April 29th, 2003 | No Comments »
Incidentally, Golf Road (IL-58) ends at Dundee Road in Elgin, IL. 
April 29th, 2003 | No Comments »
Rose-Colored Ruminations
Okay, folks… This is probably the first non-"what I did with my day" blog I've had in a while. For you hard-core bloggers, this is the one you've been waiting for, so read on.
Last week I attended "worship" at Willowcreek (the quotes are there because it was an experience far enough from my own that I don't really worship–they might, I can't–some might argue that this is their problem, I'll call it my issue for now and we can debate that later). In researching the service time, I found a page on their web site dedicated to prayers for the women and men of our Armed Services (see here). I decided that, since too often today I hear people confusing "war" with "the women and men of the Armed Services", and attacking both, I would thank them for keeping the two separate and recognizing the need to pray for those who serve. (As an aside, I can't help but be somewhat puzzled since this is the same group that can't seem to deal with the concept of homosexuality separately from homosexuals, and condemn both in one breath. Ah well.)
This is the short e-mail that I sent off:
I just wanted to send a thank you to you all for the section on your website dedicated to praying for servicemen and women. I am a Chaplain Candidate in the service, and really appreciate those who remember and pray for those who serve. Too often in our efforts to protest war and promote peace, we confuse those who serve with war itself, and condemn both. While my Christianity tells me that war is wrong, it also tells me that we are all made in God's image, even those in uniform.
Pretty straightforward, right? Apparently not. The message was forwarded to a woman who manages that web page. She was very grateful for my thanks, and offered to add me to the page (I accepted), and also thanked me for serving.
She then wanted to know why I said, "my Christianity tells me that war is wrong." I could sum up her point, but I will just let you read it verbatim instead:
I have a question for you: why does your Christianity tell you that war is wrong? I see the God of the Bible as a warrior (Ex.15:3) and I see Him calling men to war against evil from way back when. In the NT, I see Jesus in awe of the faith of a Roman centurion and there is no judgment in what He says to him. He doesn't tell him to leave everything to follow Him as He did with the rich guy.
Jesus tells us there will be wars and rumors of wars and, again, there is no indicator of a right or wrong in it. Heb. 11:32 through about 37 commends those who have been courageous, often in the context of battle.
Can anyone tell me they think we were not doing God's work upon the earth when we fought so bravely in WWII against the evil of Nazis? What about freeing the Afghans and Iraqis?
Okay… Where to begin? I realize that I was probably wasting electrons, but I replied. At length. I didn't rant or rave. I tried, I hope successfully, to do a little theology. I didn't answer her on every point, but rather just tried to make clear why I stand where I stand on the subject. My response:
I come from a faith background that, as one of it's central statements, says, "I will respect the freedom and dignity of every human being." I also believe very strongly in the command to "Love your neighbor as yourself."
In no instance that I can think of in recent history was it possible to completely honor these two commandments while at the same time waging war. War always brings with it [the] death of both soldiers and civilians. It becomes difficult to respect every human life in an endeavor where so many lives are lost, some quite randomly. And even where civilian casualties are limited, the lives of those civilians is very rarely enhanced by the warfare going on around. When power and water are cut, it is rarely the rulers who suffer–almost always the people of a nation.
War also often comes with a demeaning of the enemy that does not speak to respect. Yes, Saddam Hussein and others like him do great evil, but they are still human beings. They are made in God's image just as much as you or I. I feel that I must respect that, and love them as much as any other, despite the fact that I do not like what they do (and boy is it hard to love them, but no one ever said being Christian was the easy way). When I am asked to view such people as less than human in some way–and if you listen, political speeches around our present war do so–I feel I am being led away from respecting their humanity. What Saddam does/did is evil. I would argue that he himself is not evil, for God does not create evil.
Jesus did predict the coming of wars, no doubt. Through his death and resurrection Christ brought the Kingdom of God to Earth. We still await the completion of that Kingdom, however, when all things in heaven and on Earth will be restored to the perfection of creation (before the Fall). I see war as a sign of the brokenness that still exists here on Earth. In the perfected Kingdom, wars will be no more, just as there will be no pain or suffering. As a baptized Christian, part of my call is to help show forth the Kingdom of God here and now… And if war has no place in that Kingdom, I feel I must point out that war is wrong, a part of our fallen state.
Please do not get me wrong. I very much want to see Saddam brought to justice. I am glad that Hitler's reign was ended. I also recognize that war may be the means to such ends. War isn't going anywhere anytime soon (well, I suppose that, like a thief in the night, Christ may return tomorrow, one never knows). If I did not believe this, I could never function as a chaplain in the Armed Services. It is just my deepest desire to see all wars end, and for all to know Christ's peace. As one who proclaims the Good News of God's Kingdom on Earth and to come, I must model that in word and example. ?
The nutshell is that I believe war to be wrong, not a part of a perfect creation. We are far from perfect, though, so war is here and now. That doesn't make it right or good. But like all things broken in this world, God through Christ can bring good from war–if God can bring good from the death of His Son, why not this, too?
It was Susie's suggestion that I BLOG on this mini-dialog, so here it is. I'd very much appreciate continued conversation on her position, my position, and anything else on the topic. I don't know if the comment system provided is up to it, but we can try. I will also be online tonight (AIM/iChat) and would love to chat with anyone on this.
Footnote: The woman at Willowcreek has no idea I'm publishing her words online this way, so please be sensitive about that. Also be aware that she's probably not used to doing theology the way we are, and may not get too much of it out at Willowcreek. I am not condeming her or her point of view, nor attacking it in a hostile sort of way. I tried to make that clear in part of my response to her (not reprinted here). I may not agree with her view, and I do believe that the logic is faulty (missing, perhaps?), but I also realize that this is the position of a lot of people out there… Many of whom are Episcopalian.
April 27th, 2003 | No Comments »
I am not going to try to catch you up on the last week or two since I last blogged. The most significant thing to happen lately is that my friend Patrick from Erie came out for a visit on Thursday (24 April) and is leaving tomorrow morning. Here's the quick version of what we did:
Patrick arrived late Thursday, perhaps 1815 or so. We pretty much shot straight out in my car to Willowcreek Community Church (