WHY THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION HAS FAILED TO STOP THE IRAQI WAR OR ANY WAR
For they loved the praise of people more than that of God. John 12:43
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Website: www.peacehost.net/peacechurch
It is when the pulpits fail that war occurs. American Christendom has
betrayed the founder of its religion, Jesus of Nazareth the Prince of
Peace. This betrayal lies in the situation of Christian churches
refusing to return to the original gospel message of Jesus Christ,
generation after generation when it continues to subject the church
to the state and secular authority. American Christendom has
abandoned its purpose as the preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ
the Prince of Peace, and become the means for preserving American
state policy and the military concept of might is right.
Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all
the kingdoms of the world and their glory of them, and he said to
him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship
me." Matt 4:8-9.
This is the temptation that confronts every child of God, and
especially those in the circles of ecclesiastical influence:
minister, pastor, priest, student and scholar. The betrayal occurs
when the Christian gives divine support and approval to the work of
the kingdoms of this world that contradict the law of God and gospel
of the Prince of Peace, rather than resisting the temptation. To
compromise the gospel and redefine it in terms of the kingdoms of
this world is to capitulate to the devil, and the temporal rewards
are many. These ministers are wardens over churches that are massive
architectural monuments; they receive the respect of powerful secular
rulers and military officials; they receive an income from the
healthy donations of wealthy parishioners; they acquire the
popularity of a large congregation; they accumulate considerable
control over real estate and financial assets. This is Christendom,
not Christianity. This new Christian church is redefined in terms of
the needs of the state and society that the church is part of. Once
the political policy is defined and established, the purpose of
Christendom is the divine approval of its preservation, with each
congregation becoming a national church in the country of its
residency. As the state provides religious freedom, the congregation
supports the dictates and needs of the state: this is Christendom,
now itself a political force within the nation of its residency,
ready to offer to it parishioners divine approval of the state polity
and preservation of its civilization. But in exchange for freedom
saving their soul they lose it due to their capitulation to the
secular state. The true religion of America is not Christianity, but
democracy, because democracy provides economic freedom and religious
freedom.
Ecumenical Christendom is designed for a superficial adherence to the
NT teachings, rather than a serious practice of the gospel. The
practical issues of the NT, taught by Christendom, can be derived
from most philosophers and humanists, and political leaders having a
humanitarian nature, and the religion is supplemented with rites that
are associated with the ministry of Jesus. But if theology and the
shell of ecclesiastical sacerdotalism and sacraments were removed,
the ethic and morality that would remain would essentially be no
different than any that could not be derived from secular humanism,
humanitarianism or philosophy. The idea of pacifism is not an issue
to be seriously considered in the NT; it is fine and noteworthy
during times of peace, for children's Sunday School lessons, and a
precept to ponder, but not to be taken seriously, because it is only
an ideal and impractical to actually implement. During wartime,
Christendom as an institution becomes the state's department of
religious services for the state, to echo and implement the
requirements of the state. During war, so-called Christians do not
conduct themselves any differently than people with no religious
scruples or who are members of non-Christian religions. Essentially,
there is nothing of substance or distinct about ecumenical
Christendom once it is stripped of its superficial shell of
ceremonialism, sacerdotalism and theology. The conclusion is that
ecumenical Christendom denies the essence of the gospel that was
preached by Jesus the Messiah, which was the deliverance of humanity
from its perpetual self-destructive trend of warfare.
During war, industries produce employment and profits, and during
war, many residents are employed in industries that are related to
the war effort. Since ministers are supported by the charitable
contributions of parishioners, they are not about to bite the hand
that feeds them by dictating form their pulpit that such employment
is antithesis to the gospel of the Prince of Peace, and that
employment should be sought elsewhere for the Christian, in some
vocation that is directly a benefit to society. It is almost treason
and disloyalty for a minister to tell his parishioners not to be
employed by a company designing, manufacturing, or selling weapons or
military-related equipment and accessories. In no manner will
ministers of mainline denominations be critical of war, if they
expect to keep their pulpit and the respect of their parishioners.
Although the First Amendment states that the government will not
respect any one religion over another, this is applicable only during
peacetime. During wartime, the unwritten rule is the respect of those
religions that defend the war from the pulpit and support the war
effort by providing recruits for the armed forces from among the
military-age parishioners of their congregations. Religions whose
pulpits do not echo the voice of the state are deprived of freedom of
speech and freedom of the press, and are suspected of treason and
even collaboration with the enemy. The state requires approval of its
dictates from national religious organizations and denominations to
provide a united and formidable front without dissension against the
enemy. In exchange for this, the state provides such groups religious
freedoms speech and the press during wartime.
Why not evangelize instead of war? Why not turn the other cheek, or
love your enemies? Jesus healed the servant of the centurion in Matt
9, and Peter preached to the Roman soldier Cornelius as acts of
kindness, for them to know that God loves them, that there is no
reason to be a soldier.
Why not drop New Testaments instead of bombs? Or does the Christian
church of America not believe that God will protect us? Vengeance is
mine, saith the Lord, I will repay; and, Our God is a consuming fire.
Heb 12:29. Instead of physical weapons, our defense and offense are
spiritual weapons, Eph 6:12-17. These are all the weapons that the
genuine Christian needs. The Kingdom of God is today, because the
kingdom of God is within you.
There are two examples in the OT of state officials refusal to obey
commands issued by their head of state, even with the balance of
officials of the state supporting the edict. These two examples serve
as evidence that the Biblical injunction to obey state officials of
Rom 13 is only valid as long as the edict does not violate or
contradict the law of God. The state is comprised of individuals
whose responsibility is the welfare of the population of the nation,
but when these same officials legislate law that conflicts with the
law of God, then they have exceeded the authority delegated to them,
because, "there is no authority except from God." Rom 13:1. Any civil
law that contradicts the law of God is not to the benefit of the
population, because the law of God is to be the basis of all law that
is legislated for the benefit of the nation.
In Dan 3 an event is described where King Nebuchadnezzar
erects a gold statue of immense proportion: 90 feet high and 9 feet
wide, and expects all his subjects to prostrate themselves before it.
All comply with his request, until some of his officials inform him
that 3 Jewish men who are also officials in his government refuse to
do so. Dan 3:16-18. These 3 men, even though they were officials of
the government of Nebuchadnezzar, nonetheless refused to follow a law
that they considered to be unjust, because it was in conflict with
the law of God, not to venerate any images, the Second Commandment.
The 3 were likewise willing to go to their death.
The second event is recorded in Dan 6, where Daniel
refuses to obey the edict to only petition King Nebuchanezzar on any
matter. Government officials manipulated the king to issue this
edict, in order to find reason to discredit Daniel or perhaps have
him terminated from his government post. But the authority of the
state the king and his officials who legislated this law is not
above the authority of the living God, and so Daniel proceeded to
ignore the edict and continued to pray to the God of heaven in his
customary manner. After his arrest for violating this edict, Daniel
was willing to go to his death, rather than capitulate to the
officials and the edict of the state.
The true Christian is a conscientious objector to war in any form and
to military service and training, because he is a disciple of Jesus
Christ the Son of God and Prince of Peace and conducts himself based
on the precepts he taught. The disciple of Jesus Christ considers war
organized and premeditated murder on an international scale. It is
controlled criminal insanity resulting in violence and devastation,
and without justification. They recognize that the purpose of
military training is to make men killing machines. There is only one
manner for the disciple of Jesus Christ to conduct himself in regard
to the question of military service and that is to refuse. The
conscience of the true Christian will prohibit them from such
participation, and which includes employment manufacturing military
equipment and weapons.
A person who claims to be Christian and is faced with the
dilemma of whether to enlist in the military should contemplate in
the following terms, "Will my service in the military institute
peace, or will it promote more war and aggression? Is the military a
service unto the living God, or is it service unto the secular god of
war? If I die in combat, do I die for a purpose that is worth the
value of my life, or do I die as a pawn of the state? Do I
acknowledge as supreme the dictates of the secular state, or those of
the spiritual kingdom? Should I suffer on the battlefield as a
sacrifice to the state, or should I suffer for my faith as a
Christian?"
Viewing the matter from another aspect, how can a person be
converted, led to accept Jesus as their savior, be reborn, if that
person is killed on the battlefield or in warfare by a Christian, or
destroyed or maimed by a bomb dropped on them from a jet bomber flown
by a Christian? It is impossible to be both patriotic and
nationalistic and spiritual at the same time. A person can only have
one supreme master on any matter, or legislator that he will subject
himself to as the final authority.
Priests and ministers must corporately voice to their congregations
for their members to not enlist in the military, to refuse
conscription and participation in war, and to not have a vocation in
the manufacture of weapons and munitions. Only the Christian Church
can stop the tide of the devastating results of war and military
aggression by taking this stand. Only by returning to its Apostolic
roots can the Christian Church fulfill its responsibility to its
founder Jesus of Nazareth, who said, "Put down that sword Peter, for
whoever takes the sword will perish by the sword." First and foremost
priests and ministers must be willing to PREACH PEACE as an example
to others, instead of condoning, advocating or further contributing
to war and devastation.
