The Burden of Duty

Who would Jesus bomb?

Isn't that a novel question? A veiled insult and self-righteous laurel wrapped up in a neat, condescending package. That sticker can be found on many a bumper these days, usually alongside a faded something about impeaching Bush or a belligerent rant on the environment. Oddly enough, those 'green' stickers are usually on old Volvo station wagons that rattle and belch oil clouds. But I digress. So what are we supposed to think of the statement: who would Jesus bomb? Outright, I think we're supposed to question the Christian validity of war. After that, we're supposed to question our own Christian validity. Because if we have ever had a human thought about taking care of what we love, we've failed. Our desires to be free and help others be free as well have upset Jesus.

I'm no stranger to religion. I was raised Baptist, attended both Methodist and Christian worship services, converted to Roman Catholic in college, and now work for a different protestant organization. I guess you could say I was washed in the blood... wrung out, washed again and again, and tumble dried. But when I see that sticker, the striking hubris of it, I don't think of religion at all. Not, at least, in the sense of real peace and love. No, the sticker takes my mind immediately to the military and the oftentimes thankless work they do. So many men and women have served, some given the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I could be here today. I think about the injustices and evil that have been deterred by the actions of the military. And though Jesus never actually said 'thou shalt not war' the bumper sticker makes the accusation that if you advocate for military actions or personally violent actions of any kind, you're going against the mandate of God. There is no gray area, no exceptions. Either you're Christ-like or you're not.

My father was in the army. He served in the European theater in WWII. He didn't talk a lot about the war, at least not by the time I was born, but he didn't have to. That experience was etched in every line on his face. I could see the horror in his eyes. And though my mother openly displayed the most vehement faith I've ever known of any human, my father possessed a quiet faith that spoke of the grim responsibility of humans. Just as it can be said to be truly satisfied, you must first go hungry; to know Heaven, you must first know Hell. There can be no more earthly hell than war. But, to deride another famous bumper sticker 'War is not the answer.' I say rather, war is the question. Why do we war? We war so there may be peace. We fight the hard battles so the oppressed can be free. We stare evil in the face, a gun in our trembling hands, knowing that by the Bible's standards we should not kill. But if we don't take some of the burden on our shoulders, evil will go on unchallenged. We are given a lot of responsibility and to whom much is given can be expected the most sacrifice.

A childhood friend of mine once asked my father, "Did you kill anyone?" Everything in the house went silent. My heart stopped as I searched my father's face. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and answered, "Yes." He never said how many people he killed, but that didn't matter. This man, who kept his faith mostly to himself, had extinguished the life of another human being. I knew that, I wrestled with it, but I also knew in my heart that God forgives. When my father took the action to end the life of that German soldier, God was there. When the gas in the chambers at the concentration camps was turned on, God was there. When those camps were liberated, the emaciated prisoners set free, God was there. We cannot expect God to guide our hands and choices. All we can hope is that God is there with us, we are not alone. And though God can't 'bomb' our tormentors and set us free, there are corporeal beings who can.

There are many unsavory things in this world. War is only one. And if we are truly Christians, we know humans cannot be expected to be perfect. War is the question that asks not how we can be perfect but how we can be less imperfect. Humans are not divine like Jesus and to expect us all to forgo the means to peace in efforts to achieve divinity is bordering on heresy. God gave us all free will and a set of guidelines to best utilize that free will. But nothing is without caveats; if we ignore the calls to police our gift, we are derelict of duty.

Jesus wouldn't bomb anyone; the hypothetical is simply ridiculous. But we are not Jesus, we cannot be Jesus. We are but humans guided by God to be stewards of not just the environment, but of the people who live in it. So instead of asking who Jesus would bomb, ask who Jesus would set free. Who would Jesus feed? Who would Jesus heal? And perhaps the most important, who would Jesus stop? In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword." Some believe this to mean that no one should ever be an aggressor, but I don't believe that. If someone who lives by the sword is meant to die by the sword, someone else must wield the weapon. No one assumes the weapon is carried lightly, but it must be carried nonetheless.