Is there a big difference between the Christian & the Muslim when it comes to defending their way of life? Most Christians would, of course, say yes, but when Christians declare war on Muslims because they believe differently, isn't it kinda the same as Muslims declaring war on Christians because THEY believe differently?! Many would object to this reasoning, saying that they aren't declaring war on Islam but on terrorists, many of who just happen to be Islamic, or Muslim! 'We are after terrorists', they might say, 'not Muslims'! 'It's not our fault that most terrorists come from Muslim nations'! Well, if that were true, then maybe we'd be more or less justified in killing Muslims, but I believe we can put that idea to rest; if most Muslims were terrorists, don't you think there would be a world-wide problem? Sure, things seem to be escalating all over the world, but for the most part, it's not terrorism but simply reactions to those who try to destroy or otherwise change their way of life!
'But', some object, 'there is evil out there; what you call warmongering is only ridding the world of that which is unnecessarily evil'! There is no question; there is evil out there & it must be dealt with before we can truly go forward, but war is not the answer! 'What, then, is the answer?', is a perfectly just question! 'Can we love them to death?' There are some people out there that it seems the only just & merciful thing to do is to totally eradicate them! The reason that many of these same people need eradication is that they seem to us to have lost all reason. They hate Christians because Christians have become more American than Christian. They hate Americans because Americans began persecuting them for mainly religious reasons, in essence, the whole paradigm of Christian versus Muslim, us versus them!
Islam, from what I've seen, is not a peaceful religion, but on the other hand, the argument could easily be made, neither is Christianity! Religion, by its scriptural definition, is peaceable, but over the millenia, through misinterpretation of the scriptural texts, man has turned religion into something that is far removed from the apostle Paul's admonishment, 'If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.' ( Romans 12:18 ) Now,with the acknowledgement that it is not possible, or so it would seem, to live at peace with those who threaten your bodily existence, there is a time when we must raise our arms & say 'enough is enough; this far you may go, but no further'! Self-defense is scripturally warranted, or so we have been taught, but to go to foreign nations & commit acts of war is not & is totally against the principles of True Christianity!
Yahweh did indeed command the Israelites to root out all the evil from the Land & though this was a command to them under that first ( covenant ), many Christians today take this as license to eradicate whatever they see as evil, though it be in a foreign land! The command to root out all the evil was a specific command to Israel of old & pointed to the fact that only the Messiah could bring Peace & Purity trough the Shedding of Blood! By her failure to follow Yahweh's command, Israel according to the flesh showed that mere men did not possess the fortitude to eradicate evil, mostly because they were themselves evil!
Evil exists, therefore, in the hearts of men & women! We cannot eradicate evil by ridding the world of the Scourge of Islam & neither can we stop the flow by decimating or completely destroying terrorist factions like ISIS. The only way we will ever win the War on Terror is by acknowledging the Prince of Peace!
However, untold damage has been done! Though the empire fail & fall, though we as a nation acknowledge the principles of Freedom in Christ & begin to follow Him in Spirit & Truth, America has laid such a foundation of us versus them & built such a wall of hatred that we will not likely see this Peace in our day! The foundation is being undermined & the wall is crumbling ( on its own ), but that only heralds the end of an empire, not what will replace it! What will replace it depends largely on us, as the Body of Christ, for if we strive, as before, to build a city to our own name, instead of to the Name & Glory of our Heavenly Father, we too will find that we are going in circles & biting our own tail, devouring ourselves!
Charles Haddon Shank
No comments:
Post a Comment