On Jan. 25, Ronen Bergman, an Israeli journalist, published an article in the New York Times Magazine asking the question, “Will Israel attack Iran?” The coverage about the looming war has been a hot topic ever since. Debate about the best response to Iran’s nuclear program and its implications for the United States’ ally Israel has been nationwide. However, the most important question is how the church can speak with prophetic wisdom during these hostile times.
Since the rise of the moral majority in the late 1970s, right-wing Zionists have assumed the role of spokesman-Christians and supported Israel’s use of military force unconditionally. In the book, “New American Militarism,” historian Andrew Bacevich says that so far, justifying Israel’s use of force, the religious right “insist upon the unqualified righteousness of Israeli military action.” Because of the moral majority’s interpretation of progressive dispensationalism, the preservation of the State of Israel is absolutely necessary to the return of Christ. Therefore, Israel and the United States have received a pass to use the sword with no restrictions.
In the current situation with Iran, unconditional support of any side is problematic and hazardous to the preservation of our Christian witness. Whether you are a pacifist or you believe in just war theory, both traditions never support countries unconditionally — in fact, just war theory is based on seven rules that are meant to limit the amount of violence in war. Israel even proposing an attack already breaks the “jus in bello” condition for war, since the state will be breaking an international treaty — the International Atomic Energy Agency charter — in order to bomb Iran’s nuclear centers.
Finding a solution through a loving approach
When God’s kingdom comes in its fullest the atrocity of war will be done away with. We should be trying our best to live as if the kingdom has already come, we should do everything we can to put down our swords . The New Testament never sanctions war, but even the compromise of just war theory says that it must be a last resort. God’s kingdom does not play by the world’s rules, so we should not pretend like we’re okay with the old violent ways of doing things.
The problem with Iran will be there whether they bomb the reactors or not. The former head of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, Meir Dagan has said in the previously stated New York Times Magazine: “The use of state violence has intolerable costs. The working assumption that it is possible to totally halt the Iranian nuclear project by means of a military attack is incorrect. There is no such military capability. It is possible to cause a delay, but even that would only be for a limited period of time.” The real issue here is finding a way to replace the Iranian government, and as Christians we should pray, think and work to make sure that this happens without the use of violence.
Regardless, a violent strike will elicit serious backlash. General James N. Mattis, commander of the American forces in the Middle East, said that “an Israeli first strike would be likely to have dire consequences across the region and for United States forces there.” We should take the wise council of Carl Bildt and Erkki Tuomioja, the foreign ministers of Sweden and Finland, and recognize: “The argument is not only about giving diplomacy a chance. It is about recognizing that diplomacy is the only alternative for those seeking a lasting and sustainable solution to the Iran nuclear issue and peace in the region. The other options are recipes for war and in all probability a nuclear-armed Iran.”
As Christ followers we carry the burden and the gift of loving people on both sides — even our enemies who may wish for our death. Women, children and the elderly on all sides will be the most vulnerable in a coming war. If no one will speak for them we must. Now more than ever it is important for Christians to remember the blessed are not the strong, or the first to fire, but the peacemakers.
