Saturday, October 22, 2011

Pray For Our Enemies

“But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” -- Matthew 5:44

President Obama has announced that American troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year. This war that began in March 2003 has increasingly become unpopular. How quickly we forget that 70 percent of Americans supported it when the United States first invaded Iraq.

We look back now and, hopefully, learn lessons. Should we have gone to war against Iraq? Was the threat legitimate? Was Iraq involved in 9/11? Answers are easier to come with hindsight. Questions still stir emotions that are unpleasant and divisive. But how can we learn without seeking the answers?

I don’t believe Jesus condemned war. He told His disciples to take swords with them as they went into the world. He never told a soldier to leave the military. In fact, the Bible tells us that wars will continue until Jesus returns. War, sometimes, is necessary and even justified.

At times, we must act decisively to stop those who harm their neighbors. The United States is a strong nation. We have a moral responsibility to defend those who can’t defend themselves. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to do as we please, where we please. It doesn’t mean we have the right to interfere in every squabble and every battle.

War should be something we enter as a last resort. It should be what happens when diplomacy fails and our people face an immediate threat. Did Iraq have anything to do with 9/11? The evidence says no. In fact, Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden wouldn’t have gotten along. One was a strict fundamentalist Muslim. The other headed a secular regime.

Facts. Did we really take time to look at all the facts? We want someone to pay for the thousands who died. At that time, we couldn’t find Bin Laden. Did that make attacking Iraq okay?

The questions that were raised were immediately condemned. Some called it unpatriotic to question the president. Others said questions insulted those in uniform who were willing to give their lives to defend our great nation. Still others worried that the questions would leave to Vietnam-era protests. No one really wanted to go back there.

But as Christians we are obligated to question the political process around us. We are to ask questions. We are to make sure that Jesus is present in every discussion. We are to look at issues through His eyes and not the eyes of popular opinion. It’s not about supporting our troops or being patriotic. Most of us do that. It’s about making moral decisions in an immoral world.

Was the Iraqi war justified? I don’t know. Probably not. But we can’t undo the past. We can only go forward with knowledge and lessons learned about politics and popular opinion, about justification and proof. We can learn to measure our words and our actions. Sometimes war is necessary but only as a last resort.