Spirituality

What Would Jesus Bomb?

Recently on All Things Considered Joe Loconte of The Heritage Foundation did a commmentary (Listen on Real Audio) that was critical of those who say that Jesus would not support an attack on Iraq. He stated, "Taken as a whole, the teachings of Jesus make it clear that evil can possess individuals and entire regimes. Once that happens, the time for dialogue is over. The Bible insists that such evil must be resisted, sometimes with force."

It is interesting that given all the possible interpretations of biblical meanings that he would look only for something that he interprets as supportive of violence. Why? It is notable that the NPR commentator never quoted Gospel. Again why? It is quite simple. Because there is nothing he could quote that supports this war. The closest he could come to using the example of the life of Jesus was rebuking people and "driving religious charlatans out of a temple with a whip". To equate this with Jesus supporting war would fail logic 101. Loconte also spoke of Jesus being called the "lion of Judah" and said, "Jesus who told us to love our neighbor also promised to crush Satan under his feet". The first reference is from Revelation and Jesus did not say the second. The reference came from Paul's letter to the Romans. Neither of the two references have anything to do with the life or words of Jesus.

Here they are:

"Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.'" (Revelation 5 5:)

and

"For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I would have you wise as to what is good and guileless as to what is evil; then the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." (Romans 16:19-20 RSV)

How do these passages support war?

From this perspective, those who professes to follow Christian doctrine would say that the actual life and words of Jesus are the parts of the Bible are the most important. The Gospel is of supreme importance; so, how does the it justify attacking Iraq, especially when taking into consideration the words and actions of Jesus in the following Gospel quotations?

"But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also;" (Matt. 5:39)

"So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12 RSV)

"And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them." (Luke 6:31 RSV)

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, `Let me remove the speck that is in your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye! Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

"He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." (John 8:7)

"Master , what are we to consider the Law's greatest commandment?" Jesus answered him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'"

"This is the first and great commandment. And there is a second like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' The whole of the Law and the Prophets depends on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40)

"What are we to consider the greatest commandment of all?" "The first and most important one is this," Jesus replied - 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." (Mark 12:28b-33)

"Then one of the experts in the Law (a scribe) stood up to test him and said, "Master, what must I do to be sure of eternal life?" "What does the Law say and what has your reading taught you?" said Jesus. "The Law says, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind' and 'your neighbor as yourself'," he replied. "Quite right," said Jesus. "Do that and you will live." (Luke 10:25-28)

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5: 44 RSV)

"Blessed are the poor on spirits, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are they the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.  Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5: 3-12)

Moving from Gospel to another important part of the Bible, it says, "Thou shall not kill." How does that part of the Bible justify war? How do the lives of Jesus, Moses, or Abraham justify such a war?

On the other hand, we have a "leader" who, in this particular situation has clearly violated the 9th Commandment ("Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.") numerous times in regard to Saddam Hussein. For example, the two occasions of Bush falsely mentioning the IAEA report that never existed. Virtually no being on the planet supports Hussein or his actions. But, most of the planet does not support going to war simply to follow a vengeful man who wants to violate the Constitution of the United States of America. Nor do they support war because he and his friends covet other's oil and money, thus violating the 10th Commandment. Bush has never demonstrated resistance to violating the 5th Commandment either.

There are definite peaceful alternatives to war in most instances. I will be writing extensively about them. Unfortunately, our society is poorly educated as to the history and possibility of of nonviolence and the strength and effect of such a direction. History is full of examples of peaceful methods working, but unfortunately history books tend to focus on war. In this case, I do not advocate embracing any despotic dictator, but I wish for my country to get its own house in order and stop the hypocrisy before doing anything. The United States supports all kinds of evil in the world every day. Since Bush was appointed, our relations with most democratic nations have greatly deteriorated, but realtions with dictatorships, as in Central Asia, have improved in many instances. Let's get rational and consistent, and take a good look at ourselves before "casting the first stone". I wish to live in a country that follows the ideals of its beliefs, rather than the present state in which a few moneyed people will do anything in order to be in power.

Our constitution says, "We the People" not "Us, a few guys". I invite all to help us move toward a cooperative, honest and peaceful world rather than continue to promote hostility, war, and hypocrisy. Mr. Bush, despite what he proclaims is not a Christian and does Christianity a disservice. And, Mr Loconte, remember when Jesus was arrested and a disciple pulled a sword to protect him, Jesus said, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword." (Matthew 26:52 RSV) Please stop distorting the Bible to support your preconceptions. Let's use it to see the truth.