Tuesday, 12 June 2012
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War in the Name of the Lord: Who Does Jesus Stand With?
By EowynThe horrific "Dirty Wars" of Argentina ran from about 1976 to 1983. During that time, Argentina was ruled by a military junta led by General Jorge Rafael Videla. Under General Videla's direction an estimated 30,000 Argentinians were labeled terrorists and "disappeared." Terrorists, according to General Videla, were not people who set off bombs but "(people) whose ideas are contrary to Christian Western civilization."
In General Videla's attempt to defend "Christian Western civilization" and off all opponents of his regime, many young parents were deliberately targeted and assassinated. Their babies were abducted and sold to wealthy childless couples as a reward for supporting the military junta. Some women were deliberately imprisoned and raped before being killed so that they could get pregnant and their babies be given to whichever high government official wanted a daughter at the time.The reason I'm talking about this dispiriting piece of history is because I want to show how easy it is, with General speech about "Christian civilization," to use Christ's name to justify horrific, unchristian acts. Politicians nowadays do not hesitate to use His name to push their own agendas. Yet Christ did not stand with the politicians. He stood with the poor."And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Mathew 25:40)Christ stands with the poor, the disenfranchised, the hungry, the sick and the dying. When the Muslim population of Bosnia was massacred by the Orthodox Christian factions of Serbia back in the nineties, Christ stood not with the Christians as they shot their guns but with the Muslims as they lay dying in pits. Christ stands with the dying women and children of Syria as they are gunned down by government forces.
Christ stands with the Christians in China where religious minorities are prosecuted and tortured daily. Christ stands with the Cancer victims at the free clinic. Christ stands with the homeless man who wraps himself up in a thin, stinking sleeping bag to guard against encroaching cold. Christ stands with the despairing man, unemployed for eighteen months, who can no longer receive unemployment checks while the rich natter on about tax breaks.Who does Christ stand with?Christ stands with the poor. He stands with those who help the poor. He does not stand with those who repeat His name constantly to justify immoral acts. Those who help the poor help Christ, even if they do not even know it. Those who use Christ's name like they would any ordinary word do not earn His love even if they claim to worship him. Those who sacrifice their time and money and do their utmost to see that the poor in this country and all around the world receive comfort are those who are the real Christians.Do you agree that Christ stands with the poor and not with those who use His name to commit atrocities? Is there ever a condition under which using Christ's name to justify war is appropriate? Where in scripture can we find answers to these questions?
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Comments (38)
Christian values include liberty and the right to life; and human nature, male and female created in the image of God.
It's easy to tell if a demagogue is misusing the name of Christ because invariably the demagogue advocates a non-Christian value such as murder, in the case of abortion; and stealing, in the case of using the government to redistribute wealth.I was in Argentina when Videla took power. Soon after I settled into my living accomodations, a soldier entered the private home and did a search of the premises.
Videla didn't fool anyone with his rhetoric.
I disagree with this post. Mainly because it seems to support the notion, that God is with a particular group such as the poor. Is God not also the God of the rich?
God stands with those, who stand who support those things that He agrees with. God stands with the righteous, and calls sinners to repentance. He doesn't care if you are rich, He doesn't care if you are poor, black, white, red, green, or purple. He doesn't care if you are American, Polish, Jewish, or from the Middle East. Do you follow his commands? Do you believe that He sent his one and only son to die for you? Do you have him as Lord and Saviour of your life? These are the things He stands for.
The Bellum iustum (just war theory)
Has a long tradition in catholic thought. First outlined by Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 2309, lists four strict conditions for "legitimate defense by military force":
- The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
- All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
- There must be serious prospects of success
- The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the
evil to be eliminated. The power as well as the precision of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
The Just War tradition addresses the morality of the use of force in two
parts: when it is right to resort to armed force (the concern of jus ad bellum) and what is acceptable in using such force (the concern of jus in bello)
Ripped from Wikipedia. But it gives a general idea.
I tend to agree with the just war theory, however much I abhor the idea of war, sometimes there is no choice but to partake in violence. Luckily modern states have standing armies.
@ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga No, " It will be easier for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the gates of heaven" - Jesus was always with and for the poor.
@rmatonti2@xanga - That statement you quoted says absolutely nothing about the poor. Jesus was always against greed.
If you examine all of Jesus' teaching from the Gospel, they are all about personal virtue, personal vice and personal conduct.Politics was Aristotle's realm and he was picked up by the Church centuries later when Christianity become the coin of the realm.
Jesus is a republican who hates Muslims and sodomites but he loves big business scam artists like Mitt Romney!
Good post!
Having real mixed feelings about this post. I get what you are saying and there is truth in it. At the same time I am sensing a point that is almost an agenda of your own. My reasoning lies behind the mentioning of politicians and political agendas. Is this yet again, another person trying to get faith out of politics when those who truly live what they believe will live it out in all aspects of their lives, including politics and how they vote?
Of course Jesus definitely stands with the poor, the orphans and the widows over those committing atrocities. But he also stands with the rich who have a heart for Him. Abraham, Job and others were physically rich as well as spiritually. As far as war: there were also times in the OT that God commanded an entire community to be wiped out (war). I don't pretend to comprehend such a war and why there was no mercy for those people. Not saying that has anything to do with the attrocities committed since Christs' life. They were all over power.
So yes... Jesus stands with the poor...
But...
His culture also didn't believe in hand outs. They left a corner of the fields for people to harvest themselves... the fields weren't harvested for them. The poor still had to do the work in those fields to get their food.
But...
His culture also stressed responsibility...that family members were responsible to take care of other family members, including their family's poor, orphans and widows. They were to take care of them first... not the government.
But...
Jesus lived in a time when the country wasn't run by a government (Rome) whose forefathers had any belief in the One True God. Nor did Rome's forefathers fight and die for a belief in religious freedom. So Jesus' political setting was completely different than Americas. Although America is starting to look a lot more like Rome all the time.
Jesus was the first socialist and taught us to share everything with everyone and we should all follow in His footsteps.
@rmatonti2@xanga - Socialism requires that the government take the wealth earned by one segment of the population and give it to those who did not earn it.
By definition, that is stealing.Since Jesus taught that stealing was evil, socialism is evil too.
Therefore, Jesus was not a socialist.
@rmatonti2@xanga - The disciples shared everything with like minded believers. It wasn't shared with everybody.
I respectfully disagree
Jesus looks very much at home holdin a gun.
@PrisonerxOfxLove@xanga - You got that right! Jesus was no damn socialist that's for sure.
@rmatonti2@xanga -
Acts 5:1-4 (ESV) But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,
2and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.
3But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
4While
it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold,
was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed
in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”
If Jesus and the early church were socialist. This would have been a different story. If they shared everything with like minded disciples. Then Peter would not have been upset over the lie. He would have been upset with the keeping back of the money. If they were supposed to share, it would have been wrong to keep the money. Keeping your money is not the socialist way. But Peter is not upset because they kept the money. He looks at him and says you lied to God. this was your land, it was your land before it was sold, and it was your money after it was sold. It was at your disposal. Why did you lie to God? Evidently when he brought the money to Peter, he had said it was all of the money. A lie furthered by the wife when she shows up a few verses later.
So no the early disciples were not socialists.
@TNugents__Right@xanga - Yeah, you saw Jesus today, you'd probably dismiss him as another goddamn hippie.
The thing is that following Jesus is HARD! Following His teachings is DIFFICULT! We don't want to give our money to the poor. We don't want to devote energy to feeding the hungry and clothing the sick.
It's easier to pretend that Jesus wanted us to take it easy and keep our cash than follow His actual teachings and give our money to the poor.
Face it folks, Jesus didn't want us to have an easy life. He wanted us to sacrifice so that our fellow human beings could eat and be free from fear and disease. Is that easy for us to do? NO!!! But Heaven is not an easy place to achieve.
Heaven is a PRIVILEGE. It is not a RIGHT!!!
he stands by those who suffer due to the vanity of mankind
Jesus stands with the peace makers.
@rmatonti2@xanga - I agree.
@rmatonti2@xanga - Careful there: Jesus DID consort and hang out with tax collectors, men who were rich in monetary wealth....
And Jesus was a socialist? He wanted us to share everything with everyone? Interesting. Then why did He rebuke Judas in John 12 when Mary dumped a years' wages worht of spikenard on his feet? After all, to a socialist, such would have definitely been a waste, yet Christ commends Mary for her gift, even going so far as stating that her name and her gift would be remembered throughout time. Praytell, where did Jesus ever command everyone to sell everything they had and live the life of a socialist?
phoebester@xanga - On one hand, you use God's name in vain and in a blasphemous manner yet on the other you defend him and mean to speak for what the Christian life is all about? Are we really supposed to take comfort in your words that they are the truth? Which is it? Do you damn God or do you stand for him? It can't be both ways....
@ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake@xanga - Exactly. This was going to be my comment.
Of course it is not good to use Christ's name to justify atrocities, in fact I have known people who have. But the stress of this post is about the poor.I can agree that selfishness is not according to Christ, but while wealth tends to cause selfishness, one can be rich and not be selfish. And in the same line, it is completely possible to claim to be a Christian, be poor, and at the same time, do things that are not according to Christ. Would Christ have stood with these people anyway?True, Jesus hung out with the tax collectors but He also hung out with the prostitutes and lepers and blind and possessed and the money changers and healed and changed them all and He did say leave your riches behind and follow me.
Google and see the book "Jesus, the first Socialist"