It is fairly certain that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people this week. I have to admit, embarrasingly, that I want to bomb the you-know-out of the bad guys.
Give the bad guys a name: Assad - president of Syria. Send in the bombs. Go ahead. Do it.
Then what? To what political end would the U.S. do this? Think for a moment of the bad scenarios:
* The U.S. bombs and Assad retaliates with even more chemical warfare;
* The U.S. bombs and the Iranians get involved and bomb Israel;
* The U.S. bombs, Assad goes into exile in Iran, and then what? Who steps into the power vacuum???
* The U.S. bombs and the are escalates on all sides and more men, women, and children die.
Carl Medearis wrote a provocative blog today called, "Looking for Someone to Bomb." He asks the question, "Who would Jesus bomb?" Interesting question really. Certainly Jesus would want us to stand up to injustice, and even worse, genocide.
But would Jesus bomb the people who perpetrate genocide? Like Carl, I would say that it's very unlikely that he would. Why? Because all the more people would be killed, and Jesus is all about LIFE, not death.
My position has weaknesses and flaws, I realize. One is that genocide of any and every kind cannot and must not be tolerated by the international community. That not only goes for Syria and chemical weapons, but all instances of genocide. So what do you do?
We must advocate for the victims of such abuse. We must mobilize to help people fleeing into Lebanon and Jordan. While Jesus would have us "love our enemies," he would also ask us to defend the life of the widow, the oppressed, the homeless. And that would include refugees from this present tragedy.
As difficult and challenging as it is for the United States, I would hope and pray that the U.S. not intervene as the world's policeman. It has not produced the intended results in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places. It won't work in Syria either.
Then what? To what political end would the U.S. do this? Think for a moment of the bad scenarios:
* The U.S. bombs and Assad retaliates with even more chemical warfare;
* The U.S. bombs and the Iranians get involved and bomb Israel;
* The U.S. bombs, Assad goes into exile in Iran, and then what? Who steps into the power vacuum???
* The U.S. bombs and the are escalates on all sides and more men, women, and children die.
Carl Medearis wrote a provocative blog today called, "Looking for Someone to Bomb." He asks the question, "Who would Jesus bomb?" Interesting question really. Certainly Jesus would want us to stand up to injustice, and even worse, genocide.
But would Jesus bomb the people who perpetrate genocide? Like Carl, I would say that it's very unlikely that he would. Why? Because all the more people would be killed, and Jesus is all about LIFE, not death.
My position has weaknesses and flaws, I realize. One is that genocide of any and every kind cannot and must not be tolerated by the international community. That not only goes for Syria and chemical weapons, but all instances of genocide. So what do you do?
We must advocate for the victims of such abuse. We must mobilize to help people fleeing into Lebanon and Jordan. While Jesus would have us "love our enemies," he would also ask us to defend the life of the widow, the oppressed, the homeless. And that would include refugees from this present tragedy.
As difficult and challenging as it is for the United States, I would hope and pray that the U.S. not intervene as the world's policeman. It has not produced the intended results in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places. It won't work in Syria either.
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