catapult magazine

Alright, being one of the main “polarizing” voices in the discussion about the war in Iraq, I’m wiping the slate clean and asking for ideas as to what we as Christians can do NOW to help improve the situation as it’s occurring. Let’s accept the fact there’s a war, because I doubt the U.S., the Brits, the Dutch, the Australians, the Polish, et al. are pulling out before the job is “done.” (I’d love to say “bloody victory,” but don’t want to be pelted with tomatoes)

So, let’s get pragmatic. Any takers? Personally, I’ve got to think about it some yet.

Before we figure out what Christians can do now (and I mean “do” in a most unpragmatic sense), we could maybe confess what we haven’t done all that well. The fact that the Iraqi people are so impoverished spiritually that Saddam’s regime could remain for so long (though the U.S. shares the blame for letting Saddam put down the riots in Southern Iraq in 1991) says something about the church’s lack of influence in Iraq. If we Christians are going to be shouting out from our city on a hill about how good it is to live according to the rule and dominion of the Word of God, it ought to be evident to all the world.

What has been revealed to the Iraqis instead is the power of violence and fear. It might seem clear to the average Iraqi, as it is to Saddam Hussein, that cocked gun-in-hand and biological weapons are much more effective than letting Christ rule. Many of the people in Iraq are governed not by the love of Christ, but by the fear Saddam has waged against them. Maybe this is the place to talk about what laurencer has been proclaiming so passionately, and rightly: the potential of non-violent popular protest against Saddam. And why such popular uprisings have not occurred?

And we as American Christians have much to confess. Maybe we are too much governed by false freedom rhetoric that is often used to move us into battles. The equating of freedom with unrestricted commerce has led us into many a war, but what a reduction of the biblical notion of freedom! And our (pragmatic) use of morality or any aspect of God’s creation for selfish reasons: Fire gathered up into bombs, Light turned into manipulative television images, Sound transformed into Lee Greenwood’s patriotic sentimentalizing tear-jerking song…. Wartime ought to turn Christians very repentant, because the revelation of such evil challenges our precious belief that Christ’s death and resurrection makes any difference in the world.

One of the things I hope that we can do because of/in spite of/through this war is to put faces on the suffering that’s going on. Grant mentioned that we haven’t been very good at repenting and that Christians have been unresponsive and quite sedentary about this war.

I think that as Americans we have valued our input into this war far too much. That is, we have decided that our voices should be heard, and that what we want to do should be done. One thing I would like to suggest, more on a local level, is to really take a step back from the global suggestions we (as different voices in this conflict) are making, and perhaps start localing trying to understand and put faces on the voices of others. I think we can grow enormously by really actively trying to understand others. It sounds simple, but I think this relational aspect is so important. It serves to kind of help us re-evaluate our selfish tendencies.

Personally, I have grown tremendously in the past few months because of my interaction with friends who are from different areas in the middle east. I have to say I have also grown a lot from interacting with friends deeply entrenched in the military.

I feel like a lot of our hypothesizing and strategizing about what should be done in and through this war is quite egotistical. I feel like as Christians one of our main avenues to peace is understanding and giving back, or rehumanizing (I know that’s not really a word) our enemies or adversaries. Of course, this is only my opinion. I’d love to hear other ideas about what we can do. (that don’t include polarizing camps)

Maybe we could get on some planes, fly over there (or anywhere else in the world) and wash some feet. The humility involved in such an action might be good for us.

Nicely put Bridget.
In the past, the more I’ve spent time actively engaging others who are different than me, the larger my capacity for love has grown. Unfortunately, in my experience, this beautiful feeling was short lived because I fell back into my daily middle class, suburbian grind. It’s a lot easier to watch Seinfeld or play Snood than it is for me to volunteer at a shelter or an assisted living home. Again I guess I come back to active Christian response.
Throw away the sets and wash some feet huh BBC?
Grant, Rob, Kirstin, Bill…Anybody out there think about organizing an official CINO community improvement day (whether that’s locally or half a world away)?
Jason, as a Christian with a unique position, what do you think we can do? Regardless of how we feel about the war, in particular, do you have any ideas?