The War on The War on Terror

In one of my classes we’ve been discussing several issues from a Biblical standpoint. The class of which I am referring is Christian Worldview Integration. For the simple minded students at Cedarville, it all too often becomes a class of mindless indoctrination. One of the topics we discussed is war. We were talking about whether or not it is ethically defensible to go to war at any point, as it would have it, I have class with several people who have not as of yet learned to think. One person said it was always appropriate to go to war. I raised an objection to that statement, and it was replied to with the affirmation that war in fact is the physical expression of the judgment of God. Well, seeing as how I am one to argue just about anything whether or not I support it I quickly fired back with “who does God use to enforce his judgment?” “America of course” he quickly darted back as though he had won the war on intelligence.

That is a story that may or may not be true, but that fact of the matter is people actually feel this way. Here’s my thoughts on the matter.

The idea that God favors one nation-state (country) over another is a presumption that is referred to as the Constantinian Cataract, Constantine was the first person to bring Christianity into the Roman Empire, and as a result he believed that God favored Rome because of their Christian Stance (Camp, 2003). This manifests itself in the American Ideal of God Bless America, obviously because America has done such a fine job advocating God, that God will advocate on behalf of America of course. Therefore, America has become the new Israel, because as a people group we haven’t “rejected the Messiah” therefore GOd has chosen to rain down his favor on our country. Clearly God supports America, because America supports Israel.  I think that thoroughly explains the idea of the Constantinian Cataract, let’s move one to another area.

In the story above, the person in this disagreement mentioned that God uses America as the vehicle through which He enacts his judgment on the rest of the world.

So with the Constantinian Cataract behind us, is there a reason to justify the war on terror? The facts of the case are this, America is at war against terrorist because Americans perceive the manner in which they are acting out their lives are unjust. The “terrorists” are at war against America because they perceive the manner in which Americans live their lives are unjust.  So the crux of the matter comes down to perception and ethnocentrism. Merriam-Webster defines war here, but I choose to define war as a “The physical expression of one country’s perceived dominance over another.” Why is America correct in assuming that our war on terror is justified? Why do “terrorists” believe that their war on America is justified? Is the answer because America is more of a developed nation? Is it because we’re American?

I think the truth lies in the fac that as Christians we have a tendency to glorify our Patriotism and allegiance to America moreso than our allegiance the the Kingdom of God. I don’t have hard facts in front of me to quantify my experience, but I would suggest in my lifetime, in my Christian School that I’ve said the pledge of allegiance to the United States far more times than I’ve expressed allegiance to the kingdom of heaven. I don’t have answers for why that is either.

Maybe if Christianity provided me with capatilism like America does I’d pledge allegiance to its kingdom more…. How about you?