Pacifism vs. War

“War is hell!” General Sherman said it well. War is abhorrent and should be avoided by all means. However, when the means run out war breaks out.

The most hellish part of war is innocent civilian casualties. When you hear them reported don’t forget to count the first 3,000 innocent civilians here in America who were given no opportunity to prepare in advance. Every one counts and no life should be considered cheap.

Various means were used to try to avoid the current conflict. Those in the know considered all means to have been exhausted. All that was left was war.

In Germany in the late 1930s Rhinehold Niebuhr was a German pastor, a pacifist. He did not like the political climate developing in his beloved Germany so he left and came to America as a devout pacifist. Soon he heard of the atrocities being committed by the Nazi’s against innocent people. He returned to Germany as a pastor. This was almost a certain death sentence. He wrote much about peace, war, and pacifism. He strongly favored pacifism. It is an admirable ideal. However, in light of what he saw and heard was happening he wrote also of evil. Truly, what was happening in Germany at the time was pure raw evil unbridled. He concluded that when evil becomes so malignant and aggressive war is the only alternative to stopping it. Reaching this conclusion led him to endorse war as a means of preventing even more death and destruction perpetuated by evil. That is exactly what America and the world is facing. Any philosophy or pseudo religion that takes 3,000 lives and costs many a livelihood is evil. A war against such evil is a preservative of life and a restorer of peace.

There are two essentials to win a war. One is a superior military strategy and weaponry. The second is the strong will of the populace to stay the course and finish the task. There is no doubt we have the former. It is up to us to consistently show we have the latter. Every time our will wavers we should envision those twin towers coming down burying nearly 7,000 innocent civilians. We should also project what the result will be if we falter and fail.

The only thing of larger caliber than our weapons must be our people.

We will win this war. In the process we likely will lose some battles. Some of those losses may be on our soil and of significant proportions. It is then the public must show its will to stay the course in order to avoid additional casualties. Keep in mind this war is being fought to save the lives of civilians like those in the towers, on the plane forced down in Pennsylvania, and in the Pentagon.

History is replete with accounts of the effectiveness of prayer in all of life. We dare not neglect it in this one phase of our national life. Pray for wisdom on behalf of the United States and its allies and for the Lord to blind the eyes of the evil ones.