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From: stuart@BMS-AT.UUCP (Stuart D. Gathman)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc,net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Chicago Tribune/ Can Pat Robertson overcome the "Wacko Factor"?
Message-ID: <217@BMS-AT.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Sep-86 15:23:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: BMS-AT.217
Posted: Tue Sep 23 15:23:09 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 25-Sep-86 05:25:01 EDT
References: <3335@umcp-cs.UUCP> <970@hou2g.UUCP> <638@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Organization: Business Management Systems, Inc., Fairfax, VA
Lines: 24
Keywords: Christian Century,National Review,Politics,Religion
Xref: linus talk.religion.misc:189 net.religion.christian:4694
Summary: Prayer and war.

In article <638@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>, gary@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Gary Buchholz) writes:
> not keep my sanity long if I knew that a guy who thinks he can "rebuke
> a storm" was running the country.  It is a question to be put to Mr.
> Robertson whether or not this same technique would work with incoming
> ICBM's and exactly what form a defense strategy would take.  Would Mr.
> Robertson move our men out of the missle silos and into the pews to pray 
> to gain some advantage (from the deity) in the event of a nuclear war ?

This is a misconception of the viewpoint.  Look at II Chronicles 20
for a description of a successful war waged with prayer.  Notice that
full natural preparations were made (muster the army, etc.).  Notice
also that their confidence was in God, not in the army.  If ICBM were
headed this way and the only thing I had to trust was more missles, I
would prefer quick death to the slow lingering horrors of nuclear aftermath.
(A man questioned about the reliability of our missles in newsweek was
quoted as saying: "If we have to use them, it doesn't make a whole lot
of difference whether they work or not.  The important thing is that the
Soviets think they *might* work.")

I certainly support full military preparedness (including SDI), but
I also know that we need all the prayer we can get.  (And some
repentance would help.)
-- 
Stuart D. Gathman	<..!seismo!{vrdxhq|dgis}!BMS-AT!stuart>