Amish and Terror

My brother favorably linked to an article entitled, "What if the Amish were in charge of the War on Terror." I would recommend you go read the piece before continuing here.

Did you read it? No, really...go read it first...then come back here...I'll wait...

My brother called the article an "amazing and humbling read." While indeed I find the story of the Amish response to the terror brought into their community by a single, deranged man to be praiseworthy, exalted, and modeled, I think it would be foolish to compare that to the repeated acts of terrorism brought against our community for over 30 years by an entire community of deranged men who worship the Adversary. I know this makes me sound like some kind of hard-hearted, unforgiving, unmerciful, and un-Christian jerk, but let me make my case first before you blindly buy into the "feel-goodism" of Mrs. Bass' emotional, but thoughtless rhetoric.

I think there must be a distinction between personal relationships and global relationships. Christ taught us how we are to relate to one another on a personal level, but stayed away from being trapped into political arguments about how nations should relate to one another. Peacemaking and forgiveness is an individual responsibility that a Christian has to other individuals around him. I will entirely grant Mrs. Bass, my brother, and every other Christian that fact. What we see displayed in the actions of the Amish towards the Roberts family are the epitome of Christ's character in this very individualized manner. Indeed, it is beautiful. It is heart-warming. It is inspiring as to how Christians can create Heaven on Earth.

But the real question, then, is it "scalable?" Does God expect in global relationships, the same standards He does in individual relationships? I think we can firmly answer, "No." A few fundamental assumptions. God is unchanging. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. While the death, burial and resurrection of Christ changed the covenant under which man relates to God, it did not change the nature of God. Therefore, we can look at how God used Israel to see expectations for relationships between nations.

When God spoke to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai and gave them the 10 commandments, He commanded them not to kill or murder. However, that same God instructed those same people to kill in the name of war. I think we can easily see that to God the 10 Commandments are God's covenant with each individual Israeli and His subsequent instructions show He has a different standard for how a nation state is to relate to its world.

This is further evidenced in my second assumption. We are told in scripture that David was a man after God's own heart. A lot of times we take this passage and focus on the poetry and spirituality of David. However, David was also a warrior. He is led by God and relies upon God's sovereignty as he expanded the borders of Israel by pushing the Philistines from the land through the use of force. Now, I will agree that this did not come without a price. David was forbidden to build the temple because of his warrior-ways. But, he was doing what God wanted him to do when he killed those who would enslave and kill God's people.

I think it is also important to clarify that the USA is not a "Christian" nation, but a nation founded upon some Christian principles. At best this is a nation where the majority of people claim to be Christians (...but probably aren't really Christians in an active, participatory relationship with Christ...). To hold an entire nation/community that is NOT something to the standard of who you are is arrogant. It is easy for the Amish community, a closed-network of devout believers in a single interpretation of an ideology to a single standard. It would be very difficult to get a single interpretation of well-meaning Christians to agree on any ideology, let alone one that places the lives and security of the others at risk.

Finally, it is important to note that leaders have a duty to protect us. They don't have the luxury of living in fantasy world where we hope that people change. They will be held accountable for that responsibility. Let me put it this way. When I was in college and single, I had no problem picking up hitchhikers while traveling. Of course, this is a little dangerous, but I believed that as a Christian I had a social and spiritual obligation to assist those in need despite the dangers to myself. However, when I married and took over leadership of my family, my values changed a little. I no longer felt free to put my life on the line for a stranger because the detrimental effects on my family on the loss of my life. I put the welfare and safety of my wife and children ahead of the welfare of a stranger. My obligation to protect my family from danger OUTWEIGHS my social and spiritual responsibility to help a stranger. This is a stunning revelation, not all responsibilities of a Christian are equal. The same can be true with the War on Terrorism. While we would love to change the hearts and minds of the Muslim nation, our leaders have a moral obligation to protect us that OUTWEIGHS any perceived moral responsibility to change them.

The final issue that I have with Mrs. Bass' article is the assumption that there is a "root cause" (i.e., poverty) of terrorism other than evil. I know lots of poor people are not evil and are not out killing others for political and religious reasons. I've never been a big fan of the whole "root cause" of anything because "root cause" is typically used as justification for bad behavior. It gives people with no backbone a reason to not seek proper punishment. It is just a catch phrase of those who would excuse any action because discipline is hard work and may mean somebody might not like you. "Root Cause" speak allows people remove the responsibility of bad behavior from the person who committed the crime and place that responsibility on some third party. I am a firm believer that people should be held accountable for their own actions...i.e., people should reap what they sow.

Anyway, these are just a few little tidbits to chew on. I think reasonable people can disagree on an issue and an interpretation of scripture. Part of the Christian Community experience is the ability to throw out an idea and have more than just one person gnaw on some ideas. All of us grow and are sharpened as we exchange ideas, interpretations, assumptions, and thought processes. I've been writing this piece on and off for about a week now...so...feel free to tell me where I've gone wrong.