|
HOUSMAIL HM083 13
October 2001 PACIFISM AND TERRORISM
AND WARMAKING In an
E-mail received yesterday, a friend alerted me to the Editorial in the Wall Street
Journal for 11 October 2001, which is headed: Quote
If you
are interested, you can read it all for yourself at: The
bit that stood out most for me, was the closing sentence: This
is NOT new! It reflects the same thinking that has always confronted Pacifists
in times of war. It assumes that Pacifism is no more than an ideal which cannot work in the
current situation -- and therefore, since of course, "God is on our side",
it must be abandoned for this current "just war". And
it reflects the same basic mistaken presumption that warmakers have always used
to justify fighting back: "MAKE WAR to make peace"!!! However
..... Pacifism is far more than a mere ideal! It is
a part of the Christian believer's transformed inner nature. It is what he believes
to be the truth! It is an expression of faith in the teachings of Jesus! Those
who have truly experienced it, could not ever inflict evil on others, no matter what the provocation. Like Jesus,
they would far rather suffer themselves -- even lay down their lives -- than inflict
suffering on others. CHRISTIAN
PACIFISM and NON-VIOLENCE is way of life, that responds to evil by not returning
evil. And it does not change in the face of changing external pressures or circumstances. It is
a part of what Jesus has taught us about loving our neighbour as ourselves: It is
the outworking of obedience to the second greatest commandment: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself." (Matthew 22:39) And
without it, no one is yet a true disciple of the one who laid down his own life to
save us -- while we were yet enemies. The
personal cost of that ideal is VERY high! It can even cost us our lives. But
then isn't that an essential element of the Gospel call to Discipleship, which Jesus
left us? Allon |