Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ccicpg!keith@uunet.uu.net (Keith McIntyre) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: The Church's stand on the Gulf War Message-ID: Date: 5 Mar 91 03:52:38 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: ICL Product Operations, Irvine, CA. Lines: 62 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu This is written 2/28/91, one day after President Bush declared military victory in the gulf war. There has been a great deal of discussion on the war among Christians and whether or not a Christian should be for or against war. Breifly let me summarize significant points in the debate I have read. 1) We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourself. 2) We are commnaded not to kill. 3) Killing means murder, not killing in other senses. 4) There is a separation of church and state in the U.S. 5) Everyone must pray to God and receive guidance from His Spirit on such matters. The operative commandment to me has been Romans Chapter 12 verses 1 and 2. We must not be conformed to the patterns of this world. Instead we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Then and only then can we understand what God's will is. This is not a matter of what one person hears in his heart. The war in the gulf is simply God's will or it is not. Our inability to perceive the will of God is only a reflection of our lack of transformation. All I can see is evidence of the Church conforming to the patterns of the world. This extends to almost any cultural trend that has happened recently. (I am speaking of the U.S. church here - what I am familiar with.) The Church in the U.S. was strongly pro war during WW II, as was the majority of the population. During the height of the anti-communist McCarthy era of the US the church was primarily anti-communist as well. In the Vietnam war, the church became vocally anti-war as well. During the "me" decade of the '80s, the "prosperity doctrine" became a significant force in the church. To be honest, I view most anti-war opinions as simply a reflection of the cultural attitudes prevalent in this country in the post Vietnam era. A major part of this has been the "flower child" attitude of live and let live. The church developed an attitude of not imposing their morality and views on the country and quietly sitting in their pews on Sunday after the hippie/yippie/Woodstock era stopped US society as a whole from judging whether someone's actions were morally upright or not. In fact, I would go further than the above and state that the US has been so damaged by the post Vietnam syndrome that most people in this country had begun to think that there was very little that was worth fighting and/or dying for. The church again reflected that by allowing untold numbers of laws to be passed in the U.S. that restrict the practice of Christianity. Other laws have been passed that encourage the practice of sin. In summary I will say that over the years the church's actions in the U.S. have been mostly a reflection of what U.S. society has been doing. Indeed, many of the doctrines taught in the pulpits have been a reflection of U.S. culture. The recent return to activism by the church has been accompanied by a return to activism by mainstream U.S. society. The ways of the Spirit of God are incomprehensible to the worldly mind. Yet all our debates on war, politics, everyday life, etc. are using paradigms and concepts that find ready counterparts in the world. When will we as Christians desire a transformation? As for the war in the gulf being God's will - beats me. I know I have an unrenewed mind. Romans chapter 12 verse 3 applies to the preceeding verses as much as it does to the following verses. -Keith McIntyre