War etc.

To be able to live with myself I must express my views on war and why we continue to have wars with all of their terrible consequences. Just why is that we continue to have these disastrous wars every few years? Some psychologists have argued that while human temperament allows wars to occur, they only do so when mentally unbalanced men are in control of a nation. This extreme school of thought argues leaders that seek war such as Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin were mentally abnormal. Perhaps President Bush will be added to that list sometime in the future If you want proof of why I say that just look up how and when the present war was planned (see PNAC documents of 1997). You don't have to take my word for it. That is public knowledge. The Downing Street memos re-enforce the evidence when the war with Iraq was planned and how the 9/11 tragedy was used as an excuse for the war.

The original church of Jesus Christ up through the 4th century refused enlistment in the military and participation in war because they felt that under their new leader the era of the Messianic Kingdom had arrived and the prophesies now materialized, for them to “turn their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and not learn war any more.” Isaiah 2:4. As a result of this, early Christians were persecuted and even executed. However since that time, Christian nations have been involved in war and military aggression all over the world in the manufacture of munitions and weapons, and the increase of soldiers and military personnel. Refusing to adhere to Jesus of Nazareth and His Apostles’ gospel of non-violence and religious objection to conscription and military service, Christianity as a religion has capitulated over the centuries to the demands of the state. How did this change in doctrine come about?

Just take a look at the history of what happened. Under Emperor Constantine the Great during the 2nd quarter of the 4th century a metamorphosis occurred in the corporate Christian Church: the realms of state and church were merged together and the Christian religion became the state church. And then under the subsequent Ecumenical Councils the Christian Church was redefined in terms of Greek philosophy and primarily Plato. This did not make the Roman Empire “Christian,” but made it the materialization of Plato’s dreamed Republic. Since that time and especially with the publication of Augustine's Just War Theory, denominations of the Christian Church have supported every war that their respective state declared. For almost 1,700 years Christianity has provided for the state recruits from among the members of their respective congregations to continue military aggression. The only exception to this practice among the churches has been the Menonites, Brethren and Quakers, the three historic peace churches. And even many of their members have succombed and joined in with the military.

I remain confident that only the means of ending war and its devastation is for Christians to return to their roots. It is past time for us to listen to our founder Jesus of Nazareth, who said, “Put down that sword Peter, for whoever takes the sword will perish by the sword.”