In the past several years, American evangelicals - and I am one of them - have amassed greater political power than at any time in our history. But at what cost to our witness and the integrity of our message? Recently, I took a few days to reread the war sermons delivered by influential evangelical ministers during the lead up to the Iraq war. In that period, from the fall of 2002 through the spring of 2003, many of the most respected voices in American evangelical circles blessed President George W. Bush's war plans, even when doing so required them to recast Christian doctrine. ... Jerry Falwell declared that "God is pro-war" in the title of an essay he wrote in 2004.
i thought Jesus said "love your enemy" and "turn the other cheek". The question what would Jesus do is easy in this instance to answer. He would have offered to wash Saadam's feet, prayed for his immortal soul, have been humble, meek and tried to negiotiate peace. I'm a bit of a lapsed Christian but I know that much. The man I was taught about, who washed feet and cured the lepers and said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, was unlikely to have been a Republican. He was Jesus aka the Prince of Peace not "pro-war". "Blessed are the peace makers"! |