"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition"

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"When peace like a river attendeth my way . . ."
The South Carolina primaries are today. The state is heavy with military training facilities and military personnel so naturally, if you want electoral traction there, you don’t bad-mouth the military. It’s also a “Bible-Belt state” and the combination raises interesting questions about the mindset of some of its residents.
     Take the worldview of one John Long:
As Columbia resident John Long, who attended [Marco] Rubio's morning rally on Friday, said: Military credentials are one thing; faith credentials are another.
     So long as "God and country" are in the mix with the military, he said, he's happy.
     "There's not a Christian church anywhere that doesn't preach exactly the same values that we preach in the military," Long said.
     "The very fact you have such a strong military presence in the Bible Belt, and that's also where the most people volunteer for the military? You think that's a coincidence? Because to me, they go hand in hand." (CBC reporter Matt Kwong, Feb. 20, 2016)
     Then consider Pope Francis’ response to Donald Trump’s assertion that if elected, he will build a wall between the USA and Mexico and deport illegals: "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel," (BBC News, Feb. 18, 2016)
     “There’s not a Christian church anywhere that doesn’t preach exactly the same values that we preach in the military.” Really?? What faith denomination have I been attending all these years? And what Bible leads to such thinking? 
     Perhaps my Anabaptist forefathers revised the Sermon on the Mount text from: Confront your enemies with all the might you have to hand, and pray for their death so that you may be like your heavenly Father who sends rain only on you, the righteous.(Matthew 5: 43-45) 
     My Bible says: You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.(Matthew 5: 44 – Anabaptist Reversed Standard Vision {ARSV} translation?)
     Perhaps John Long’s Bible is still that former, original one.
     But let’s be fair. We don’t want to judge all South Carolinian Republicans by the pronouncement of one John Long. And we don’t want to assume that there’s no chance of misquotation. But if what Long said is accurately reported and if it reflects the general view of those cheering Marco Rubio on at the rally yesterday, then it may be time for us Anabaptists (and all our brothers and sisters in other denominations who actually read scripture thoughtfully) to evaluate what this means to our peace witness in the world. How does the Gospel of Jesus Christ actually admonish us to behave in a world with enemies, and does that just apply to me and my next-door neighbour, or is this really a description of the kingdom Jesus was announcing?
     Are we sympathetic to the old “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” battle song? Are we with Pope Francis or John Long (or Donald Trump or Marco Rubio, for that matter)?
     Or should we be building a wall along the 49th Parallel to protect against possible hordes of “Christians” marching up from the South in lockstep with the US Military at some future time?
     Because if the John Long definition of Christian is the one of which Jesus would have approved, then I’m definitely not one.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 20, 2016 at 7:38 AM

    What is "Christian?" The Maginot and Sigfried lines (walls?) weren't of much significance after the action started in 1939. Walls don't contribute much to either security or humanity. We just came back from my sister's funeral in Winnipeg People spoke of her life in terms of their seeing in her what being a Jesus-follower is really all about. It wasn't about church and state(military) joining identities. It was about active love in which people basked. Thanks Jennie.

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