thoughts on war...

my thoughts on war have recently been sparked.

after reading jen easton's recent blog post on the "iraq war" and finishing mark kurlansky's book, "nonviolence" i have spent a lot of time thinking about the idea and concept of war. my wife and i also recently had a conversation in which we discussed what the last 5 years would have looked like if we hadn't gone to war but spent the estimated 1-3 trillion dollars on ending global poverty, or hunger, or providing healthcare for everyone.

i realize that the actuality of that happening is near impossible and that ending poverty or hunger takes more than money, but it does provide for an interesting thought. one can't help but think about the perception put off by our current president and his "christian beliefs" and ask how and why more alternatives to going to war were not discussed; i think going to war should have been an extreme last resort. i'm not sure i read the same bible or follow the same god that mr. bush does, because i read about how Jesus said to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. in romans, paul says that if your enemy is hungry feed him, if he is thirsty give him something to drink, in doing this you will heap burning coals on his head.

that makes me wonder how the last 5 years would have been different if our commander and chief approached it with an alternative to war.

in kurlansky's book, "nonviolence: twenty-five lessons from the history of a dangerous idea" he goes through history and discusses all the wars that aren't talked about, all of the nonviolent protests that you won't read about in history books, and all of the protests that don't make the 5 o'clock news.

here are some quotes that i thought were interesting:

"once a state takes over a religion, the religion loses its nonviolent teachings."

"the longer a war lasts, the less popular it becomes."

"it is a peculiarly accepted notion that the united states, the only country ruthless enough to have used atomic weapons - and used them against a civilian population - should be trusted with a monopoly on weapons of mass destruction."

"somewhere behind every war there are always a few founding lies."

"violence does not resolve. it always leads to more violence."


my views have changed dramatically in these last few years. the more i have learned about Jesus the more i have been challenged to reshape the way i follow God and the way i love people, even if that means disagreeing with our president.

i do not wish to anger anyone with these thoughts, i only hope to encourage further pursuit of truth through challenge and discussion in which i am more than happy to engage in.



here is the website for jen easton's thoughts:
http://jeneaston.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-impromtu-thoughts-on-iraq-war.html

thank you jen.