by Chris Alexion, Copyright May 09, 2006, all rights reserved. 331 views
U2's "Peace on Earth," from All That You Can't Leave Behind is a poignant anti-war protest. And there's a sense in which any Christian should be anti-war. "War," in the words of William T. Sherman, "is hell." As such, it always hurts more people than it's supposed to. And the state has often put war to work in expanding government powers. To those who glorify destruction, Bono's words strike deep:
It's already gone too far
Who says if you go in hard
You won't get hurt?
Jesus, could you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line?
Peace on Earth
Tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth…
They're reading names out over the radio
All the folks the rest of us won't get to know
Sean and Julia, Gareth, Ann and Breda
Their lives are so much bigger than any big idea.
And yet I don't think Bono's being completely fair. While it's certainly true that war is an evil, and that individual lives are more valuable than politics, the fact remains that the wolves are still out there. And when wicked men seek to take away the lives and liberty of a country's citizens, national self-defense is the only option. We should also remember that the Old and New Testaments are full of martial imagery; God Himself is portrayed as a Warrior who defends His people, and Christians are called to "endure hardness as a good soldier."
Part of the biblical vision of manhood is the importance of being strong and defending the weak. And while history highlights the bloodthirsty, those who defended their homes and families also show up. Alfred against the Danes, Charles the Hammer against the Moors, Patrick Henry. Even Hollywood has been able to portray the balance between hatred of war and love of home. Mel Gibson did an excellent job in The Patriot as a veteran who refused to return to war for high ideals, but threw all his chips in when his family was threatened.
I guess that's the fine line the Christian warrior has to walk: Fight the enemies of peace without loving destruction; hate violence without losing backbone. Faramir put it well in Tolkien's The Two Towers: "I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
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