this point to the new world had died shortly after wards or never made it there. One can only speculate what the king was thinking, but my guess is that he though these people were a nuisance and to grant them passage to a place that they either won’t make it, or will die shortly after, so I won’t have to worry about it. But little did this king know that a king greater than he, God, planned to use these people to make a country of religious freedom. Now, my facts may not be dated and copied from books, but if you look at any historical book that has a Christian author, you will see that I have the correct jist of things.
jessica
sorry…that just doesnt make sense. i am not trying to be rude, but the Anglican Church and the King are quite two different things. you said that King was the one who forced them to move, but in fact it was the Anglican Church.
and this isnt entirely accurate either. the Church of England had quite a few back and forths. initially the puritans were unified and finally they gained freedom to worship as they chose in England. at this point, the puritans split into multiple factions. the Anabaptist puritans were the ones who were primarily persecuted from this point on, and it wasnt from the King, it was from the rest of the Christians in England.
so if we bring it back to the point….
King George III had nothing to do with persecution of the settlers in the New World. he had nothing to do with sending anyone across the ocean. and he had not done anything to destroy or harm any of the British citizens in the Colonies. the reason that the “patriots” went to war was because of taxation without representation, hardly a good reason in my mind to begin a time of killing and violence. as i pointed out in the post, we are called to render to caesar what is his, ie taxes (even if they are exorbitant).
if you are interested in reading a great background abou the reasons for the Revolutionary War, please read a history book called Paul Revere’s Ride. it goes into great detail about the entire introduction to the war.
if you would like to read more about the Puritans and the Anabaptists and the Church of England throughout the time since the Reformation, i suggest a history book entitled The Story of Christianity Volume 2, which is written by a seminary professor and very good history.
regards,
peter
How do you square pacifism with YHWH, the Warrior? How do you explain away the violence in the Book of Revelation? Is it all symbolic? Will there be a last battle in any sense of the word?
It seems you are juggling two issues: revolution and deadly force. Are you condemning both of these actions equally, or simply the idea that revolution usually requires deadly force? Revolution, as an end, isn’t a biblical concept, unless the government demands Christians to disobey God [Acts 5 with Peter and John and the preaching of the gospel for example]. A more contemporary example is Bonhoeffer and the German resistance of Hitler and his extermination of the Jews. I believe this was a biblical use of violent force because the end was just, aligned with God’s character of looking our for those who cannot lookout for themselves. Only if one holds from the outset that deadly force is unjust can one condemn Bonhoeffer and the rest. But if deadly force is a neutral means, then it can be used for both just and unjust ends. Clearly God’s purpose in the destruction of the Canaanites was just, since they had sinned against him. God used deadly force as a valid means of judgment in that case.
Furthermore, how do you explain the more general texts in Eccl. 3? Is there is a time for war and a time for peace? Is there a time to kill and a time to heal?
Pacifists have real problems with texts like these, in my opinion.
john,
maybe i shouldnt have mentioned that i am a pacifist because it confused things.
otherwise, great points. certainly things i have had to address in my own journey to pacifism. with that said, my purpose for this post was to focus on how we rationalize the Revolutionary War, yet (even for those who are not pacifists) the war may not have been justified.
was the reasoning for the violent revolution justified?
of course, we think so today, but is it really a good reason to go to war, if one is a follower of Christ?
peter
Well, was taxation the only reason? That seems a little reductionistic to me. The quartering of British soldiers unjustly in the homes of supposed citizens of the British nation would begin to border on a just cause. Furthermore, you make it sound like you know who fired the first shots at Lexington and Concord, when to my knowledge, no one knows that for sure.
I get the impression that the revolution was the result of many factors. If the Colonists did not pull the trigger, then Britain was ready to bring the Colonies into further subjection.
Do you believe there is an inherent right to self-defense, when you or your family is threatened? If so, then can this principle be broadened to a people who felt threatened and organized to put down the threat?
These are just thoughts of mine. You will never hear me justify the French or Russian Revolutions, but the American Revolution seems different to me. Maybe that’s because I’m an American
.
john
great pts again. i think you certainly bring a lot to the table. personally, i see it differently, but maybe that is because i disagree with war as a follower of Christ, entirely
as for the taxation, yes that could be a little reductionist. but that certainly was the rallying point. as for the quartering of “british” soldiers, we have to remember that there wasnt an American vs British ideal at the time. all the Colonists were “British”. sure, there was an us vs them mentality, but that was us (Colonists) vs them (British govt). this certainly is no different than any revolution. there is often a theme of the “have” and the “have nots”, those in power and those oppressed.
as for who shot first at Lex/Con, you are right. however, if you have a bunch of guys who set up in defensive posture with guns aimed at soldiers, isnt that the same thing as actually firing (even if the soldiers fired first)? because you dont bring guns to a fight if you dont plan on using them.
but i feel the crux of the issue has to be focused around Christ rather than justifying actions or not. would Christ have called the Colonists to rebel against an oppressive govt? did Christ? you see, the Roman govt in Judea was certainly just as oppressive as the British rule in the Colonies. but Christ didnt rally an army to fight the Romans. He came into Jerusalem on a donkey, not on a war horse.
as for self-defense, that is another issue for another post. but i would love to discuss that further.
shalom
peter
Hi Peter,
I’m curious…are you able to justify a pacifistic position biblically, or merely philosophically? The Bible doesn’t seem to support any type of pacifistic positions, unless you rip Yeshua out of context, and strip Him of his heavenly general’s rank.
Given that as a believer you are at war with the evil one and his minions, I find this a curious concept.
Oh, and can you (as a pacifist) celebrate the 4th? Well, my goodness, yes of course you can! As an American, you can celebrate how the founding fathers (and mothers!) of this country stood up to the ruling tyrants in desiring “freedom” from unjust rule…the same freedom which gives you the ability the live out your convictions and beliefs.
Unless you’d prefer to live out a life diametrically opposed to the values inherent in the Constitution and Declaration?
ken
thanks for stopping by. first, i posed the question on my blog to generate thoughtful discussion on the motivations and processes by which we gained our freedom, not to criticize or reject americans who gladly celebrate the event.
but on another note, i came to a pacifist perspective while in the army, actually. i am sorry, i am not sure, but i think we actually have met, or you have a relative who is a chaplain as well. have we? anyway, if you are interested on the perspective and where i am coming from, then i recommend tolstoy’s The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You. this shaped my thinking more than anything beside Scripture (which is actually what started my journey). and i also recommend reading (although this had no impact because i had already come to my conclusions about war) mark twain’s The War Prayer, which can be found online, its a short read. that prayer sums up, in my opinion, Yeshua’s command, Love your enemies.
love to talk with you more in the future,
peter
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