When War Fails - Johann Christoph Arnold

Even the strongest supporters of America's "war on terror" agree that it is not going well. They admit that the Pentagon's attempts to stabilize the Middle East have been far from successful, and that our national security and intelligence systems are not what they should be. At the same time, they seem to see no option other than pressing forward down the same militaristic path that has placed a hundred thousand young men and women in harm's way and brought us into the current crisis.

Strangely, though our nation is supposedly predominantly Christian, we have forgotten the Gospel's simple advice on the best way to combat terror: by living for love, which "casts out fear."
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© 2004 Bruderhof Communities

Did I mention that I'm beginning to really dislike political rhetoric? :) For all the talk about the war, its justification, its termination and end-game plans - will we ever really make a difference against terror and terrorism if we can't combat the evil and fear at the heart of the movement? We use fear as a motivating factor here, whether it's talking about the need to continue the war in Iraq, or advertising about the need to have whiter teeth to save you from the fear of embarrassment. Our culture is built on fear, probably more than we'd care to admit.

I don't know what "love" would look like on a national/international basis, so I don't know that the discussion is valid. However, having a mentality that war is the best and only real option available, I think, goes against what we would want to live out in our personal lives as Americans, and in the spiritual lives of those of us called to be children of the Kingdom. I don't know if the current War in Iraq has been justified or not - but I can gather that the current state of not doing as much as we could and not seeming to have an exit strategy isn't in the best interests of either country.
- posted by Rick @ 09:53