Reflections on War and Peace

 A headline in a USA Today article caught my attention this past week. It read: “Hiroshima Bombing Turns 75.” 

Two bombs totaling 240,000 fatalities, 110,000 of which were killed instantly, and another 130,000 deaths due to radiation exposure illnesses over the next few years. Let that sink in for a moment. Even after the war ended humans suffered then died from radiation-related illnesses. It’s really difficult for me to get my brain wrapped around such death and destruction. 

Thank God these were the last two nuclear bombs used in wartime.

One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes features Elaine (Julia Dreyfus) making the claim that Tolstoy’s classic novel, War and Peace was originally entitled War, What’s It Good For? In fact, Elaine claims that Tolstoy’s girlfriend suggested the original title.

Well, as silly as this episode was there is truth in the question, War, What’s it Good for? Especially when we consider the death statistics attributed to the dropping of the only two atomic bombs in history. Then when you consider the total death toll of World War II (est. 70-85 million humans), not to mention all other wars in history, one gets the sense that war is not the best way for humans to behave.

War is a human problem. It’s caused by human agency alone. I believe it is a sad mistake to attribute the practice of war to God, or to God’s will. Doing so creates an unsolvable theological dilemma for those who remain faithful to the Prince of Peace. The dilemma is this: “Whose side is God on in any war?” Worse yet, when we believe that “God is on our side” the violence of war often intensifies as a result. 

Consider the American Civil War. Was God on the side of the Confederacy or the Union? Who did God want to win that bloody war, which claimed over 618,222 lives? 

When we co-op God, or his will, into our wars, believing that we are acting on his behalf, it then becomes easier to justify how far we will go to win (because we are winning on God’s behalf). I have come to believe that this is wrong-headed thinking and surely does not represent the best Christian witness as followers of the Prince of Peace.

Remember, it was Jesus himself who said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). So, what should the Christian attitude be toward war? 

I think we should approach the reality of war with deep humility and a sense of confession and repentance. War should cause us tremendous grief and sorrow over the lives it claims, as well as the long-term effects of war once it is over (for the time being). We should never glorify war, let alone claim that God has chosen sides in our favor.  

I leave you with the stunning words of the Hebrew prophet Isaiah who sheds light on God’s attitude towards war:

He shall judge between the nations,

   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

    and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

    neither shall they learn war anymore (2:4).