A time for war, even as a Christian?
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in book 5 chapter 5 of The Lord of the Rings:
Master Warden: “…the world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.”
Lady Eowyn: “It needs but one foe to breed a war, not two, Master Warden. And those who have not swords can still die upon them. Would you have the folk of Gondor gather you herbs only, when the Dark Lord gathers armies? And it is not always good to be healed in body. Nor is it always evil to die in battle, even in bitter pain. Were I permitted, in this dark hour I would choose the latter.”
If only society of today had the courage, valiance, and self sacrifical attitude marked by this passage. Though not gone, much quieter would be the calls for peace at any cost. We must understand that to avoid war by all means requires ignoring the plights of the opressed and exterminated peoples of the world. How confused is the indivudal who wrote the cynical bumper sticker, “When Jesus said, ‘love your enemies’, I don’t think he meant Kill them.” Is it not obvious that “loving” an enemy by avoiding war with him could very well be hating those which he destroys?
Of course we hate war, and it is not always just. We should never seek war for our own personal gain. We should never seek to conquer others as an end unto itself. But we must use the resources and strength given us by God to protect those without the means to protect themselves. This is something that President Bush understands. Though I have not backed every move made by him, I believe he understands that peace does not come by turning a blind eye, or burrying your head in the sand. President Bush understands what God has told us Himself in Ecclesiastes 3:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: …a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; …a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
8 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
July 24th, 2006 @ 8:59 pm
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I pray that freedom-loving people will unite against the tyranny currently confronting us across the world. As a 25-year USAF vet and 9/11 Pentagon survivor, I declare with great conviction that Islamic Fascism MUST be defeated. Pray for the “peace of Israel” and the soon return of God’s Son. Pray for the freedom to present the Gospel to all people. Pray for our brave men and women in uniform. Never forget that Freedom is not and never will be Free!
July 25th, 2006 @ 1:20 pm
well said.
August 6th, 2006 @ 2:37 pm
Permit me to add a comment regarding the ongoing Israel/Hezbollah war. In this conflict, we see two starkly different ways to wage war. (1) Israel seeks to protect its own civilians and seeks to limit civilian casualties in Lebanon. Hezbollah fires weapons purposely at civilian centers and hides behind its own civilians as “human shields”. (2) Israel fights to preserve its sovreign existence. Hezbollah fights to highjack Lebanon and to destroy Israel. (3) If Israel unilaterally lays down its arms, genocide of Israel will follow. If Hezbollah lays down its arms (per U.N. resolution 1559), peace in the region will follow. (4) Israel wants the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own heart and to allow others to do the same. Hezbollah would force others to embrace a hideously perverse religion. “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3)
August 14th, 2006 @ 12:44 am
Jim,
You have no contact information on your site! At least a
mailto:would help out somewhere…Timbo
August 14th, 2006 @ 6:26 am
‘Timbo’,
mailto’s attract spam like flies to horse…well, you know. And a contact script takes a few moments to properly set up, and none really integrate well with Wordpress (my blog software of choice for this site). So I have just never gotten to it.
But you apparently found a way to open a line of communication to me, so it all worked out.
Thanks for stopping by and dropping a note,
Jim
November 17th, 2006 @ 11:35 am
“Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.” - Thich Nhat Hanh. You are not solving a problem by killing, only creating a different one. And who will stand by, watching you kill others? Hate does not stop hate, only love stops hate.
April 11th, 2007 @ 3:06 am
Who is caring for the creation which God has given us to care for? No use fighting the evil of your neighbours when your own is leaving no future for our children and our children’s children. I find this love and glorification of war sickening
April 11th, 2007 @ 7:25 am
Viv,
Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave a comment.
However, I think you missed the entire point of the post. First, I do not love or glorify war. Please read the last paragraph–particularly the first sentence–of the post carefully.
Second, the point of my post is that war, though horrible and unwanted, is often unavoidable. If a person or entity in this world wants badly enough to be your enemy and to wage war against you, you will find yourself at war whether you want it or not. And if a person or entity is unjustly doing this against another who is unable to protect themselves, do you turn away? If you walked into a room and found a man beating and raping a loved one tell me, what would you do? Now, think of that on a much grander scale.