Nations Shall Learn War No More



Those of the Conservative persuasion, seem far too comfortable with the premise of war. What has been called "American Exceptionalism"--the belief that the U.S. is the new chosen nation as Israel of old--is deeply ingrained in the American psyche. We believe that the sword we bear is of the Lord.  


Yet, we deceive ourselves if we think that we have no sin. In the balance sheet of good vs. evil, the U.S. has historically enshrined the rights of the individual vs. the collective power of authority, be that church and/or state. That has been an positive step forward because the group is not always right. Neither is it always wrong. Too much individualism leads to everyone doing what is right in their own eyes. Tradition and Truth battle it out, for tradition can be untrue, but truth--to be true--has to be grounded in more than just subjective opinion. Your truth vs. my truth devolves into preference and then ultimately to power. It is one thing to admit that we all see through a glass darkly; that no one person has the whole truth. Yet, it is quite another issue, and quite dangerous, to speculate that transcendent truth does not exist.


Let us take war as a case study. It is a given by most the war is hell. It is a necessary evil at best. To confront evil may require the use of violence. But it should be the last resort when all other efforts to keep the peace have failed. Any endeavor that mandates the massive death of the young and the sacrifice of precious resources, should not be embraced too readily. Robert E. Lee purportedly said, "It is well that war is so terrible – otherwise we would grow too fond of it." 


In my reading of Isaiah, I was reminded of this verse:


And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4).


If a right-winger didn't know his Bible--and many don't--this sounds like a U.N. inspired one-worldism promulgated by secular humanist, socialists, and communists. The graphic image above, "God of War," is a video game. It is hardly healthy that youth across the world are being effectively trained in mayhem without the commensurate message that war is evil and that the joystick in real life is drenched in blood and dismembered body parts. 


Liberals have a lot of blind-spots regarding sexual  immorality, adopting a far too permissive posture about the boundaries of healthy sexual behavior. Conservatives however embrace war all to readily as the response to disputes. In response to both sexually promiscuous behavior in the bed room or in the violence of the battlefield, tears should well up in our eyes from the wanton and careless destruction of bodies and souls. Casualties abound everywhere.  


On this Memorial Day wekend, let us remember the noble sacrifices of the young for the sins of the old. Let  us reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus for us all. The young man and eternal God dying for the old world.  


(Note:I will not be back in the blogging chair until later next week. I am going off the grid and heading to the mountains for a spell).                 

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