A friend asked me a very out of the blue question a few weeks ago. “What would you do if the draft was reinstated and you were called in?”
After a shake of my head to help process the random question, the first thought that came to mind was a line from the movie Gladiator with Russell Crow. “Sometimes you do what you want. The rest of the time you do what you have to.” And this was my response.
He said that it sounded like something I’d say. Laugh, whatever that means. I asked him why the question and if he was starting to believe this pacifist, antiwar theology from our school.
He explained that it has just been on his mind. He said that he just couldn’t kill another human being and said that killing is basically what you’re committing to do if you join the armed forces unless you get a position away from the action.
The founders of the Military Counseling Network came to our school prior to the big Mennonite Central Committee Sale. You can take a look at their website if you’d like. http://www.mc-network.de/ They are based in Germany and serve the US military by educating them on how to get out of their commitment to protect our country.
On one hand I get it. I can’t even imagine what they and their families go through knowing that they are in the line of fire and how agonizing that must be. Persoanlly I wouldn’t voluntarily put myself in that position. However, if it was required of me then I’d go and pay my dues. On the other hand I don’t get it. You signed a contract to do one thing and now you want to break that contract? Isn’t this MCN just a front for organized mutiny?
Is the Bible against war? What stance should Christians take concerning this war or any war for that matter? Please share your thoughts.
4 comments:
If you'd like a good place to start... read John Howard Yoder's "What Would You Do?" It is a short booklet (probably available in our library), and looks at the issue of violence in a very interesting way.
A question for you: Instead of starting with a topic or a position (anti-war or pro-war or anything in between), what about starting with the biblical text? What do we do when we encounter Jesus in the gospels telling us to love our enemy? Remember that movie, the Radicals? Anabaptists believe what they believe because they decided to take Jesus' teaching seriously. I'm not asking you to figure this all out... I'm asking these questions just to start/continue the conversation.
If you'd like a good place to start... read John Howard Yoder's "What Would You Do?" It is a short booklet (probably available in our library), and looks at the issue of violence in a very interesting way.
A question for you: Instead of starting with a topic or a position (anti-war or pro-war or anything in between), what about starting with the biblical text? What do we do when we encounter Jesus in the gospels telling us to love our enemy? Remember that movie, the Radicals? Anabaptists believe what they believe because they decided to take Jesus' teaching seriously. I'm not asking you to figure this all out... I'm asking these questions just to start/continue the conversation.
If you'd like a good place to start... read John Howard Yoder's "What Would You Do?" It is a short booklet (probably available in our library), and looks at the issue of violence in a very interesting way.
A question for you: Instead of starting with a topic or a position (anti-war or pro-war or anything in between), what about starting with the biblical text? What do we do when we encounter Jesus in the gospels telling us to love our enemy? Remember that movie, the Radicals? Anabaptists believe what they believe because they decided to take Jesus' teaching seriously. I'm not asking you to figure this all out... I'm asking these questions just to start/continue the conversation.
If you'd like a good place to start... read John Howard Yoder's "What Would You Do?" It is a short booklet (probably available in our library), and looks at the issue of violence in a very interesting way.
A question for you: Instead of starting with a topic or a position (anti-war or pro-war or anything in between), what about starting with the biblical text? What do we do when we encounter Jesus in the gospels telling us to love our enemy? Remember that movie, the Radicals? Anabaptists believe what they believe because they decided to take Jesus' teaching seriously. I'm not asking you to figure this all out... I'm asking these questions just to start/continue the conversation.
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