Tread lightly on the things of earth

A friend recently noted the U.S. MOAB bomb test — “the biggest conventional bomb in the military’s arsenal … privately known in military circles as ‘the mother of all bombs’” — and concludes its use in Iraq demonstrates U.S. moral superiority over “the terrorists.”

Setting aside for a moment Iraq’s unproven involvement with “the terrorists,” which, unless we’ve abandoned the principle of “innocent until proven guilty,” translates to Iraq’s noninvolvement with “the terrorists,” how can unleashing large-scale destruction there in any way demonstrate our moral superiority?

Never underestimate the power of supernatural evil to deceive.

In attempting a response, I came close to what grieves me so deeply about the kind of witness statements like my friend’s communicate. I wrote:

I don’t mind that you support war in Iraq, although I feel sad that you do.

I don’t mind that you confess you’re a Christian, especially one who’s done [sacrificing outreach] things I admire.

But you can’t do both. You have to choose.

If you try to do both, your integrity is breached, because, God knows, the two are mutually exclusive. If you try to do both, you become a stumbling block to Christians and non-Christians alike.

Then I think I hit the bullseye of what grieves me.

Where we are now is embroiled in an obsession, deceived by calculated use of God language, and we’ve turned a blind eye. Awake! If we don’t work diligently to obey Jesus, if we rationalize our way out of his command to love God and love neighbor, if we accede to the myth of redemptive violence instead of redemptive grace, we are not worthy of his name.

Defending the faith while promoting aggressive war is playing “soul jeopardy” in the gravest way, for who can say how many turn away from the Lord in grief or revulsion as a result? Repentance, as John the Baptist was fond of shouting, is still the surest way out of that jeopardy.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see” (Mark 10:51).

Note to self:
Never underestimate God’s supernatural power to redeem.

2003-03-16 update: I was asked to clarify what I meant in saying supporting war and confessing Christianity are “mutually exclusive” above. Here’s my attempted clarification:

The mutual exclusivity (adjusting my original wording a bit) is between supporting war and obeying Jesus. There is no overlap between the two. Arguing against this implies either (1) ignorance of the gospels or (2) lying to oneself.

Now it’s equally true that for many of us it is difficult unto death to obey Jesus fully. If we’re unable to obey — in this case, if we choose to disobey him by supporting war — we have to at least have the integrity to say “I know your words, Lord, and I know I am disobeying you; forgive me, for I cannot see how to reconcile your command to love my enemies with the world situation before me.”

If, however, we lack the integrity to recognize our disobedience and instead attempt to march to war “in Jesus’ name” — in direct defiance of his words to us, and in effect attributing our disobedience to him — then he will say to us:

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38, today’s lectionary reading, interestingly enough).

Lord knows I don’t have all the answers. This exchange is just what’s been — and is being — deeply impressed upon my soul as true. I cannot be silent.

(See also Peter Storey, For Christians, every war is a civil war.)