Whose Side is God On?
God has been thrown into the war in Iraq this week. American forces intensified the search for Muqtada al-Sadr, who they believe is behind many of the recent guerilla uprisings. In response, he released a statement saying, “We don’t fear death, and martyrdom gives us dignity from God…. [Americans] have the money, weapons and huge numbers, but these things are not going to weaken our will because God is with us.” Such a statement has to make us wonder: Does God choose sides in times of war?
It sure seems like it if you read the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible is packed with stories of an angry God allowing thousands to be killed for the advancement of “His people.” A quick look at verses like Psalm 137:9, Malachi 2:3 and Leviticus 20:9 show just how violent the ancient Israelites could be when they talked about God. Likewise a reading of the books of Joshua, Judges, and 1 Samuel show that God fought valiantly for the Israelites as thousands of men, women, children and livestock were slaughtered.
It also seems as though God chooses a side during this Iraq invasion, now over a year old. In speeches, President Bush details the next plan of attack, giving us information on where the bombs will hit, whom they aim to kill, and the destruction that could result. He concludes with “God bless America.” For some Iraqis like al-Sadr, this means that God blesses those who cause thousands of their fellow citizens to be without homes, electricity, protection and loved ones.
Therefore, the Iraq situation is clearly at a breaking point, not because combat has intensified on a multi-national level to a height unparalleled since the war began, but because it seems as though God must choose a side: the rich Christian Americans or the victimized Islamic Iraqis.
Much of this seems eerily familiar. At the turn of the first millennium, in the same geographical region, the Crusades took place, which pitted Muslim and Christian forces against one another. Each side thought it had a monopoly on God and was doing the right thing. And today, as two very different leaders with outspoken faith try to depose one another, God is caught up in the middle. It’s the Crusades with cruise missiles.
Can there be a solution to all of this? One spiritualized interpretation of this Easter weekend is that the resurrection symbolizes God’s power to defeat death, thereby producing an insurmountable hope. And at the core of every war is the battle of hope versus despair. Both Bush and al-Sadr are trying to offer hope to their people while waging war on the other’s people. But we must go beyond this and use hope to wage war on despair. In my mind, this is the side God is on. The voices of Bush and al-Sadr are voices of the minority, just as a few Old Testament passages often cloud out the wonderful love of God for humanity expressed so many times elsewhere in the Bible. The side God really chooses does not use bullets or battlefield strategy.
God’s side fights hunger, not people. The war on drugs is a real war in which Christians need to pray for victory so that children do not fall victim. Praying for a lasting peace worldwide is lofty and necessary. Lobbying representatives for universal health care would be a cause worth dying for. Seeing to it that no one sleeps on a sidewalk is a battle for only the mightiest of Christian soldiers. These are the wars God is caught up in, not the wars of tanks and grenades. The real wars that need fighting are not exclusive to any country or religion.
We would do well to listen to the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who at the time of Hitler’s invasion replied the following when someone asked him what he would do when war came: “I shall pray to Christ to give me the power not to take up arms.” Bonhoeffer spoke these words not because he believed God did not want the Jews to be liberated from Nazi camps, but because he knew God was in the Nazi camps. Dietrich chose to fight the war, not on the beaches of Normandy, but from the cold cells of a concentration camp. He touched the lives of others, offering his ammunition of hope in order to eradicate the enemy of despair. Christians must do the same today. We must move beyond the idea of God choosing a side during bloodshed to see that God is seeking to eliminate that which seeks to eliminate humanity: violence, racism, hunger, disease, loneliness, indifference, and fear. Then we must enlist and fight to these ends. That would be a good Friday.
It sure seems like it if you read the Old Testament. The Hebrew Bible is packed with stories of an angry God allowing thousands to be killed for the advancement of “His people.” A quick look at verses like Psalm 137:9, Malachi 2:3 and Leviticus 20:9 show just how violent the ancient Israelites could be when they talked about God. Likewise a reading of the books of Joshua, Judges, and 1 Samuel show that God fought valiantly for the Israelites as thousands of men, women, children and livestock were slaughtered.
It also seems as though God chooses a side during this Iraq invasion, now over a year old. In speeches, President Bush details the next plan of attack, giving us information on where the bombs will hit, whom they aim to kill, and the destruction that could result. He concludes with “God bless America.” For some Iraqis like al-Sadr, this means that God blesses those who cause thousands of their fellow citizens to be without homes, electricity, protection and loved ones.
Therefore, the Iraq situation is clearly at a breaking point, not because combat has intensified on a multi-national level to a height unparalleled since the war began, but because it seems as though God must choose a side: the rich Christian Americans or the victimized Islamic Iraqis.
Much of this seems eerily familiar. At the turn of the first millennium, in the same geographical region, the Crusades took place, which pitted Muslim and Christian forces against one another. Each side thought it had a monopoly on God and was doing the right thing. And today, as two very different leaders with outspoken faith try to depose one another, God is caught up in the middle. It’s the Crusades with cruise missiles.
Can there be a solution to all of this? One spiritualized interpretation of this Easter weekend is that the resurrection symbolizes God’s power to defeat death, thereby producing an insurmountable hope. And at the core of every war is the battle of hope versus despair. Both Bush and al-Sadr are trying to offer hope to their people while waging war on the other’s people. But we must go beyond this and use hope to wage war on despair. In my mind, this is the side God is on. The voices of Bush and al-Sadr are voices of the minority, just as a few Old Testament passages often cloud out the wonderful love of God for humanity expressed so many times elsewhere in the Bible. The side God really chooses does not use bullets or battlefield strategy.
God’s side fights hunger, not people. The war on drugs is a real war in which Christians need to pray for victory so that children do not fall victim. Praying for a lasting peace worldwide is lofty and necessary. Lobbying representatives for universal health care would be a cause worth dying for. Seeing to it that no one sleeps on a sidewalk is a battle for only the mightiest of Christian soldiers. These are the wars God is caught up in, not the wars of tanks and grenades. The real wars that need fighting are not exclusive to any country or religion.
We would do well to listen to the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who at the time of Hitler’s invasion replied the following when someone asked him what he would do when war came: “I shall pray to Christ to give me the power not to take up arms.” Bonhoeffer spoke these words not because he believed God did not want the Jews to be liberated from Nazi camps, but because he knew God was in the Nazi camps. Dietrich chose to fight the war, not on the beaches of Normandy, but from the cold cells of a concentration camp. He touched the lives of others, offering his ammunition of hope in order to eradicate the enemy of despair. Christians must do the same today. We must move beyond the idea of God choosing a side during bloodshed to see that God is seeking to eliminate that which seeks to eliminate humanity: violence, racism, hunger, disease, loneliness, indifference, and fear. Then we must enlist and fight to these ends. That would be a good Friday.
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