CONTROVERSY XIII: What about War?

(This is a new article series that I am "trying out" with my readers. These are intended to be thought-provoking. Please see their Intro Article: Jan. 26, 2008)

When can Christians feel that war is justified? Is the war in Iraq “just”?

This is another very sensitive issue, and many Christians have varying opinions. Some would say that war is only justified when it is in “self-defense;” but is this the only justification for battle?

Then why would the Lord say in His word (through Solomon) “There is a time for war and a time for peace…” (Ecc. 3:8b). Why would the Lord charge His people to completely destroy the peoples in the Promised Land when the Canaanites were not “hurting anyone” yet…in fact, if you think about it, the people of Israel were the ones attacking them! If anything, according to the “self-defense” ideology, the Israelites were wrong and the Palestinians were in the “right.” (Now, I am NOT implying that there was anything wrong with these tactics for war…God knows what He’s doing and I would never question His judgment).

I agree and disagree with the idea of war being just only if it’s out of self-protection. Sometime wars have to be fought because there is injustice going on in the world…and if nothing is done about it, it will eventually affect us sooner or later.

Take WWII-nothing was being done about the persecution of the Jews and the spread of the Nazi regime; and the U.S. didn’t get involved because it had nothing to do with them…yet. Then the Japanese joined forces with Germany, and we were attacked at Pearl Harbor. Then, we got involved out of “self-protection,” but we could have gotten involved a lot sooner, and who knows how the war would have turned out then or how many Jewish and/or European lives could have been saved.

The war which the U.S. is in is a "just war" in the sense that we have liberated people, real people, from lives of torment and injustice. Nobody else was stepping out and defending the defenseless, which is one of God’s roles (Defender of the Defenseless), Who uses people to do His work (He could intervene supernaturally, but He doesn’t always). Moreover, God has blessed us. the U.S. with so much and he expects those with more to use it to help others-to him whom much is given, much is required (ref. Lk. 12:48).

I think that a lot of us really don’ have a fair idea of what exactly is going on in the War on Terror, nor the true reasons for why we are over there…because the majority of our media is spinning it one way or another. Yet, if you talk to the majority of veterans (there are the few exceptions who think otherwise) who have fought over there-you would definitely come away with a more positive perspective on the war.

The truth is we don’t know all the reasons why we went to Iraq, maybe some but not all. The truth is we don’t know what happened to the WMDs, if they were or were not there. The truth is that a Hitler type figure, Saddam Hussein, was removed from power and from his oppressive position. The truth is you can’t leave a job until it is 100% completed or as much completed as possible, ethically speaking-that is integrity. And if we are a nation that stands for honor, righteousness, valor, whatever, then we have to finish what we started...and finish it well.