Jesus and War
Susanna Cornett has no use for those who use the name of Jesus to promote an anti-war position in regards to Iraq. Many of those who do this also imply that you're a bad Christian if you disagree with them on this issue. However, Susanna is not saying that Jesus is pro-war, either:
I just get physically sick about these people, most especially those like the pope and Talbert. They do more to torture and damage the word of God than any atheist could hope to do. I will tell you this: They do not have support for their opposition from anything Jesus says, or the apostles, or the Old Testament. And you know what? I don't have support for my position either, in the sense of an explicit guidance about the rightness of any war. It is an extrapolation. They can extrapolate all they want, but to claim that their reading is supported by Scripture, implicitly or explicitly, is just wrong and, in my view, using God to further earthly goals that have nothing to do with God's plan for earth. [...]Those of us who are Christians have a responsibility to search God's word and live our lives in harmony with it. There are many shades of gray that leave us room to make our own decisions, with nothing explicit to guide us more in one way or the other. I will say this again, and bluntly: Religious leaders who use the Bible to condemn or support the war in Iraq are overstepping the bounds of the Bible's teaching, and run the risk of using God to support their earthly ambitions. And that is a great sin.
The main point of Susanna's post is that Jesus is neither a pacifist nor a warmonger, just as He is neither liberal nor conservative. Please take the time to read her whole post...lots of thought-provoking stuff there.
Our problem is we have gotten to removed from our roots and like the societies of the future described in many science fictions novels we don't know what we are anymore. In this case of war we are carrying out human weakness but nonetheless necessary. That is, what do you do when someone is about to shoot you in the head? You defend yourself. One trouble with sadam has been his position towards us. Even if there are oil interests if he had been more politically astute he would not be where he is. As a representative of his country he has claimed to be the leader but has fallen into the category of ruthless dictator. In that respect the u.s. is right to feel as it does with the events that have been threatening us. The u.n. unfortunately is turning out to be victim of partisan politics and that in essence makes it ineffective as a governing body but i guess its nice to give the diplomacy a try. I just hope the u.s. gets it over with with minimal loss of life to the innocent.