Stalin said as he, Roosevelt, and Churchill met at Yalta, "How many divisions does the Pope have?" This was implying that he didnt care what the Pope thought because it was he, Stalin, who had the military power, not the Pope. Teddy Roosevelt said, "Carry a big stick." Clausewitz said, "War is the continuation of politics by other means." War has been with us forever. Maybe it is part of our nature to war. Is it part of the heart of God? When we read the psalms by David, who was one that God said was after his heart, we see that David describes God in very military terms. "Rise oh Warrior," "Destroy my enemy," etc. And we also see that God delighted in those that rose up to wage war on the other countries that God despised.
I remember when i was young, i would always stage "military battles" of all eras. There were the classical age battles, the middle age battles, the early 20th century battles, the modern battles, and future battles acted out. Most boys do this. Why? Maybe war is something thats ingrained in our soul...and thats not a bad thing. Even Jesus said, "the kingdom of god is advanced through Violence." Now i am not taking that out of conctext and saying that we should advance the kingdom through armies and fighting. But why have we tried to kill the warrior inside of people? Why have we tried to say that passive peace is best? Maybe God engineered us to long for war...weird. And i close with one of America's most honorable, ethical, and more godly men, Robert E. Lee, " It is well that war is so terrible - otherwise we would grow too love it." Interesting...we would grow to love it?
2 comments:
Interesting post David. I too wonder if one could love war in such a way that he or she would be obsessed with it. I do not have an answer, I have never even thought whether it be possible. But I do think that with every passion, for war, for peace, etc. extremism could be the result. Yet reacting to the possibility of extremism and running in the other direction would cause other problems. To hate or run from war for the purpose of "peace" can cause us to passively agree with injustice. And as you stated God is a warrior who according to scripture has determined seasons for war as well as for peace. I think that to kill the warrior within would be to deny the passion of God created in each of us. Can it be abused? Of course. But to kill it off would be a graver mistake.
I agree. I think we don't think about God as a warrior a lot of times and see Christianity as a passive religion but if you study the bible you can see that there are moments when God calls us into war and challenges us not to be passive. I don't like violence and I wish people wouldn't loose their loved ones in wars that are going on around the world today so please hear what I am saying. But at the same time I think there is something captivating, dangerous, and fascinating about God who is a Warrior.
Post a Comment