With President Bush on the verge of launching a preemptive military strike against Iraq, most Christians seem willing, even anxious, to join him in shedding blood. Have today's Christians become bloodthirsty?
Certainly, there is "a time to kill." Few Christians are pacifists. However, Christians have always believed that the only moral justification for killing was in defense of life and liberty.
For the United States to attack countries that have not attacked us is neither right nor moral. Neither is it lawful for our President to send American troops to war without a Declaration of War from Congress.
As an individual, I have no right to kill someone who lives across town or even across the street because they have acquired weapons capable of hurting me. However, I do have the right to kill the person who invades my home or attacks my family, and except for executing people convicted of murder or treason, how is it different with nations?
If links to al-Qaida is a prerequisite for attacking another country, Saudi Arabia, not Iraq, should be first on our list. By all indications, the Saudi kingdom has been the largest and most consistent supplier and supporter of the al-Qaida network of any nation on earth! Yet, there is no call to attack Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, if you are worried about chemical and biological weapons being used against the United States, look no further than to Communist Cuba. Several intelligence reports say that Castro has the same basic weapons that Hussein has, and he is only ninety miles off the Florida coast! If we want to begin forcibly disarming nations that could hurt us, let's start with Cuba!
Obviously, if Iraq, North Korea, or any other country aims deadly weapons at us and appears prepared and ready to use those weapons, we have the right to fight back (but not without a Declaration of War by Congress). However, despite the best attempts by the White House to convince us otherwise, Iraq poses no direct threat to the United States. The worst they could do is to attempt to send saboteurs to America for the purpose of trying to attack us from within. However, that problem could quickly be solved if Bush would simply close the borders and immediately evict all illegal aliens, especially those from militant Muslim nations, but he won't do that!
Even though Iraq poses no real first-strike threat against the United States, it is likely that Iraq has the capability to strike Israel. Therefore, before we commit U.S. soldiers, we should simply encourage Israel to defend itself. She certainly has the weapons and the ability; she has repeatedly proven that! Yet, Bush has continued to hamstring Israel from such action. Why? Does he not think Israel has the ability or the right to defend itself? Or, does he want to conquer Iraq for his own reasons?
Furthermore, before we leave the subject of pointed guns, please remember that the U.S. currently has thousands of ICBM's pointed at nations all over the world. Remember, too, that both China and Russian have missiles pointed at us and those two countries pose an infinitely greater threat to America than Iraq does.
To say that we are "liberating" Iraq is also a farce! If the U.S. now plans to send invasion forces to foreign countries for the purpose of liberating people oppressed by their own governments, we cannot stop with Iraq! We must also attack Sudan, North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Cuba and many other nations.
In fact, to use "liberation" as a reason to invade other countries requires that we send U.S. troops to Sudan, if to no other country. After all, the Khartoum government has killed more innocent people during the last decade than any government on earth. By conservative estimates, it has murdered more than two million people!
Beyond that, there is a genuine fight for independence and freedom going on in Sudan very similar to our own fight for independence. Also, the patriots fighting for freedom in Sudan are largely Christians. If we can send American troops to liberate Muslims in Iraq, we should be equally willing to send our fighting men to liberate our Christian brothers and sisters in Sudan! Yet, no such action is even contemplated by Christians or by the government of the United States.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not a Saddam Hussein sympathizer; neither do I support the United Nations. In fact, I believe the U.S. should get out of the U.N. completely and should kick the U.N. completely out of our country!
However, as a Christian, I believe that the taking of human life is only justified as a last resort when it is the only way to preserve one's life and liberty. As an American, I believe it is obligatory that we affirm our loyalty to the laws and principles contained in the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.
When we abandon our Christian principles, we abandon the moral foundation of freedom. When we abandon constitutional government, we abandon the laws protecting freedom. Furthermore, such behavior makes us appear bloodthirsty not only to the nations of the world but perhaps also to God.
© Chuck Baldwin
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