A Christian's Response to the Iraq War

Introduction

This sermon was preached on 16th March 2008 to mark the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq on 19th March 2003.

Since then at least a million people have been killed, at least three million people have been made internal or external refugees, and the country has been laid waste with its infrastructure destroyed and community walled off from community.

I will firstly deal with some of the reasons advanced to support the invasion and occupation. Then I will look at events in the war and compare them with scripture to see how well they match. And then I will outline what I want to achieve from this sermon.

I recognise that this is not The Christian's response to the Iraq War, since some Christians as faithful as me support the invasion and occupation. But neither is it One Christian's response, since many Christians in the US, Canada, and UK have renounced violence and have joined together to actively oppose the war.

I have been asked why I am so burdened by and focussed on the Iraq war. It is because this war is supported by the taxes I pay. You remember the parable of the Good Samaritan? It's like not only being the levite or the pharisee passing by on the other side but also having shares in the band of robbers.

Australia and the US were allies when we invaded Iraq and continue to be allies during the occupation. You might not like to call us accomplices, but it is clear that if we were taken to court our country and its citizens would stand as accessories to what has been done in Iraq.

I don't feel guilty about it, but I do acknowledge my responsibility as a citizen and a tax payer. Some of the blood of a million Iraqis is on my hands, and in my opinion is on the hands of every Australian citizen or taxpayer.

Reasons given to support or acquiesce in the war

Let's look then at some of the reasons given to me in this church as to why we should support the war, or at least condone it. I apologise if my understanding or memory is faulty and I have inadvertently misquoted or misrepresented anyone.

One opinion was that because the leaders of the three main countries who invaded Iraq were Christians the invasion must have been the will of God. Let me remind you that both Jehoshaphat and Josiah, Kings of Judah, were beloved of and faithful to the Lord. And yet both of them despite the Lord's warnings chose to lead their country into unnecessary wars which ruined their country, and both were rebuked by the Lord for so doing.

Frederick Douglass was born and suffered as a slave in America, but taught himself to read and write and taught the New Testament to his fellow slaves. After he escaped he became an eloquent abolitionist and later an episcopalian minister. He refused to observe Thanksgiving Day, and maintained that slavery could not have lasted so long without the support of the Christian church. It is a matter of historical record that most churches before emancipation did little or nothing to oppose slavery. More sermons were preached in favour of slavery than against.

I wonder if Christians a century from now will look back on our support of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and think of us in the same way that we think of the church which supported and maintained slavery.

It is clear from these examples that being a Christian does not make one infallible, or prevent one from doing things which are against the will of God.

I've also been told that churches should stay out of politics and should accept the judgement of our leaders. Do you remember the period in 2004 when the allies we support encircled Fallujah while preparing to destroy the city? While this was happening we were encouraged in this church to sign a petition against laws the state government was considering regarding adoption. And we have invited the leader of the Australian Christian lobby to our men's breakfast.

It makes no sense at all to me to say that we can petition the government to prevent same sex adoption, or invite a lobbyist to speak to us, and say that I should not use the political process to oppose the war.

Reasons to oppose the war

Cleaning up a residential area after we destroyed the sewage works

When I worked in Ontario I was for several years the chairman of the hospital's Critical Incident Review Committee. One of the techniques I used from time to time was to check the hospital's policy and procedure manual and determine whether the staff associated with the incident being reviewed had met standards. We as Christians have our own policy and procedure manual, the Bible, so I'll look at some of the things done by the allies in the Iraq war to see how well they match the will and the practice of God as revealed in the scriptures.

We teach our children, do we not, to ask 'What would Jesus do' when they are faced with difficult situations or peer pressure, and we often sing a chorus encouraging us to do something beautiful for Jesus. I'll also ask whether what we have done or helped to do in Iraq is what Jesus would have done, and whether what we have done or helped to do is beautiful.

'He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?' Micah 6:8

'So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.' Matthew 7:12

'But I tell you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.' Luke 6:27

'Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you did it to me.' Matthew 25:40

'Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.' Matthew 5:9

All the examples from the Iraq war that I will discuss are the results of deliberate policy or the rules of engagement set out by our allies to whom we are accessories. They are not abberations or things done by a few out of control bad apples. They were the results of deliberate, chosen, official, policy or rules of engagement.

Death from the Air. Very early in the war our allies launched a cruise missile intended to assassinate Saddam Hussein. He was not at the target, but about forty entirely innocent civilians, including children, were and were killed. Later in the war fighter planes dropped two 500lb bombs on Abu Musad Al-Zarqarwi and killed him. Tucked away at the bottom of some of the newspaper reports was mention of a female body at the site, and mention of remains thought to be those of a six year old girl. Our Christian leaders celebrated the death of Al-Zarqarwi, but I do not remember seeing any expression of grief for the woman and the child.

Some might say that it was justified to attempt to kill Hussein and to kill Al-Zarqarwi for this reason or that. I vigorously disagree, not least because both were people for whom Christ died. Some might say that it was right to kill the woman in this way for doing Al-zarqarwi's laundry or sharing his bed or whatever she did, though I disagree even more strongly. But what arguments could be presented that it was right to kill the child? What on earth did she do to merit such a death? Does anyone here think that the angels in heaven rejoiced over her death or the deaths of the other lost sheep?

Do these actions of our allies to which we were accessories match the requirement to do justice or to love kindness? We worship the Jesus who rebuked his disciples for shooing away children at one of his sermons and took the children into his arms. Can you imagine Him assassinating anyone? Or deciding that this child and other innocent bystanders were expendable? If He wouldn't do it how can we, as worshippers and followers of Jesus, justify being part of it?

He said to the accusers of the Woman Taken in Adultery that the one among them who was without sin could cast the first stone. In our day I think He would say that the one among us who is without sin can drop the first 500lb bomb or authorise its dropping.

Abdullah, aged 6 when we carpeted a residential area of Basra with cluster bombs

Death Delayed. Early in the war the allies of whom we are accessories sowed the fields around the town of Hilla and the residential areas of Basra with cluster bombs. Cluster munitions are relatively small but deadly bombs which are released together but then fly apart over a wide area. Many of them do not explode immediately, but instead lie there until someone disturbs them. Because of this the great majority of the deaths from cluster munitions occur after, sometimes long after, the bombs were dropped. And it has been known since these things were were first used that the vast majority of the victims of cluster munitions are civilians.

Abdullah, the child in this photograph, was unusual in that he lost his arm and a good part of his abdominal contents from a direct hit rather than because he stumbled on to an unexploded bomb later.

Would we want that anyone would do this to our children? How can we as Christians countenance being part of doing it to someone else's children? Was this doing something beautiful for Jesus?

It's interesting, you know. The prisoners in Guantanamo Bay are said to be the worst of the worst and the most dangerous men on earth. There is no evidence whatever and no accusation that any them have ever used cluster munitions. But we used them and still use them.

Grieving the loss of his family in intersectarian strife

Death by Division. Before we invaded Iraq Shi'ites and Sunnis rubbed along reasonably well, and the country was largely secular. There was sporadic violence and killing, though nothing remotely near the extent it is now five years after we invaded. Marriage between Sunni and Shi'ite was not rare, and mixed communities were the norm. Christians worshiped with few restrictions and churches thrived.

The allies chose to arm the sects and turn them against each other - firstly the Shi'ites against the Sunnis and now the Sunnis against other Sunnis. Against the express wishes of the government of Iraq our allies have erected 12 foot concrete barriers to segregate the communities one from the other. And according to an anglican minister known as the 'Vicar of Baghdad' 90% of his flock has been murdered or have fled.

Jesus told us that peacemakers are blessed, and will be called children of God. I leave it to you to work out what God will call those who foment war and killing and pay people to kill other people, and those who are accessories. We worship the Jesus who wept with Lazarus' sisters and had compassion on Jairus and his wife, and who healed the servant's ear after Peter cut it off when the mob came to arrest Jesus. How do you think He would feel if He were to walk through Baghdad now? Do you think He would say 'Well done, my good and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your Lord?' He said 'as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you did it to me.' I know of no evidence to suggest that Iraqis and Iraqi children are any less his brethren than we are.

Death for a traffic infringement. Late last year in Iraq there lived a Christian widow, Marou Aswanis, by all accounts as faithful and devout as anyone here, and as beloved of God as anyone here. She was driving on the roads of her own country going about her lawful business when she inadvertently drove her taxi too close to a vehicle belonging to a foreign mercenary company. She was murdered without warning in a hail of bullets.

The foreign mercenaries were working for a company which is registered in Australia. They will never be held to account for their behaviour, because foreigners working for the allies are given exemption for whatever they do.

How would we feel, do you think, if the situation was reversed and if one of the women of our congregation was shot dead in Elphin Road, for a traffic infringement, by foreigners who had been given legal immunity by other foreigners?

He has shown you O man, what is good. Is this good? He requires us to do justice. Is this justice? He requires us to love kindness. Is this kindness?

I think that I have presented more than enough evidence to show that the Iraq invasion and occupation do not remotely meet the standards laid out in the Bible.

We must therefore seek other more Christ like ways of achieving peace and safety.

What to I want?

If you agree with me that there is gross discrepancy between the scriptures and what we have done in Iraq then I suggest that agreeing with me is not enough; action is required. James the apostle teaches us that faith without works is dead. I suggest that to be upset about the invasion and the occupation without taking action is to acquiesce in them.

My wife and I moved into a house some time ago which had been empty for a while. The garden was infested with plantain and dandelion weeds. I could I suppose have prayed that God would give me a garden free of weeds, but I thought it better to get some gardening tools and get stuck into removing the weeds myself.

I suggest that praying for peace, if that's all we do, is like praying for a garden free of weeds. We need action as well as prayer.

I have divided the actions I would like to see us take into two groups; short term or detail actions and long term or principle actions.

Short Term: Iran. If you have followed American politics at all you will be aware that there is a distinct possibility that the US will attack Iran in the foreseeable future. I want the congregations of this church and other churches to pressure their members of parliament that the government make an explicit public commitment that Australia will never again become involved in a war of aggression, opposes any attack on Iran, and will not in any way permit any of our forces or resources to be used in such an attack. Would that be so hard or radical? That would indeed be doing something beautiful for Jesus in helping to prevent the same harm being done to the people of Iran as has been done to the people of Iraq.

Short Term: Cluster Munitions. According to the Cluster Munitions Coalition our government has not ruled out the use of cluster bombs, and is one of nine countries trying to ensure that there are exemptions for them from the Oslo Treaty. There is information on their website on how you can influence your member of parliament to prevent this. If you take action like this you will indeed be peacemakers and blessed, and called children of God.

In the longer term, as a matter of principle, I want our church to become a peace church. Jesus is called in the scriptures the Prince of Peace. He is nowhere called the Prince of Fellowship or Prince of Worship or Prince of Ministry or Prince of Evangelism, essential though these activities are in the life of our church. He is called the Prince of Peace. It makes sense to me to take the hint, and make working for Peace as integral a part of the work of our church as anything else we do.

There are churches which have renounced violence, and which have joined together to follow the Prince of Peace and pursue Christ like ways of resolving conflicts. Why not us? The group I know best is Every Church a Peace Church. Their motto is 'The church could turn the world toward peace if every church lived and taught as Jesus lived and taught'.

I intend to present a motion to our annual business meeting that our church join and work with that group. I invite you to check out their website in preparation for the vote.

Dr. A.F.J. Bell