By: Daniel Mantil
There are obviously a lot of Christian imperatives, some of which have been misinterpreted or mistranslated for centuries, some of which could just be taken as allegorical, and then others that are as clear as day. But one of them seems absolutely crystal clear, and ever since I was a child I’ve never been able to understand it: How could Jesus say “love thy enemy” and Christians still endorse war?
Obviously everyone engages in war. I’m not pointing out Christianity as being the one and only instigator of war, hypocrisy, or anything. But simply, me as an author, I grew up in a Christian community in the infamous Southern Bible Belt. I drove by a Wendy’s in Asheville, North Carolina and saw on their sign “Jesus Saves” right next to “Buy our hot and juicy burger.” And so ever since I’ve been a small child, I’ve had questions. Some of those questions have been brushed off as me trying to instigate something, though I really doubt that was the case. And because of my experience, I’ve been put off by institutionalized Christianity—which is not the same as just being against Christianity. Simply put, I had questions and the church, any church, refused to answer them.
So instead, I submit to you, people of the internet, people of all sorts of faith, can you support the military and troops’ actions and war when a central tenet of your religion is “love thy enemy”? If you want to know where the exact statement is made in the Bible, look at Matthew 5:43-48. War, correct me if I’m wrong, is the exact opposite of love. It seems like much of the Sermon on the Mount was devoted to teaching people to rise above petty trivialities and embrace the ideals of mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance, none of which I have seen to synch up with the idea of war.
If we dissect war, then it consists of two or more sides killing each other. Be it for the purpose of national interests, protection, or to right a wrong (e.g. Hitler, Joseph Kony, Stalin). But if Christianity embraces the ideals of loving their enemies, no matter who they are, then all of those things seem to not matter. Even in Luke 6:29, the imperative of “turning the other cheek” is implemented, which seems to even further bolster the idea that war and Christianity are incompatible.
But then why are so many wars begun or justified or engaged in by Christians? I did do some research into the topic. Read a couple of books, went through a few theological articles, and there seems to be a general consensus within the theological community at large, and that is that there’s a difference between a moral war and an immoral war. A moral war is fought for a just reason, while an immoral war is fought for unjust reasons. Really, that’s the best explanation I’ve been able to conjure up, yet when you really look at it objectively then it sounds like a crock of shit. Moral and immoral wars? Isn’t a war moral and immoral depending on which side you’re coming from? I’m sure Hitler didn’t just wake up one day and go, “Let’s start an unjust, immoral war against everyone.” No, he believed, like a vast majority within Nazi Germany at the time, that they were fighting a just and moral war.
So then, who is the ultimate arbiter on the morality of any given war? Humanity seems biased entirely, since stakes and motives are behind any war. Then that leaves God, which is another explanation I found in my research of the topic. God ordains war, or at least some wars. Why would he ordain a war yet send Jesus to tell us that we should love our enemies? Sure, there are plenty of instances in which the Old Testament talks of God instructing the Israelites to fight and engage in war. But there does seem to be a difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Again, I could be wrong, but it seems that the Old Testament and the New Testament are wholly different teachings, where the Old Testament tells of a vengeful God that punishes everyone, and then the New Testament is the story of God sending His only begotten son to be sacrificed and forgive humanity of sin. Those are two entirely distinct versions of a God. On the one hand, God seems vengeful and jealous if people go against Him, and then on the other hand, God seems to be forgiving man of his degenerative state. And if he forgives everyone, then how can we declare war on anyone without going against God’s will.
Maybe someone understands it better than me. But from what I’ve been told by Christians was that I was just being an asshole for having questions. It just seems antithetical to believe in the ideals of loving and forgiving your enemies while at the same time going to war with them. While America specifically was set up to not be a Christian nation (Treaty of Tripoli), it still doesn’t seem logical to me to see that a vast majority of people who are pro-war are also real Christians. In fact, perhaps Jesus was the only true Christian.
A Christian Imperative of Anti-War,
Ian
11 Mar 2012”Forgiving man” – by sacrificing his only son. Whotta guy! And yes, the versions of God in the Old Testament and the New Testament are different. Which means that God is changeable. Not the Immutable one that many would like to think.
John
11 Mar 2012This piece completely skipped over one simple fact: All religions are BS!
Karen
11 Mar 2012All religions are not B.S,only the ones who brainwash people and kill in the name of God! Buddhism is not one of these!
Maria
11 Mar 2012Personally I always thought “God” sounded a bit like a spoiled petulant child that changed his mind on a whim or whenever he didn’t get his way, but that’s just my opinion.
Marie
11 Mar 2012Guys, please don’t be insulting. What people believe and what they choose to do are two entirely different things. This group isn’t for bashing any particular kind of people.
Tim
11 Mar 2012So, whadya saying? God is bi-polar?
Betti
11 Mar 2012There is no god so I’m not worried
Lisa
11 Mar 2012More proof that the stories in the bible were interpreted by people who thought God might be vengeful or jealous…how silly to think God capable of such petty human emotion. Maybe we have the first documented case of fear-mongering! I would not worship a God who couldn’t rise above negativity.
fallenangel
13 Mar 2012Additionally, the Bible also mandates that Christians should, as much as they are able to, live peaceably with everyone. So how does that support this war-hungry society??
The problem is, IMO – Christians as a whole have gotten away from what the Bible actually teaches and have instead swayed more toward religion by tradition – that is – what their pastors and teachers were taught and are now teaching themselves, rather than reading the Bible for themselves.
As far as the OT vs. the NT is concerned – there is a distinct dichotomy there. On the one hand, the God of the OT requires blood payment for sin (“without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin”, which is why the requirement for goats/sheep/cows/doves/etc to be sacrificed. In the NT, Jesus as the son of God made that ultimate sacrifice with his own life, thereby releasing humanity from the rule of Levitical law and instituting a policy of grace. As the apostle Paul later writes, “for we are not under the law but under grace.” So that is why the difference. *Just a clarification.*