Sunday, May 14, 2006

WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It)

The title of this post is taken from the text of a huge billboard that was erected in Times Square in December, 1969. Underneath these words it simply said "Happy Christmas from John and Yoko."

War is a divisive issue, and there is tension concerning it not only in the minds of believers, but in the Bible itself. God told his Old Testament people to utterly destroy their enemies, down to the last man, woman, and child, but Jesus says to turn the other cheek. Peter says we are to submit to every human institution, including the government, but the government itself allows non-participation in war for "conscientious objectors."

What are we, as citizens of both the civil and spiritual kingdoms, to think about an issue like war? If you were drafted, would you go? Would it depend on the merits of the individual war, or would your answer be one of principle regardless of the popularity or perceived legitimacy of the war you were asked to fight?