Hawks and Doves

by Gene Shelburne

Past experience tells us that the views of Christian pacifists and hawks will never be reconciled. Both will use Scripture to support their strong convictions, with the pacifists at times declaring war on the hawks.

Like St. Augustine and a host of theologians after him, I am convinced that Christ’s instructions for how we are to treat each other in daily dealings were not intended as rules for international relationships. In wartime, if you turn the other cheek, you won’t soften the other guy’s heart. You’ll just get knifed or nuked.

But, having said that, I can’t imagine any Christian who would not prefer peace over war, love over hate, life over death.

In World War II days, America embodied Christian charity when we rebuilt Japan and Germany after they had set out to destroy the rest of us.

But I suspect personally that we did an equally Christ-like thing when we put an end to that awful decade of merciless killing by striking Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In a gut-wrenching decision, we had to kill to stop the killing.

I think we did a Christ-like thing when we said to Japan, “No more Pearl Harbors. No more Bataans.” And when we said to Hitler, “No more Dachaus or Buchenwalds.”

The free world is free today because Americans cared enough to fight and die—and when necessary, to kill—for the good of all humanity.

I personally doubt that today’s situation is much different. My pacifist friends won’t agree with me, I know. Several of my pacifist colleagues have cleaned my clock already this week.

It seems evident that the treachery and oppression of the renegade Muslims called Taliban would engulf our world unless we drew a line and said with courage and faith, “No more World Trade Centers. No more crashed airliners. No more innocent people slaughtered by malicious butchers wearing robes and invoking religion to disguise their evil hearts.”

Our Muslim neighbors are not our enemies. We had to fight with them to destroy the power of the psychotic despots known as Taliban.

I’m not wise enough or smart enough to know how we put an end to global terrorism, but I pray that we do it decisively in the days ahead. If we don’t, who will?