The Christian Dilemma of War, pt. 1
By year’s end I’ll find myself in the middle of Iraq without a weapon. As a military chaplain, I’m considered a non-combatant. The chaplain’s task, simply put, is to nurture the living, care for the dying, and honor the dead. A chaplain performs or provides religious services, pastoral care and counseling, and religious education to soldiers who daily will be put into harm’s way. A chaplain is to insure that every soldier’s first amendment right of the free exercise of religion is protected. As a special staff officer, a chaplain advises the commander on matters of religion, morals, and morale. A chaplain also provides humanitarian support when needed, and can be used as a liaison between the command and local religious leaders. United States military chaplains have been providing essential ministry to soldiers and their families since 1775.
As important as these tasks are, they do not lessen the inner angst a chaplain experiences in the context of war and killing. In the military, there are many soldiers who are Christians and combatants that experience this inward struggle to an even greater degree; many find their way to the chaplain in hope of resolution.
If one searches through two thousand years of Christian literature, one will find that Christians have always struggled with the moral dilemma of war. It is a true dilemma because war always seems to have a ‘darned if you do and darned if you don’t’ aspect. So what is the Christian response to war? This is an important question in light of verses such as “thou shall not kill” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” To further the confusion, good Christian men and women have always disagreed on this issue.
Historically, there have been three major approaches to war by Christians: activism, pacifism, and the just war theory. Activism holds it is the Christian duty to obey the government and to participate in every war that the government deems necessary. The pacifist view is that all wars are wrong and against the biblical injunction “thou shall not kill.” (Exodus 20:13) The just war theory suggests that there are certain criteria that must be met in order for a war to be just or moral. These are the main approaches, but each one of these can also be modified.
Before I swore the oath to become a chaplain and an officer in the United States military, I had to settle this matter in my own mind. Over the next several weeks, I’ll examine in some detail each one of these approaches and discuss each one’s strengths and weaknesses. I’ll then explain my own position to this dilemma.
War is a bad thing and it certainly should be a last resort, but there are other things worse than war. This is what we’ll explore in the weeks to come.
As important as these tasks are, they do not lessen the inner angst a chaplain experiences in the context of war and killing. In the military, there are many soldiers who are Christians and combatants that experience this inward struggle to an even greater degree; many find their way to the chaplain in hope of resolution.
If one searches through two thousand years of Christian literature, one will find that Christians have always struggled with the moral dilemma of war. It is a true dilemma because war always seems to have a ‘darned if you do and darned if you don’t’ aspect. So what is the Christian response to war? This is an important question in light of verses such as “thou shall not kill” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” To further the confusion, good Christian men and women have always disagreed on this issue.
Historically, there have been three major approaches to war by Christians: activism, pacifism, and the just war theory. Activism holds it is the Christian duty to obey the government and to participate in every war that the government deems necessary. The pacifist view is that all wars are wrong and against the biblical injunction “thou shall not kill.” (Exodus 20:13) The just war theory suggests that there are certain criteria that must be met in order for a war to be just or moral. These are the main approaches, but each one of these can also be modified.
Before I swore the oath to become a chaplain and an officer in the United States military, I had to settle this matter in my own mind. Over the next several weeks, I’ll examine in some detail each one of these approaches and discuss each one’s strengths and weaknesses. I’ll then explain my own position to this dilemma.
War is a bad thing and it certainly should be a last resort, but there are other things worse than war. This is what we’ll explore in the weeks to come.
Labels: activism, just war theory, pacifism
posted on Friday, May 09, 2008 |
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