Posts in "Christianity"

By Anthony Ardizzone at 1:38PM

Aug 10, 2011

Prayer for War and Peace

Thanks to an anonymous source, I was led to this great video taking place in 1900. It's a short film of Mark Twain's short story, "The War Prayer."

The text of the story may be read here. It's gist is that as soldiers prepare to go to war they attend a church service in which the minister prays a blessing over them, asking God for their victory, safety, and glory. A stranger appears in the church, claiming to be a messenger of God who is here to pray the other, unspoken half of the prayer: for the death, pain, and destruction of the lives and livelihoods of the soldiers' enemies -- a request, of course, sent to a God of love.

This could be a great activism tool for anyone wishing to reach a Christian audience with the antiwar message of liberty.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 10:18PM

Aug 7, 2010

Should Christians volunteer for military service?

Q. Should Christians volunteer for military service? — CJ Scrofani, from Warrenton, VA.

A. That depends. Right now? No. Other times? Maybe.

The American military in its present capacity simply is not being used in just or moral manner — not to mention how far it has strayed from its constitutional purpose. Because of this, I’d argue that a Christian cannot in good conscience join the military at this time. I would also go so far as to argue that if a draft were to be reinstated now, conscientious objector status would be the minimum a Christian should do to avoid combat, and complete resistance a far better option.

On the other hand, if our military completely changed to a moral, constitutional, and strictly defensive force…well, at that point a Christian might join. Whether the individual Christian should do so would be between him and his Lord, but — assuming those conditions were truly met — joining would not be out of the question. I don’t think Christianity necessarily calls us to pacifism (though perhaps it may require that of some), and it is surely right to defend the innocent when actually attacked.

For further reading on this subject, I’d recommend you to Laurence Vance’s “Letter to a Christian Young Man Regarding Joining the Military,” a short article with which you may already be familiar. I’m not always in 100% agreement with Vance, but in this case I am, and he makes my complete argument much better than I could.

Originally posted on my own blog here.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 2:40PM

Jul 22, 2010

“Thou shalt not kill unless the killing will bring democracy to everyone else.”

Wait, that's not how it goes.

I realize not all readers here are interested in the Christian theology behind the ideas of liberty, but for those that are, Jacob Hornberger has an excellent new(ish) article on the Iraq War at the Future of Freedom Foundation:

[W]e don't know even know how many Iraqis have been killed because early on U.S. officials announced that they would keep track only of the American dead, not Iraqi dead. That seems to me to be an unusual policy, especially when the U.S. government is supposedly doing all this for the benefit of the Iraqi people, or at least those who survive the invasion and occupation.

Doesn't the failure to keep count of the Iraqi dead imply that the number of Iraqi dead doesn't really matter? If it takes 10,000, or 100,000, or a million dead, it's considered a regrettable but necessary step to achieving democracy. And if democracy is achieved, the deaths are to be considered "worth it," just as the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children were considered "worth it."

Many American Christians claim that Muslims are inherently violent people. But it seems to me that such a description could easily be applied to those American Christians who see nothing wrong with killing an unlimited number of people for the sake of achieving such political goals as democracy and regime change.

Read the whole piece here.

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By Matt Cockerill at 10:00PM

Mar 13, 2010

"Blessed be the Warmakers"?

If someone is a devout Christian, or merely a libertarian believer in natural rights and individual responsibility, he can't deny the logic of Laurence Vance's arguments on military service. Vance's belief that enlisting is morally wrong is uncomfortable, but the unadulterated truth rarely is easy to swallow. Still, it is my conviction that pure truth, bereft of disclaimers and sugar-coating, is the only way to change minds. This is especially important when talking to fellow young people considering military service. If members of YAL aren't going to speak the truth, no other group of young people will.

If you know of anyone who is thinking about enlisting, I'd recommend showing he or she this great and highly relevant interview of Vance by Lew Rockwell:

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By Matt Cockerill at 2:54PM

Dec 12, 2009

Religion and Liberty

Regarding the heavily critical feedback by folks objecting to this reference of Christianity on the blog, I have something to say:

There is no conflict between private, non-coercive practice of religion and libertarianism. In fact, so long as religious folks practice their faith in a manner consistent with the non-aggression principle, religious organizations will be essential to maintaining the strength and integrity of the free society.

I say this as a nominally Catholic secularist, who, having read Murray Rothbard and Thomas Woods, acknowledges the objectively profound contribution of Christianity to the philosophy of liberty. Non-believers are more than welcome to personally reject God in all forms -- and they certainly don't have to adopt the quirky Blockian position I find myself inclined towards -- but if a libertarian Christian seeks to express his personal opinion on religion, I see no reason for adherents to a "live-and-let live" philosophy to be outraged over it.

If someone were advocating the coercive imposition of religious values on people, folks would be right to blow the "unlibertarian," whistle... But it was just a picture, guys. :/

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