i promised my friend Jeff that i’d take a stab at Christian Pacifism.   Actually, i didn’t promise that, i more or less decided to respect the fact that he’s ‘fasting’ from politics.   For either of us to avoid politics is no easy feat.

i guess i’m moved to dive in tonight on the heels of some unsettling news i just heard about Iraq.  

“That didn’t take long!” i’m sure you’re saying, but bear with me…

The President or the Prime Minister or whatever the head honcho is in Iraq made a statement today that he expects the U.S. to make a schedule for complete troop withdrawl from his country before he negotiates a future relationship with America.

i was quite saddened by that news.

i wonder what planet this guy is from.   i’m wondering what he thinks is going to happen the day after we bug-out of his country.   Does he honestly think Iraq has any friends?   i mean besides us?

Forgive me for switching gears momentarily.   i began to think about a few things i think are related.

The first of which is a passage from Genesis 16: 

(11) The angel of the Lord also said to her: 

“You are now with child and you will have a son.   You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.   (12) He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

The other thing i thought about was my thoughts and feelings about the invasion of Iraq in its early stages.   i must confess that i believed it a reasonable idea on the surface to try to export the one thing America has to offer that should be appealing to our common human nature – the desire to live freely.   In matters of thought and expression and personal choice i do believe that humans share a drive to be free to attain such things.

i was skeptical of the prospect that this could be achieved by any means - much less by an initial military invasion - because of my aforemention first thought.   It appears that my fears and apprehensions may be well founded.

Some might argue that the Iraqis are not the sons of Ishmael but the Arabs are.   With all due respect, that’s alot like saying the Swedes and the Fins aren’t related.   If one is to rely upon the Bible as an historical geneological reference, the same Genesis passage establishes the brotherhood of the Jews with the Arab world.   It really isn’t a stretch to take it on face value.   For all intents and purposes, the uniting thread for the sons of Ishmael is Islam.   It’s adherents are the sons and adopted sons of Abraham’s disobedience.

More importantly, God himself lays it on the line regarding the nature of Hagar’s seed.   It is the root of how the Adversary has sought, is seeking, and will continue to try and thwart the plans of God.   Bush’s War is caught in the middle and serves only one valuable purpose from here on:  the United States must either choose sides in the fight between Abraham’s sons, or choose to stay out of it.

i remember quite clearly saying to myself and anyone who’d listen that it’s a dangerous proposition trying to fight a war of mercy.   The ideal of trying to change the culture of the Mid-east by starting in Iraq was noble, but one always risks either sweeping in with a hand too hard or too soft.   We were too soft.

While there is great gain in proving to a people that you can be trusted by fighting by their side, dying for a common cause, living among themand embracing common values, i fear we’ve garnered an unfavorable result of losing the foundational respect of the Iraqis by not being harsher with our ‘professed’ common enemy.   We tried too hard to fight a “Merciful War”; bending over backwards to avoid casualties, playing for the evening news, trying to win the peace before winning the war.   Mercy should be extended in war only to those who surrender.   

To our peril we’ve underestimated or ignored God’s prophetic utterence regarding Ishmael.   A truth revealed about the nature of his offspring and nothing has changed in them for over 4 thousand years.   It is a fool who doesn’t believe God.

The god they serve has taken full advantage of their jingoism.

i’m going to suggest that we will likely leave Iraq someday soon.   Iraq isn’t Japan or Germany or Italy, and we aren’t the United States of the early 20th century.   It’s a different time altogether.   Iraq will hardly be an ally or grateful that we sacrificed so much to offer them so much.   They never did want what we had to give.   Peace may come for a time, but war will follow.   It’s in the blood.

What’s this rant got to do with Christian Pacifism?   Not much, really.   But inside me i’m feeling the swell of passion to understand the difference between dying for something and killing for something.   i’m trying to get my heart around the efficacy of war.   It seems to be the essence of both.