Would Jesus Celebrate Veterans Day?

On "Veterans' Day" we're supposed to "Honor our Veterans" and say "Thank you for your service."

Here is the thesis of this website:

Unrepentant veterans should be excommunicated from our churches

The Bible commands us to not kill, but to love our enemy. The government says that's "unrealistic," "impractical," even "suicidal."

So the big question is: whom do you trust? Jesus or the Government? The Bible is a long historical narrative that works to assure us that we can trust Jesus. But the Bible is a long story. Thirty thousand verses. There's only 31 words in the Pledge of Allegiance. Most people have never read the Bible and asked themselves, "Would Jesus Celebrate Veterans' Day?"

Would Jesus celebrate "Prostitutes' Day?" or "Tax Collectors' Day?" I think not, even though everyone believed this was "a shrewd career move." "I need to feed my family."

A religion is a world-and-life view. It's comprehensive. There are two different religions in conflict here. Consider these verses from James:

James 1
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James 4:4
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

I'm an old geezer who was born in the year of Sputnik, the Russian satellite that ignited "the Space Race" which was part of "The Cold War." During my lifetime, "my" government (the United States) has killed, crippled, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent, non-combatant, non-white civilians around the world. I maintain that this is evidence of a false, impure religion.

I'd like to prove to you that if you celebrate "Veterans' Day," you need to change your religion. I believe I can do this if you're willing to do the following in 2024:

• Ignore the elections. Cut out at least one hour a day of political chatter, including Facebook, Twitter, podcasts, or news aggregators.
• Don't vote for any politician who promises to take money from pacifists using threats of violence ("taxation" = extortion) and give the money to people who will kill innocent people, or to people who manufacture weapons to kill people or destroy homes, businesses, and hospitals.
• Read the Bible from cover to cover. Each day, ask a question like, "In this passage, is God telling me that it's a good thing or a bad thing for anyone in 2024 to kill people?" Your overall answer to this question will change by the end of the year.
• Read four of the most important books in the history of western civilization. I'll tell you what those four books are in a moment.

Let's define our terms.

• Veteran: Someone who was willing to kill human beings or destroy their property, and risk leaving his own wife a widow and his children fatherless.
• Pacifism: The teaching of Jesus Christ -- "Love your enemies."
• Repent: Admit you violated God's commandment, vow never to do it again, exhort others to not sin the same sin. (Matthew 5:19)
• Excommunicate: Announce to a watching world that someone who once professed to be a Christian has renounced Christ by refusing to repent of the sins of hurting people and taking/destroying their property.

Brainwashing P.O.W.'s

The Bible clearly prohibits leaving your home to invade another country, killing non-combatants and destroying their homes, leaving billions of dollars of weapons in the hands of barbaric terrorists, and possibly leaving your wife a widow and your children fatherless, all in an effort to prop up the U.S. Dollar (Federal Reserve Notes, or "Petro-dollars") or protect the assets of multi-national oil companies.

It takes a Ph.D. to believe this is morally justified.

Or it takes being brainwashed as a prisoner of war.

Christians in the once-Christian United States have undergone 13 (K-12) or 17 (college) years (or more) of brainwashing in prisoner of war camps known as "public schools." The now-secular U.S. government is at war with Christianity. Christians have been taken captive and taught to repudiate their allegiance to Jesus Christ and to place their trust in the State to be the Savior of the World. The most basic tenets of Christianity -- "Thou shalt not kill," and "Love your enemy" are now forgotten.

The failure of our churches

Today's churches ignore basic Christian morality in favor of entertainment and "self-esteem."

Imagine that you witness a member of your church enter a notorious strip club or "adult business." Next time you see him you gently but firmly exhort him not to go there again, but he says he needs to "get out of the house every now and then." Then two or three other church members see him returning to that same strip club, and they talk to him about it, and learn that he purchased a two-year pass to the club. After being confronted by church leadership, the man refuses to stop returning or destroy his two-year pass to the Triple-XXX club and is excommunicated, by which act the church tells the world that this man refuses to repent of his violation of the 7th commandment ("Thou shalt not commit adultery" combined with Jesus' warning about lust) and therefore cannot be considered a Christian until he stops.

Now imagine another church member gets a job with the Mafia as a contract killer. As in the example above, church members follow the procedure in Matthew 18, but he refuses to repent of his violation of the 6th commandment ("Thou shalt not kill") and is excommunicated.

Now imagine both men repent, repudiate their sinful actions, and promise never to commit such acts again. They are re-admitted to fellowship in their church.

Now imagine two men in a different church are drafted by the U.S. government to "serve" in the U.S. armed forces. One man (we'll call him John Doe) accepts an assignment as a sniper, or maybe an assignment dropping bombs in selected countries in the Middle East.

The other man refuses to "serve." He loses his right to work and faces 5 years in prison and an $85,000 fine.

Which man is urged by his church to repent?
Which man is cheered by his church?

The Obviousness of Pacifism

"Everybody knows" that Jesus commanded His followers to be "pacifists," so someone who is willing to kill and steal and neglect his wife and family is by definition not a follower of Christ. That person needs to repent.

1. Love our enemies (Matthew 5:44)
2. Resist not evil (Matthew 5:39)
3. Pay your taxes; don't take up arms against the Red Coats (Matthew 22:21).
4. Turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39)
5. Go the second mile (Matthew 5:41). If you take this verse seriously, it means "national defense" is a sin.
6. Christians should believe that it is always sinful to kill a human being ("Thou shalt not kill." Mark 10:19, quoting Exodus 20:13). (Link goes to an exposition of the 6th Commandment by the Westminster Larger Catechism, which in many ways is a pacifist manifesto.) Better to be killed than to kill.
7. Patrick Henry famously said, "Give me Liberty or give me Death." That's stupid and unBiblical. The Bible says slaves are to serve their masters the way they should serve Christ, not commit suicide so that they don't have to serve anyone. But then, Patrick Henry didn't really mean "give ME death." He meant "Give Death to anyone who threatens to take my Liberty." His famous speech is called "A Call to Arms." It was delivered in a church.
8. During the "Cold War" against Communism, we often heard the slogan, "Better dead than Red." This is a re-branding of Patrick Henry. The Christian should say, "Better Red than dead." Or, "Better to live under the domination of Reds than to turn the Reds into Dead Reds."
9. Christians are commanded to leave vengeance to God (Romans 12:14-21)
10. If you preached a sermon in defense of pacifism, and told members of your congregation not to enlist in the armed services, you would lose most of your members.
11. In short, even if I get snubbed as a "pacifist" (a demeaning epithet, an insult), I will take Jesus seriously and follow Him. [more in-depth: The Case for Pacifism]

America: A Once-Christian Nation

In 1892 the Supreme Court of the United States unambiguously declared that America was "a Christian nation." That decision was thrown out on its ear a few decades later as the 20th century saw the United States become a "secular" nation.

The 1892 case, Holy Trinity Church vs. United States, involved a church which hired a pastor from Great Britain, but was told by an officious immigration bureaucrat that the hiring violated a federal law which, the Court pointed out, was actually designed to prohibit importation of boatloads of Chinese to work on U.S. railroads.

The 20th century case involved a Canadian who wanted to teach at the Yale Divinity School, clearly parallel to the Holy Trinity case. But the Canadian was a Christian who followed the example of the Apostles, who said "We must obey God rather than man." The Canadian respondent, Douglas Clyde Macintosh, refused to promise to bear arms on behalf of the U.S. government if he thought the war was unjust. The Supreme Court ruled that Macintosh could not become a naturalized American citizen because his allegiance to God transcended the allegiance he was willing to give to the U.S. government. The Court said he must render "unqualified allegiance" to the government.

"Unqualified" means you cannot say, "Sure, I'll obey government laws . . . unless they require me to disobey God."

Any government that puts its own laws ahead of God's Law and refuses to be a government "under God" is a government that thinks it  is  God.

Cassius Clay converted to Islam and as Muhammad Ali said he would not fight in a "Christian war." Until the United States Supreme Court unanimously overturned the decision, Ali lost his right to work and faced 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. ($84,069.60 in 2021 dollars)

The Vietnam War was not a "Christian war." No war in the history of the United States can justly be called a "Christian War."

Not even "the good war," World War II. Although he promised to keep us out of foreign wars, Roosevelt, led by Communists in the White House, took the United States into war in order to defeat the forces of anti-communism. In Eastern Europe and the Far East, atheistic communists were the clear winners of World War II and the beneficiaries of the foreign policy of the atheistic ("secular") United States.

Since I was born (post-WWII), the government of the United States has killed, crippled, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent non-combatant civilians. But why blame "the government?" The killing and destruction of trillions of dollars of property was committed largely by church-going "Christians."

Any Christian who willingly kills or dies for an atheistic government should be excommunicated. Better to be in prison with "the least of these" than to kill "the least of these" in an unChristian war. Better to be in prison for 5 years than leave your wife a permanent widow and your children fatherless. The fact that churches don't excommunicate soldiers explains why most Christians lack the discernment and knowledge of the facts to make the right decision. Church-goers are not taught to put God ahead of government, and peace ahead of the military-industrial complex.

In a letter to François Jean de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastellux, April/May, 1788, George Washington wrote:

for the sake of humanity it is devoutly to be wished, that the manly employment of agriculture and the humanizing benefits of commerce, would supersede the waste of war and the rage of conquest; that the swords might be turned into plough-shares, the spears into pruning hooks, and, as the Scripture expresses it, "the nations learn war no more." 

George Washington Coaching - Homeschooling for Adults - This program is "not ready for prime time." I admit I'm not an entrepreneur. Only a couple of people have expressed interest in going through this program. I've also put a few other programs "on the drawing board."

• Prince Of Peace Coaching
• Peacemaker Coaching
• The Anarchist Bible Bet
• Vine and Fig Tree University
• Extraordinary Christian Coaching - The $5,000 Extraordinary Gamble
• Vine & Fig Tree Coaching

They all recommend the same program: Over the next year, read the Bible and four other works on four subjects that have been foundational to Christian ("western") civilization. Ask yourself every day if God wants human beings to form empires and armies, or whether He wants us to beat "swords into plowshares" (Micah 4:3).

The United States has three holidays which honor those who chose war over peace:

• Veterans' Day (those who fought and lived);
• Memorial Day (those who fought and died) and
• Independence Day (those who took up arms to abolish their government).
• ("Armed Forces Day" is a runner-up.)

Shouldn't a Christian nation like America have a day to honor those who withstood the temptation to violence and vengeance and chose peace instead?

On Veterans' Day, the government asks us to honor those who chose to take up a sword.

When people ask, "What would Jesus do?," they should really be asking, "What does Jesus command me to do?"

On Veterans Day the "patriotic" thing to do is to "honor" those who made the choice to join the Armed Forces of the United States, or those who were "drafted" and made the choice to take up the sword rather than go to prison.

So . . .

. . . would Jesus "honor" those who took up a sword?

⁵¹ And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
⁵² But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. ⁵³ Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
Matthew 26:51-53

Obviously my question "Would Jesus Celebrate Veterans Day?" is an attention-grabbing conversation-starting question. Some might think it's a "put-up-your-dukes-and-let's-fight-it-out" kind of question. Designed to start a heated argument.

I hate heated arguments and name-calling.

That's not what I want.

I want to provoke a serious, intelligent, thoughtful, and prayerful conversation, not a fight. I want to discuss how the teachings of Christ can be applied to modern military and foreign policy. I'll try not to call my opponent a "hateful" "warmonger" if my opponents won't just shout me down by chanting the mantra "U-S-A!! U-S-A!! U-S-A!!" over and over to drown out my arguments.

I find it supremely ironic that many veterans and those who are "Rah! Rah!" about the military, and call me names like "pacifist wimp!" and "flower child!" are afraid -- yes, terrorized -- by the prospect of sitting down and intelligently, unemotionally engaging in a rigorous intellectual and Biblical debate of the issues. They don't want to deal in the area of facts, statistics, and logic to confront questions like:

• Was it really worth the deaths of 50-90 million human beings in World War II
  • to prevent Poland and Czechoslovakia from being occupied by the Nazis, only to have Poland and Czechoslovakia occupied by the Communists?
  • Or to prevent China from being occupied by Japanese fascists, only to have China turned over to the Communist mass murderer Mao Tse-tung?
• Was it really worth the deaths of 750,000 Americans to emancipate blacks from somewhat-Christian plantations, only to enslave them in atheistic drug-infested, crime-ridden federal housing projects, and make them permanently unemployable and dependent on their masters in Washington D.C.?
• Was it really worth all the deaths of all the children, fathers, brothers, sons, daughters, sisters and mothers to overthrow the Saddam Hussein regime (previously supported by the U.S.) and erect an Islamic Theocracy in its place, killing or making homeless hundreds of thousands of Christians?
• Is there a single war in U.S. history where economists and scholars from every party can agree that our standard of living was increased, and the power of government over our lives was diminished?

Life, liberty, and property. War destroys all three. Every time. No exceptions.

Sympathy but not Honor

I myself on many occasions have succumbed to temptation. I have taken the easy way out rather than courageously take the hard, narrow road of faithful obedience.

When the "the government" tells us that it is good and right to kill and steal and take vengeance, it's easy to obey the government, and do what it tells us to do. It's especially easy if the government threatens violence against us if we don't.

So I can sympathize with those who were told that joining the armed forces was a shrewd career move, a great adventure, a way to avoid college debt, or the best way to "be all you can be."

If the government tells you that war is honorable, isn't it dishonorable to question the government? Isn't it unpatriotic to suspect that the government's war is unjust?

I sympathize with those who never asked these questions but believed the claims of the government's military recruiters, and genuinely and sincerely wanted to help their country. I used to believe that war was good and veterans should be honored.

But good citizenship demands that we question the lies of our government and its recruiters.

"They Served their Country."

Really?

• They "Served"
  They killed people. They bombed their homes, churches, mosques, schools, hospitals.
• Their "Country"
  Am I their "country?" Not really. Not ordinary people like me.
  Soldiers serve the government in Washington D.C.
  Soldiers serve "the 1%" who run defense industries and those who manufacture weapons under government contracts, issued by politicians who promised those lucrative contracts in exchange for their votes.
  Soldiers serve the foreign policy of those who seek to build a "New World Order."

Henry Kissinger was one of the great architects of U.S. Foreign Policy. It is reported that "In [Army General Alexander] Haig's presence, Kissinger referred pointedly to military men as 'dumb, stupid animals to be used' as pawns for foreign policy."

Another word for "dump, stupid animals" is "sheeple."

We the People cannot be sheeple any longer. We must choose between the government  of the United States in Washington D.C. on the one hand, and America on the other.

America, my country, is an ideal:
• A people who enjoy "Liberty Under God."
• A "City upon a Hill," not a Roman-style empire
• A country once identified by the U.S. Supreme Court as "a Christian nation."
• A place where an immigrant can get off the boat with nothing in his pocket and work and save and eventually live securely under his own "Vine & Fig Tree"

The Federal Government of the United States is an atheistic regime at war with the "Vine & Fig Tree" ideal of "Liberty Under God."

The United States is at war with America.

Armies do not benefit the American ideal of "Liberty Under God." Armies serve the federal government. They do not even defend our borders. They impose the policies of Washington D.C. on people of other nations.

The government in Washington D.C. does not deserve your service. You should not die, you should not allow your neighbor to die, nor should you kill for, the Bush-Obama regime.

The Federal Government of the United States is anti-American.

It is anti-Christ.

So I mourn the dead, but I cannot honor them.

They died in vain.

Death makes Jesus weep, but Jesus would not celebrate or honor the choice to destroy the life, liberty and property of others by joining the military complex of the U.S. Federal Government.

"War is Hell"

"War is Hell" is a phrase attributed to American Civil War general and mass-murderer William Tecumseh Sherman. He was not saying war was bad. He was saying war requires bad things to be done. Veterans fought on the side of hell.

Burns: Well, everybody knows, ‘war is Hell.’
Hunnicutt: Remember, you heard it hear last.
Hawkeye: War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.
Father Mulcahy: How do you figure that, Hawkeye?
Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?
Father Mulcahy: Um, sinners, I believe.
Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell, but war is chock full of them – little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for a few of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.

This website marshals the historical and military evidence that not a single war in which the U.S. was involved, and in which veterans "served," was a "just war."

On this website, we look more closely at the Biblical evidence that war is never justified: Can We Have World Peace in 2024?

Would Jesus approve of the killing of either of these husbands?

Look at the death that surrounds these women.
Does Jesus really extend His Kingdom by death and destruction?
Please leave your thoughtful comments or questions here.
(Mindless violent threats or patriotic spam does not honor anyone.)

1. No war in U.S. history can be justified according to the teachings of Christ. This includes the moral, economic, and political teachings of Christ, which every scholar should respect.

2. To understand why Christians should not honor the decision to become a soldier requires an understanding of

1. The Bible
2. Christian theology
3. Capitalism: The Economics of Non-Violence
4. The Myth of "the Separation of Church and State"
5. The Biblical basis for optimism concerning the future prospect of human progress and world peace

For a defense of the proposition that no U.S. war has been morally, economically, or politically justified, just keep reading down below.

To gain an understanding of

1. The Bible
2. Christian theology
3. Capitalism: The Economics of Non-Violence
4. The Myth of "the Separation of Church and State"
5. The Biblical basis for optimism concerning the future prospect of human progress and world peace

Go here: www.PeacemakerCoaching.org
and sign up for our online home-study program.
The purpose of this program is to help you become a "peacemaker" and enjoy the blessings Christ promises to peacemakers. This program helps you resist the promises of the military recruiters, politicians, and those who are dependent upon government redistribution of wealth. This program will give you a Christian worldview.

Would Jesus Celebrate Veterans Day?
A Christian/Pacifist/Anarchist Inquiry

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

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Luke 17:2 .

There are 100 million self-proclaimed born-again evangelicals in the United States. There are 250 million people in America who would call themselves "Christian," which presumably means "follower of Jesus Christ." Given their disposable income, these millions have the electoral and financial power to completely alter U.S. foreign policy and re-shape the world for peace.

But the vast majority don't take the teachings of Jesus seriously. They believe His teachings apply to "saints" and the super-spiritual, or are only for a future "dispensation." Or else they believe that His teachings are for your "heart," but (because they're "religious") don't have any real application in the "real world" of law, economics, political policy or military strategy.

George Bush did not take Jesus seriously. At least not as "Commander-in-Chief." In the third TV debate in the 2000 primaries, Tom Brokaw is serving as moderator and asks for viewers' questions, getting this: "What political philosopher or thinker...do you most identify with?" Candidate Steve Forbes came out with John Locke. Candidate Alan Keyes came out with the Founders.
The question was repeated: "Governor Bush — a philosopher-thinker and why."
Bush: "Christ, because he changed my heart."

Not because He changed Bush's political policies, foreign policy, or military strategies. Clearly, Jesus has had no impact on Bush's decision to harm children by destroying Iraqi neighborhoods. But Bush may be sincere when he thinks of himself as a follower of Christ, because Bush believes that Christ is Lord in religious areas, just not military areas. After all, it simply isn't "practical" or "realistic" to apply Jesus' teachings to international relations. We can believe Jesus in our hearts, and go to heaven when we die, but applying Jesus' teachings literally in the political or military arena is suicidal. Many people -- even atheists -- agree with Bush in this respect.

This webpage is intended to show that we can and must take Jesus seriously, in every area of life -- even our nation's political life and foreign policy.

The basic issue is: Can Jesus be trusted? If we follow Him, taking His Word seriously, will everything work out OK? Or is the Bible just a fairy tale? Is it just a contradictory collection of feel-good stories and Hallmark-card aphorisms? Something you can believe in your heart, but should keep separate from the State and its foreign policy?

This webpage argues that if we had taken Jesus seriously in the 20th century, things would have worked out better. Many beloved sons and daughters would still be alive. We would not have fought any war in the 20th century, and would not be fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan today. If we had followed Jesus and not fought any wars in the last 200 years, the world would be a better place. If you think that's a nutty idea -- less than "5" on a scale of 1-10 -- we guarantee that if you read this entire page, your rating of that idea will go up 50% or more. In short, this webpage is guaranteed to change your thinking on the issue of war and peace, if only a little.

Here are three controversial ideas.
First, let's take Veterans Day seriously for just a few minutes. That's controversial because most people don't. Like Christmas and Memorial Day, Veterans Day has lost its original significance. Memorial Day now means going to the beach, firing up the bar-b-que, or maybe watching a parade. Veterans Day doesn't even signify a change of seasons. Here's some information on "Veterans Day" from an online encyclopedia:

Veterans Day
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Veterans Day is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world and falls on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)

A Society for Human Resource Management poll in 2010 found that 21 percent of employers planned to observe the holiday in 2011.

Not one American in a million can give a credible statement of why the United States entered World War I, what nation the U.S. fought against, and what that nation is alleged to have done.

Nearly 5 million Americans went off to that war. Did they know why they were going? Should we honor people who just do what they're told? By the end of World War I, there were nearly 40 million KIA, WIA or MIA. Was it worth it? Was the world really a better place for having fought that war and destroyed so many lives and so many homes, farms, churches, libraries, schools, etc.? How would life have been different if "the bad guys" had won?

Veterans are those who were willing to leave their wives widows.

As we saw elsewhere, "Memorial Day" began as a commemoration of the Civil War.

There are two ways to take these holidays seriously.

• One way is to mourn the dead and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).
• The other way is to honor the dead.

The Bible says to mourn the death of soldiers, but never says to honor their choice to fight.

Imagine an immature teenager who sees one of those "extreme" television shows featuring "incredible" stupid stunts. He then tries the stunt at home and dies. We mourn the loss, and console his family. Do we honor his choice? No.

This is an analogy, not a comparison. One can enlist in the armed services without engaging in a stupid stunt, but can be motivated by patriotism, loyalty, self-sacrifice, and other ideals which can be respected. But Nazis and Communists can also serve in their armed forces and be motivated by patriotism, self-sacrifice, love of the "Fatherland" or the "workers revolutionary paradise," and no matter how sincere and well-intentioned they were, we would say they were wrong. While we can mourn their deaths as human beings created in the Image of God, we cannot honor their choice. If the government catches an enemy soldier, it does not honor the passion of his patriotism, it imprisons him.

If a human being chooses to intentionally kill other human beings created in the image of God, does it matter in God's eyes which flag he waves?

If a person pushes a button or pulls a trigger that kills innocent non-combatant civilians, does it matter in God's eyes that the killer was wearing a government uniform?

On Memorial Day, Americans honor those Americans who were killed in uniform.
On Veterans Day, Americans honor those Americas who were not killed, but were willing to be killed. Or willing to kill.
In other words, Americans honor those Americans who chose to fight in a war.

I say "chose" even though many were drafted (conscripted), as in the Vietnam conflict. But they had the power to refuse, even though they may have lost their status or even gone to jail. Jesus underwent worse forms of torture. Even those who are drafted have a choice, and can choose to "do violence to no man" (Luke 3:14), no matter what the penalties.

Would Jesus honor those who chose to fight (or did not choose not to fight)?

Didn't Jesus say "Blessed are the peacemakers"?

Jesus never said "Bless and honor the warmakers."

So our first controversial idea on this Veterans  Day, is to take the holiday seriously, and effectively mourn those who died.

Second controversial idea: Let's take war seriously.

We'll find that no U.S. war has ever been morally justified.

In his Presidential Radio Address of May 26, 2007, President Bush said the following:

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This Memorial Day weekend, Americans honor those who have given their lives in service to our Nation. As we pay tribute to the brave men and women who died for our freedom, we also honor those who are defending our liberties around the world today. On Memorial Day, we pay tribute to Americans from every generation who have given their lives for our freedom. From Valley Forge to Vietnam, from Kuwait to Kandahar, from Berlin to Baghdad, brave men and women have given up their own futures so that others might have a future of freedom. Because of their sacrifice, millions here and around the world enjoy the blessings of liberty. And wherever these patriots rest, we offer them the respect and gratitude of our Nation.

We must challenge the President on every one of these wars. The world was not made a better place by fighting these wars, and Americans should have chosen not to fight them:

"War will exist until the distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige as the warrior does today." -- John F. Kennedy The calculated indifference of the [Clinton] administration to national defense has forced thousands of our most experienced and patriotic warriors to leave the military. We [Republicans] will once again make wearing the uniform the object of national pride. -- Republican National Platform, 2000

During the 20th century, an average of 10,000 people were murdered each and every single day. These people were not murdered by people who are usually called "murderers." That's because the people who did the killing all wore uniforms of the various governments on earth. In the United States, 16,110 people were murdered during all of the year 2002 by "murderers," that is, private enterprise murderers not wearing an official government uniform, whose killings were not officially approved by the government. The government's justification for its own existence is protecting the world from killers. This is a lie.  During the last 15 years, during the Bush I/Clinton/Bush II years, the United States has killed approximately 2,000,000 men, women, and children in Iraq during various Gulf "wars," "operations," and embargoes. That's more than 100,000 per year, almost ten times the number of "private" murders committed per year. On the CBS News program "60 Minutes," on May 12, 1996, Lesley Stahl asked Madeleine Albright, later Secretary of State under Bill Clinton:

Stahl: We have heard that a half million children have died [in Iraq]. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it.

This is a "cost-benefit" question. To evaluate whether the cost was "worth it," you have to ask, "What benefit did we get for the price?"

• The price in the 20th century: 10,000 killed per day, on average, every day for 100 years.
• The price in Iraq in the last 15 years: 8,600 children over five years of age die every month while the number did not exceed 1,600 before "the gulf crisis."

What did these deaths bring us?

• Benefit: Communist enslavement of more than a billion people
• Benefit: an Islamic Theocracy in Iraq, where previously Christians had freedom.

And throughout the world during the 20th century, hundreds of millions of people have been subjugated under atheistic and socialistic tyranny with the aid of the nation that was supposed to be "a city upon a hill": the U.S.of A.

What causes us to honor those who wore a uniform for the world's largest killing machine? Why do we not honor those who refused to fight, and chose peace? How should the Christian react to "Veterans  Day?"

I believe Christians should be outraged, and should vigorously protest the killing. Those who voluntarily don a uniform to kill for money, for college tuition, for "job training," or for kicks, should be excommunicated. As it is, in churches across America, the killers are honored.

With the exception of an occasional sociopath, all the killers in the 20th century believed they were doing good. Germans who killed Jews were protecting "the fatherland," preserving the "national security of Germany," or were just honorably "following orders." For Muslims, killing infidels is a matter of sincere religious duty. Russians who shot Ukrainian farmers carried out "the will of the People." Americans napalmed South Vietnamese villages because "It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it." Save them from Communism, of course, which Americans believe is a fate worse than death by napalm. 10,000 murders a day requires a lot of people wearing uniforms, and all of them believed they were doing their patriotic duty. None of them thought of themselves as doing "evil" just because they were killing human beings or engaging in violent destruction of property.

I want to think about Veterans  Day with a view to creating a plan that will get hundreds of millions of people to think that killing is evil. Given the billions of people who believe killing is justified if ordered by the government or a false religion, this is a huge undertaking.

I've don't think I've ever heard a "Veterans Day Sermon." But every year I hear a "Memorial Day Sermon."

I can't recall ever hearing a Memorial Day sermon in which the preacher did not dutifully remind the congregation that "Jesus was not a pacifist." But Jesus clearly was a pacifist. He died because He did not defend Himself against evil aggressors, even though He was perfectly innocent. If Jesus was not a pacifist, His followers would have fought to keep Him from being delivered up to death (John 18:36). But He told them, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52). Down below are dozens of verses which strongly suggest that the Bible advocates pacifism (which comes from the Latin word for "peace.").

In fact, the Bible is so strongly pro-peace that we offer you this controversial suggestion: On Veterans Day, let us not honor those who were willing to leave their wives widows. Let's not honor their choice to fight. In fact, let's make the suggestion even more controversial:

Wow, that's pretty crazy, huh?

I'm not interested in debating the details of church discipline, excommunicating people, or anything like that, I'm interested in provoking some serious thought about war and peace. If you think it's ridiculous to claim that "Christians should be against war," please keep reading, and I'll wager you won't think the claim is quite so ridiculous when you're finished reading. I'm confident that if you work through this website, focus, pray, take a break halfway through and get a second wind, then continue asking tough questions, you'll be a different person than you are right now.

Another thing I hear in Memorial Day sermons every year is the de rigueur citation of James 4, which says,

1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

This text, like many others in the New Testament, seems to move us to oppose war. But on Memorial Day, the preacher virtually pooh-poohs the verse and goes on to claim that there are some noble reasons to go to war, though there are never any verses quoted which say the ultimate cause of war is holiness and righteousness and following the Prince of Peace.

Consider this controversial claim:

If I can prove this claim, your attitude towards the teachings of Jesus will be radically transformed. If you're like most people, you've been taught that Jesus was at least sort of a pacifist, He said a lot of things about peace that are good for our private lives, but are completely out of place in "the real world." But "the real world" would be a much better place if we followed Jesus literally and became pacifists.

"But aren't some wars justified? Isn't it a positive good to fight in some wars?"

If you believe this, you should take a year to study America's wars. Take an hour a day. Treat it like a college class. In lieu of that large undertaking, let's take a half-hour to quickly review America's wars. Were any justified? Did any have the long-term effect of making the world a better place? Really? Let's look at these wars:

• America's War for Independence - 108,000 deaths
  • What would Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson think about George W. Bush and Barack Obama? Better than King George III? Did thousands of Americans die in vain?
• The "Civil War" - nearly 700,000 deaths
  • What would William Wilberforce think about the way blacks are treated in Federal Housing Projects, inner city public schools, and rap music? Better than a southern plantation?
  • Is the Constitution observed more faithfully today than it was before Lincoln?
• World War II - (1937-45): as many as 84,609,000 deaths
  • The United States consigned a billion people to communism. Better than fascism?
• Iraq - 1980-2007 - a minimum of 2,000,000 deaths attributable to U.S. sanctions, military aid, and military intervention in Iraq/Iran
  • Christians had freedom under Saddam Hussein. Today most Iraqi Christians are dead or homeless, and Iraq is an Islamic Theocracy. An improvement that would please Jesus Christ? "Worth the cost?"
• Summary: Has U.S. Military Power Been a Force For Good or Evil? - Zero Aggression Project

Admittedly, I have cited the highest estimated casualties in these wars. If you find this objectionable, I would ask you to cite the lowest number of casualties which you believe are both (1) accurate and (2) morally acceptable to Jesus.

America's War for Independence

Let's start with the first war in America's history (though I don't intend to examine each and every one of the over 100 "wars," "conflicts," "police actions," etc. that America has been involved in since 1776). That would be the war that gave birth to the United States of America, the "War for Independence."

What would Jesus say about those who chose to take up arms against "the Redcoats?"

I have created a website that goes into this question in greater detail:

www.WouldJesusCelebrateIndependenceDay.com

I heard a Memorial Day sermon in which the preacher asked, "Is it ever right to fight?" He said, "We are free because our Founding Fathers fought." Are we free? Should they have fought?

Consider this parable and a few Bible passages:

Date: April 19, 1775   Imagine a young man about 23 years old. As an agent of the British Empire, he wears a red coat. He believes that the colonies face a situation of "anarchy" and chaos. For generations, the British government has maintained law and order, and he has been told that social stability is threatened by lawless hordes of colonists who vandalize tax-paying merchants while dressed as Indians. Based on reports of a large cache of arms in Lexington and threats of armed revolution, he has been sent away from his family in Liverpool to help maintain order in the colonies.
       As a good Christian, this young man believes that God has ordained government to preserve peace and good order. He believes armed revolution against the government is a violation of Romans 13. He's proud to serve in His Majesty's armed services.
       Oh dear. This nice young man has just had a large part of his face and shoulders blown away by the musket fire of an outraged tax-resister. The colonist (and others like him) apparently believed that this young British soldier evinced "a design to reduce them under absolute despotism." As the officer lies dying in a pool of his own blood, the revolutionary "minute-man" rejoices in his victory over this red-coat's objective of the "establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states." (Quotes from the Declaration of Independence)
       Is this a loving (1 Corinthians 13:5-7) or righteous (John 7:24; Exodus 23:2; Prov. 24:21) judgment of this young human being? Was this soldier a budding Adolph Hitler, or a "good Christian family man"?

Was this revolutionary killing the beginning, or the end, of a Christian nation?

Consider these Bible passages, which have been slightly altered to fit the context. (Don't just read them, but prayerfully ask yourself, if these are the commands of Christ, how can a follower of Christ justify killing government officials?):

Romans 12-13 {1} I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
         {2} And be not conformed to the world of the Scottish Enlightenment: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
         {3} For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
         {10} Be kindly affectioned one to the British with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
         {11} Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
         {12} Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
         {13} Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitable quartering of troops. (cf. 3rd Amendment of the Bill of Rights.)
         {14} Bless the "Red Coats" which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
         {16} Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
         {17} Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
         {18} If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with the British.
         {19} Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
         {20} Therefore if an enemy soldier hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
         {21} Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
         {13:1} Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are set in place by God.
         {2} Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, throwing tea into the harbor, or firing muskets upon them from behind trees, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
         {3} For archist red coats are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
         {4} For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
         {5} Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
         {6} For for this cause pay ye taxes without representation: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
         {7} Render therefore to all their dues: taxes to whom taxes are due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
         {8} Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
         {9} For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
         {10} Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

1 Peter 2:11-24 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
         {12} Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
         {13} Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to king George III, as supreme;
         {14} Or unto parliament, as unto them that are sent by Him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
         {15} For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
         {16} As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
         {17} Honour all the British. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
         {18} Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
         {19} For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
         {20} For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
         {21} For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps:
         {22} Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth:
         {23} Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously:
         {24} Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed.

Matthew 5:38-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
         {39} But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
         {40} And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
         {41} And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
         {42} Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
         {43} Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
         {44} But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
         {45} That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
         {46} For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
         {47} And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
         {48} Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Proverbs 24:21 My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change; for their calamity will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin those two can bring?

Exodus 23:2 Thou shalt not follow a crowd to do evil.

These verses make obvious what every conservative Christian fears: Jesus was a pacifist. Jesus died a pacifist, telling his followers not to take up arms to defend Him, even though He was sinlessly innocent, and His imminent arrest was totally unlawful and immoral. If His murder isn't a case for justifiable defense, nothing is. But Jesus prohibited it, and then we are told to "follow in His steps" on precisely this issue. The Bible teaches pacifism. The follower of Christ seeks peace. Click here for a few more verses to prove this (they might still be visible in the column at right, depending on your browser and font size).

And history teaches that war is unjustified. Again, something conservatives fear, but don't want to think about it.

The American Revolution would be considered the most "American" of all wars, and no patriotic love-it-or-leave-it American would suggest that the War for Independence was immoral and unChristian. But I would. It was immoral, unChristian, and an obvious violation of Romans 13, which was originally written to Christians living under violent military occupation by the barbaric and pagan Roman Empire, and surely applies to Christians living under a more benevolent government like eighteenth-century England.

If we should not spend Veterans  Day celebrating the willingness of Americans to take up arms in the War for Independence, what does it say about Americans who celebrate the "Fourth of July?" Do we expect to impress America's Founding Fathers by honoring their military efforts? They risked "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" to rebel against an essentially Christian nation. What are we willing to risk against a secular regime many times more tyrannical?

The war that gave birth to America was not justified, but those that rebelled had more integrity than we do, since we do very little against an empire far more tyrannical. 

We'll discuss the 20th century and how we can reverse the damage done by America, but let's first consider our most recent disaster, Iraq.

The War in Iraq

On the left is some information about early America. On the right is some information about the government created in Iraq by the new and improved secularized United States at a projected cost of nearly a trillion dollars and too many human casualties to count:

Every single person who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution would be outraged at the fact that the United States

• has a huge standing army,
• which is being used to kill thousands, if not millions,
• of innocent non-combatant civilians,
• with no constitutionally-declared war,
• in order to establish an Islamic Theocracy.

The more you know about America's Founding Fathers, the more you know all this to be true. They would be outraged.

The Civil War

The USMemorialDay.org website gets us thinking about another of America's disastrous wars. It says:

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868....

General Order 11 begins:

Why should the South have not been allowed to secede from the union? Was it really necessary for 700,000 Americans to die to impose by force a compulsory union on a supposedly "free" people? Were blacks less free on a Christian plantation in the South than they are in a drug- and gang-infested Christ-free federal housing project in Chicago, without skills or good character, chronically unemployable, without known father or grandfather, unable even to imagine success for any out-of-wedlock children they may conceive but will never parent, making up for the fact that the federal government is father to their children by joining gangs and puncturing society with acts of violence? The Civil War was completely unjustified.

"But we couldn't allow the South to get away with slavery," some would say. Slavery was legal in all 13 of the original American colonies, and if the North was justified in preventing the South from seceding because they permitted slavery, then Britain was justified in keeping the colonies from their rebellion. Britain arguably abolished slavery decades before the United States, without firing a shot. New York had slaves into the 1850's, and New Jersey did not end slavery until 1865. The first "emancipation proclamation" was Lord Dunmore’s, the Royal Governor of Virginia, in 1775, promising freedom to slaves who would defect against the colonial rebels.

More from General Order No. 11:

Why are the soldiers of the North called "defenders" when they were the aggressors? The South just wanted to secede, not take over the North.

Once again we have to ask, "Was the cost worth it?" Why was it so much better to kill 700,000 human beings, most of them professing Christians, than to have a "United States of America" and a "Confederate States of America?" At the end of World War II the Allies divided the German Republic into East and West. Why did so many Americans have to die to prevent the U.S. from being divided into North and South?

One could argue that both the South and the North dishonored the flag. But was the North justified in creating widows and orphans in the South? Would Jesus honor them for their killings? It is not surprising to learn that

The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). (USMemorialDay.org)

But that was the result of WWII. Eastern Europe was given to Soviet Communism, and much of Asia was given to Chinese Communism. And when the federal government had a chance before 1945 to rescue Jews, it refused to do so. One example: a boat full of Jews escaping Hitler came to the U.S., but Roosevelt prohibited the ship to dock on U.S. soil. The story | The details | More about WWII.

Ask the same question about every war: "Was it worth the cost?" The "cost" is easy to determine, in lives lost and property destroyed. But when we ask "Was it worth the cost," the "it" is usually harder to define. Was it "a war to end all wars?" Was it "to make the world safe for democracy?" Usually none of the stated goals of the war actually were achieved. So what were the actual results of the war, and were these results worth the cost? Not once, I would argue. Not a single time. Click here for a list of all U.S. wars since 1776, compiled by the U.S. Naval Historical Center. Not one of them was worth the cost. Jesus would not have commanded His followers to kill human beings in order to achieve the promised results of these wars, much less the actual results of these wars. And we shouldn't honor those who refuse to follow Christ.

On Memorial Day 2010, David Boaz quotes Mark Helprin’s column, which included these lines:

Though if by and large we ignore the debt we owe to those who fell at Saratoga, Antietam, the Marne, the Pointe du Hoc, and a thousand other places and more, our lives and everything we value are the ledger in which it is indelibly recorded.

Does Helprin think that all of America’s wars have been necessary to American freedom? True, he doesn’t allude to any of our wars since World War II in his list of hallowed places. But he does mention the Second Battle of the Marne, the great turning point of World War I and the first battle in which Americans started experiencing the enormous casualties that Europeans had been facing for nearly four years. The problem is that World War I was a catastrophe, a foolish and unnecessary war, a war of European potentates that both England and the United States could have stayed out of but that became indeed a World War, the Great War. In our own country the war gave us economic planning, conscription, nationalization of the railroads, a sedition act, confiscatory income tax rates, and prohibition. Internationally World War I and its conclusion led directly to the Bolshevik revolution, the rise of National Socialism, World War II, and the Cold War. World War I was the worst mistake of the 20th century, the mistake that set in motion all the tragedies of the century. The deaths of those who fell at the Marne are all the more tragic when we reflect that they did not in fact serve to protect our lives and all that we value.

Our third controversial idea:
Let's Take the Bible Seriously

The same people who tell us that we should honor those who chose to kill and destroy others in defense of "our" government tell us that we can't mix the Bible and politics. We can't use the Bible as the basis for our political, military, and foreign policy decisions.

So here's where we are.

• First, Jesus was a pacifist and the Bible commands us to seek peace.
• Second, every war in American history was unjustified and unChristian.
• Our national policy should be never to fight.
• We should honor those who refuse to fight more than we honor those who fought.
• If we would spend trillions of dollars evangelizing potential enemies rather than killing them, or bombing them "back to the stone age," God will bless our nation with "national security."

It seems obvious to me, but at this point, you may be saying to yourself, "I'm not changing my mind. Sure, some of this is interesting, but nobody's perfect." This is not about achieving some saintly, ethereal level of super-spirituality. This is rock-bottom bedrock minimum level Christianity: "Thou shalt not kill." "Love your enemy." When someone does something you don't like, you don't kill him -- at least if you're a follower of the executed Christ.

"But Jesus was not a pacifist," we're told in pulpits every Memorial Day. This claim is always based on Jesus overturning the tables in the temple. But what are Christians commanded to do in the face of "tables" of warmaking? Shouldn't we overturn them? In fact, Christians have done so. Over the centuries, Christians have applied the teachings of Christ to international conflict, and through the use of such ideas as "just war theory," the world became incomparably more humane than it was in the ancient world, where "an eye for an eye" operated on a national scale. The number of wars recorded in the Old Testament is staggering. When ancient Assyria conquered a city, for example, it left a mound of human skulls at the gates as a lesson to other nations that would not heed Assyria's demands. Up until 1776, Christianity was eliminating this terror, vengeance, and mass-slaughter from civilized society. In fact, civilized society is another word for Christian society.

But during the 20th century, Christians have become more "pacifist" in the worst sense of that misunderstood word, by retreating from the world, yearning for "the Rapture," and passively allowing atheists to secularize this once-Christian nation. Some say this retreat began in 1925 with the Scope's Trial, in which evolution seemed to gain the upper hand over creationism. But the retreat began even before that.

As a result of Christian retreat, formerly Christian nations around the world became secularized, and their military and political leaders -- Christians in name only -- plunged the world into mass death on an unprecedented scale.

Since I became a pacifist years ago, I've talked (debated) with many people. Not very successfully, I confess. I've concluded that there are only two ways to convince most conservative "Bible-believing" Christians to become pacifists.

First, they must be convinced that peace is possible. Right now, the vast majority of Christians believe that peace is impossible because war is predestined. We are moving inexorably toward Armageddon, according to millions of copies of best-selling Christian fiction. We are in the "last days" of earth history, the last days before a billion people are destroyed in the Battle of Armageddon, and the entire planet is annihilated after the Christians are "Raptured."

If war and destruction is predestined, why resist the inevitable? And by "resist" I don't mean "be a pacifist war resister," I mean resist destruction by enlisting in the military and fighting the destroyers, by taking up arms against the "enemy." Why fight a war to end war if war is inevitable? Why not follow Jesus, and die like He did, without killing anyone on the way out? If we can't create peace on earth, why not go out following Jesus instead of going out killing others?

"Christians" who believe the world is getting worse and war is inevitable still feel the need to participate in those wars, rather than speak out for peace.

I believe something completely different. I believe the prophecy of Micah 4, and I created an organization in 1979 to promote this belief. The organization is called "Vine & Fig Tree," ( http://VFTonline.org ) and here is Micah's vision:

I believe the fulfillment of this prophecy was made possible at Christ's First Coming, and we are not to wait for a Second Coming before peace is possible. We should begin hammering our swords into plowshares today.

The Apostle Peter says a thousand years is as a day to the Lord (2 Peter 3:8) so we've just started the third "day" of Christian history, and already tremendous progress has been made. Christian theologians before 1776 tempered the residual harshness of ancient practices like war, even as Christians have continued (though never perfectly) to follow Christ and proclaim His pacifist teachings. If the Apostles were to travel through time into our age, they would see the tremendous effects of Christianity: our freedoms, our health and welfare, and the fact that billions of people in our day are relatively free from war. What we need to do is grow up, mature, be courageous, and eliminate the remaining wars. A hundred million committed Christians in the United States is all that is required to accomplish this.

Coming to believe this requires a major transformation in thinking which can only be accomplished in one way, I've concluded. In order for your average conservative Bible-believing Christian to oppose war and work for peace, he or she must read through the entire Bible in one year, asking a set of specific questions along the way:

• Does this passage justify killing by "the government" in our day?
• Does this passage justify stealing by "the government" in our day
• Does this passage justify kidnapping ("conscription") by "the government" in our day?

Keep a journal, and when you've finished reading the entire Bible from cover-to-cover, go back and re-assess your "yes" answers.

The Declaration of Independence speaks of "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Romans 1 says mankind shows the work of the law written on his heart. All human beings know that God exists, and that we are not to kill and not to steal.

If killing is wrong, and if taking other people's money by force is wrong, then how do we justify government vengeance and taxation to fund it?

We can't. Nowhere in Scripture does God override the commands not to steal ("tax") and kill ("bold new foreign policy").

If you would like to survey the Bible in about two hours, you can see what this year-long Bible study will reveal. I have summarized this view in a format made famous by Martin Luther: 95 Theses.

The 95 Days of Christmas

OK, maybe it will take more than two hours to look up all the verses cited. So let me state two propositions:

1. Nowhere in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, does God ever say to man, "I think now is the time to form an institution which substitutes vengeance for love of enemy, and funds all its activities by theft and fraud, buttressed with threats of unspeakable violence."
   Concerning the language of Romans 13 ("the powers that be are ordained of God"), James Benjamin Green, in his Harmony of the Westminster Standards, noted that: "It is not meant that God directly ordained the state by saying to man, Thou shalt set up a government or organize a commonwealth."
2. The urgency and imminency with which the New Testament speaks of the Second Coming was vindicated in A.D. 70 when Christ returned to take vengeance on Israel and utterly terminate the Old Covenant and its temple. These verses were not looking forward to fulfillment thousands of years later. We are not in "the last days" of the Old Covenant, we are in the first days of the New Heavens and New Earth inaugurated by Christ.

Proposition #1 above teaches that laissez-faire capitalism is Biblical, and socialism is not. Some have called this "anarcho-capitalism," and Christians go ga-ga over the word "anarchism." This is because they have fallen prey to the biggest socialist lie in human history. In the Bible, "anarchists" are not bad. "Archists" are bad. Christ commanded His followers not to be "archists" (Mark 10:42-45). Use whatever word you want to describe people who follow Christ, and who do not attempt to dominate others using violence or compulsion. They are not archists.

Proposition #2 above teaches us that Christ's Kingdom grows like a mustard seed into a huge tree. It also teaches us that the Kingdom is not handed to us on a silver platter. Micah says we must move our legs and get on the road to the House of the Lord. We have to beat our own swords into plowshares. None of this is done for us while we watch TV.

Combined with pacifism, these themes completely re-orient a person's understanding of the Bible. But only these themes allow a person to be a dedicated follower of Christ. Otherwise, too much of what Christ says seems misguided, irrelevant, appropriate only for a future dispensation, or directed only to "saints" and "super-spiritual" people, not ordinary Americans.

If you want help reading and studying the Bible, and becoming a true follower of "The Prince of Peace," go here and get a coach:

www.PrinceOfPeaceCoaching.com 

My goal is to get one hundred million Americans to read or re-read the Bible and specifically ask themselves if "anarchism," preterism, and pacifism are true or not. Then, after this one-year study convinces them that they are true, commit to at least one hour a month working for peace. This will include contacting politicians, generals, and CEOs of the military-industrial complex, along with ordinary voters and workers, and urging them to repent of war-voting and war-making. One hundred million Christian Americans will constitute the most formidable political power on earth. They will be a voting block that will change the way the world's greatest super-power does business.

The sad fact is, that the United States has done more to promote war than any other nation. The encouraging fact is that the United States has the power to become a "City upon a hill," and Christianize the world -- without the sword.

About the Author

I've worn a uniform. I didn't exactly volunteer, but I wasn't drafted. My parents insisted. At their strong urging ("You will or we're disinheriting you.") I donned the uniform of the U.S. Air Force. I confess my obedience was not cheerful, but grudging. When I had an opportunity to get out before doing any "active service" of any kind, I left. But I actually have an "Honorable Discharge" from the U.S.A.F.

I was not raised a pacifist. There was a time when I would have not even read, much less agreed with, the article I am now writing. People who spoke out against war and the U.S. government were "commies." My father was part of what President Eisenhower called "the military-industrial complex." Dad was not pleased when I turned my back on a full college scholarship from the military.

But in my junior year of high school I became a six-day creationist. A decade after getting out of the military, in a deposition before a federal district court in Los Angeles, I explained how my becoming a creationist led me to become a pacifist. You can read it here. I was in court because I was being denied a license to practice law in California, even though I successfully passed the California Bar Exam (which I've been told is the toughest bar exam in the world). I discovered a fact of which most Christians are not aware. America was once a Christian nation, but now is an atheistic nation, and if your allegiance to God is greater than your allegiance to the now-secular government, you cannot take the oath to "support the constitution" which is required of all attorneys, all public servants, all members of the armed services, most public school teachers, and many other occupations. I tried to get an exception to this rule in my case, but was turned down by the federal courts and the Supreme Court of California.

So the first thing we have to deal with is the fact that anyone who volunteers for the armed services must take an oath which identifies them as an "infidel," or unbeliever.

I know that sounds crazy. Every single person who signed the U.S. Constitution would say that's crazy. But it's true. My final brief was written by three well-known professors of Constitutional Law and a former California State Supreme Court Justice. It was denied by the same court that ruled that California school children could not say the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Another decision which I would describe as crazy, but true. Details on my case are here:

http://i.am/not-a-lawyer

I say again that on Memorial Day Americans do more than mourn the dead and assist their families. They honor the choice to fight. They honor their choice to be warmakers instead of peacemakers. Speaking as a six-day creationist pacifist, I would rather go to prison and be sodomized than kill a human being. And there are a lot of Veterans who are still traumatized by what they were ordered by their government to do. More veterans have committed suicide than have been killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need a holiday to honor peacemakers, based on the Biblical idea that war is evil.   [more]  [top]

After being sworn in as President of the United States, George Washington delivered his "Inaugural Address" to a joint session of Congress. In it Washington declared:

[I]t would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves . . . .  In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and . . . can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage.
[W]e ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained . . . .
Messages and Papers of the Presidents, George Washington, Richardson, ed., vol. 1, p.44-45

(Luke 6:27-28) But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, {28} Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

(Luke 2:14) Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

(Luke 1:77-79) To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, {78} Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, {79} To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

(Hebrews 12:14) Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

(1 Peter 3:9) Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called--that you might inherit a blessing.

(1 Peter 2:21-23) For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: {22} Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: {23} Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously:

(Romans 12:17-20) Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. {18} If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. {19} Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. {20} Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink:

(Psalm 34:14) Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

(Psalm 35:20) For they do not speak peace, but they conceive deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.

(Psalm 37:11) But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

(Psalm 37:37) Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

(Psalm 72:7) In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.

(Psalm 85:10) Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

(Psalm 119:165) Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

(Psalm 120:2-7) Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.{5} Woe is me, {6} My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. {7} I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

(Psalm 122:6-8) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. {7} peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. {8} For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, peace be within thee.

(Proverbs 3:17) The ways of Wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

(Proverbs 12:20) Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy.

(Proverbs 16:7) When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

(Isaiah 9:6-7) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of peace. {7} Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

(Isaiah 26:12) O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.

(Isaiah 32:17-18) And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. {18} And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

(Isaiah 48:18) O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

(Isaiah 48:22) There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

(Isaiah 52:7) How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

(Isaiah 54:13) And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

(Isaiah 55:12) For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

(Isaiah 57:19) I create the fruit of the lips; peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

(Ephesians 2:14-17) For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; {15} Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; {16} And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: {17} And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

(Isaiah 59:8) The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

(Isaiah 60:17) For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.

(Isaiah 66:12) For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.

(Ezekiel 34:25) And I will make with them a covenant of peace

(Ezekiel 37:26) Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

(Daniel 4:1) Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; peace be multiplied unto you.

(Daniel 6:25) Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; peace be multiplied unto you.

(Nahum 1:15) Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

(Haggai 2:9) The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

(Zechariah 6:13) Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

(Zechariah 8:16) These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

(Zechariah 8:19) Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

(Zechariah 9:10) And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

(Malachi 2:5-6) My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. {6} The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

(Malachi 2:6) The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

(Romans 1:7) To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Romans 2:10) But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

(Romans 3:10-18) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: {11} There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. {12} They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. {13} Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: {14} Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: {15} Their feet are swift to shed blood: {16} Destruction and misery are in their ways: {17} And the way of peace have they not known: {18} There is no fear of God before their eyes.

(Romans 8:6) For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

(Romans 10:15) And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

(Romans 14:17-19) For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. {18} For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. {19} Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

(Romans 15:33) Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

(Romans 16:20) And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

(1 Corinthians 1:3) Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

(1 Corinthians 14:33) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

(2 Corinthians 1:2) Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 Corinthians 10:3-5) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: {4} (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) {5} Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

(2 Corinthians 13:11) Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

(Galatians 1:3) Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

(Galatians 5:22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

(Galatians 6:16) And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

(Ephesians 1:2) Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Ephesians 4:3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(Ephesians 6:15) And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

(Ephesians 6:23) peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Philippians 1:2) Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Philippians 4:9) Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

(Colossians 1:2) To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Colossians 1:20) And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

(Colossians 3:15) And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

(1 Thessalonians 1:1) Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(1 Thessalonians 5:23) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 Thessalonians 1:2) Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(2 Thessalonians 3:16) Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

(1 Timothy 1:2) Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

(1 Timothy 2:2) For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

(2 Timothy 1:2) To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

(2 Timothy 2:22) Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

(Titus 1:4) To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

(Philemon 1:3) Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(James 3:17-18) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. {18} And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

(Hebrews 13:20) Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

(1 Peter 1:2) Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

(1 Peter 3:11) Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

(1 Peter 5:14) Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

(2 Peter 1:2) Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

(2 Peter 3:14) Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

(2 John 1:3) Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

(3 John 1:14) But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.

(Jude 1:2) Mercy unto you, and peace and love, be multiplied.

(Revelation 1:4) John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

More Bible Verses about War, Peace, and Pacifism:
For deeper understanding, look up these scripture verses in your own Bible and read them in context.

Sixth Commandment

Thou shalt not kill

Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Luke 6

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. ²⁹ To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. ³¹ And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

³² “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. ³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

³⁷ “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

The Sovereignty of God - Providence

Deuteronomy 20:1
“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

1 Samuel 8:11-13
¹¹ And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹² He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.

Psalm 20:7
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

Psalm 46:9
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.

Psalm 76:6
At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.

Isaiah 31:1 Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD!

Matthew 10.28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Romans 8.37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Colossians 1.16 for in him [the son] all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.

Hebrews 1.2-3 In these last days [God] has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Luke 12:22 And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on.

Humility

Luke 6:37 "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Luke 6:42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ’Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Overcoming Evil

1 Peter 3.8 Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind. :9 Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing.

Romans 12.17-21 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." 20 No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good .

1Thessalonians 5:15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.

THE ROOTS OF WAR

James 4
4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? ² You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.⁴ Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Galatians 5.19-23 Now the works of the flesh are clear, which are these: evil desire, unclean things, wrong use of the senses, 20 Worship of images, use of strange powers, hates, fighting, desire for what another has, angry feelings, attempts to get the better of others, divisions, false teachings, 21 Envy, uncontrolled drinking and feasting, and such things: of which I give you word clearly, even as I did in the past, that they who do such things will have no part in the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith, 23 Gentle behavior, control over desires: against such there is no law.

Matthew 6.24 You cannot serve God and mammon.

Luke 4.5 Then the devil led Jesus up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."

THE WAY OF PEACE

Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good-will.

John 14.27. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.

Matthew 5.9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.

James 3.18. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace.

Romans 10.15. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace.

Ephesians 6.14 f. Stand therefore . . . having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Ephesians 4.1-3 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith you were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Hebrews 12.14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord.

Romans 16.20. The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.

2 Corinthians 13.11 Finally, brethren . . . be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Philippians 4.7 The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus..

THE VICTORY of SELFLESSNESS

Matthew 11:29. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Philippians 2:5 10. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow.

Matthew 5:3, 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:25-28. You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Matthew 23.12 Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.

1 Peter 5:5 -6. God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

THE COMMANDMENT OF LOVE

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

Galatians 5.14 The whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Romans 13.10, 8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments ... are summed up in this word, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Matthew 5.44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

John 13:34 f. A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples.

1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

I Corinthians 13.4 f. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ... bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

1 Thessalonians 3.12. The Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward one another, and toward all men.

1 Peter 1:22. Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently.

1 Peter 4.8. Above all things be fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covers a multitude of sins.

THE DUTY OF FORGIVENESS

Luke 23:34. Jesus said, 'Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.'

Mark 11.25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Luke 17.3 f. If your brother sin, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he sin against you seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to you saying, I repent; you shall forgive him.

Colossians 3.12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Ephesians 4:31f. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.

CHRIST S WAY OF MEETING EVIL

1 Peter 2.21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly.

Matthew 26.47 And while [Jesus] was still talking, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a band armed with swords and sticks, from the chief priests and those in authority over the people. 48 Now the false one had given them a sign saying, The one to whom I give a kiss, that is he: take him. 49 And straight away he came to Jesus and said, Master! and gave him a kiss. 50 And Jesus said to him, Friend, do that for which you have come. Then they came and put hands on Jesus, and took him. 51 And one of those who were with Jesus put out his hand, and took out his sword and gave the servant of the high priest a blow, cutting off his ear. 52 Then says Jesus to him, Put up your sword again into its place: for all those who take the sword will come to death by the sword. 53 Does it not seem possible to you that if I make request to my Father he will even now send me an army of angels? (BBE)

John 18.36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (KJV)

John 12:47. I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

Luke 9:54 f. When his disciples saw this, they said, Lord, would you that we bid fire to come down from heaven, and consume them? But he turned and rebuked them.

1 Corinthians 4:12. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we intreat.

James 4:12. One only is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to destroy: but who are you that judge your neighbor?

Matthew 7:12 In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

Luke 6:27 f. Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.

Matthew 5.39. Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smites you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

I Corinthians 6:7. Why not rather take wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?

2 Timothy 2:24. The Lord s servant must not strive, but be gentle towards all forbearing in meekness, correcting them that oppose themselves.

Romans 12:14 f. Bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not. . . . Render to no man evil for evil.... If you can, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with all the world... Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." But if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

1 Thessalonians 5.15 . See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all.

1 Peter 3:8 f. Finally, be you all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, : humble minded not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were you called, that you should inherit a blessing.

THE WAY OF THE CROSS

Romans 5:8. God commends his own love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Hebrews 12 :2. Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame.

1 Peter 4.1. Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm you yourselves also with the same mind.

2 Corinthians 4:8 10. We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.

Matthew 16:24 If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me....

Hebrews 13.12f. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

Romans 5.8,10 8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.... 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life;
and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Colossians 1:19 f. It was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross.

Ephesians 2:14 17. He is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity . . . that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh.

2 Corinthians 5:18 f. All things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave .unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

THE FAMILY OF NATIONS

Ephesians 3.15 I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

Ephesians 4:25. Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak you truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

1 Corinthians 12:13. In one spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Romans 10:12. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him.

Galatians 3:28. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male or female: for you are all one man in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3.11 There cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.

THE MORAL EQUIVALENT OF WAR

1 Timothy 6.12. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on the life eternal.

1 John 5.4 This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strong holds ; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Ephesians 6.12f For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.

2 Timothy 2:3. Take your part in suffering hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 4:7 f. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day: and not only to me, but also to all them that have loved his appearing.

Exodus 22:2-3

"If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is struck and killed in the process, the person who killed the thief is not guilty of murder.
But if it happens in daylight, the one who killed the thief is guilty of murder.

Matthew Henry

Yet, if it was in the day-time that the thief was killed, he that killed him must be accountable for it (Exod. 22:3), unless it was in the necessary defence of his own life. Note, We ought to be tender of the lives even of bad men;

Reformation Study Bible

The daytime thief was readily identifiable and killing was not justified.

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the latter case the slayer contracted blood-guiltiness, because even the life of a thief was to be spared, as he could be punished for his crime, and what was stolen be restored according to the regulations laid down in Exodus 22:1 and Exodus 22:4.

Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

If a thief be found - If a thief was found breaking into a house in the night season, he might be killed; but not if the sun had risen, for then he might be known and taken, and the restitution made which is mentioned in the succeeding verse

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If a thief, in breaking into a dwelling in the night, was slain, the person who slew him did not incur the guilt of blood; but if the same occurred in daylight, the slayer was guilty in accordance with Exodus 21:12. The distinction may have been based on the fact that in the light of day there was a fair chance of identifying and apprehending the thief.

• A Pacifist for Congress
• Blessed Are the Peacemakers
• Why "National Defense" is Contrary to the Teachings of Jesus Christ
• Swords Into Plowshares
• A Biblical Defense of Pacifism
• Vengeance Belongs to God, Not to Man
• Capital Punishment
• What Would You Do If . . . ?
  -- Pacifist alternatives to lethal force
• Vine & Fig Tree
• A Pacifist for Congress
• I Am Not An ARCHIST
• An Anarchist for Congress
• Romans13.com
• God Sends Evil: Romans 13 and the Christian Anarchist
• Revelation 13, Isaiah 13
• Death by Government
• Thesis 54: War, Capital Punishment, and “The Sword”
• Personal Peace and Affluence
• Does Jesus Command His Followers to Take Up a Sword? (Luke 22)
• Was The Iraq War Biblically Justified?
• Holy War: No Justification for Wars in Our Day.
• Holy War
• World War II - Not the "good" war
• Theonomic Pacifism

• A Nation "Under God"
• The Myth of the "Separation of Church and State

• Was The Iraq War Biblically Justified?
• More Bible Verses about Pacifism
• War and Imperialism vs. the City Upon a Hill
• The Sixth Commandment
• Defense
• Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament
• Is War Ever "Just"
• War and Imperialism
• Vaccines and Atomic Bombs
• Mutual Assured Destruction
• Don't Send the Marines!
• Memorial Day 2008
• Mideast Conflict
• Who Owns the Holy Land?
• Weapons of Mass Destruction (RNEP)
• Torture is Un-American
• Military Tribunals
• Vengeance Belongs to God, Not to Man
• Vine & Fig Tree: The American Dream
• The Vietnam War
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• The Draft
• Reclaiming the War Power
• U.S Security Strategy
• The Defense Budget
• Terrorism
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Strategic Nuclear Forces and Missile Defense
• Trade Sanctions
• U.S. Security Strategy
• Iran
• Iraq
• Intelligence
• Oil and the Moslem World
• International Economic Policy
• Israel: Is the State God?
• Israel: The miracle country turns 60
• Exiting the Balkan Morass

Ozarks Virtual Townhall

• January 10th, 2009 "The War President"
• Click here January 3rd, 2009 "The Path of Peace"
• December 27th, 2008 "War on Earth" - Christmas in Washington, D.C.
• June 7th, 2008: "War Supplement Bill"
• May 24th, 2008: "Memorial Day"
• May 17th, 2008: "60th Anniversary of the State of Israel"
• May 10th, 2008: "Mother's Day"
  It's a war between mothers and "archists"
• April 12th, 2008: Assessing "The Surge" in Iraq
• April 5th, 2008: Expanding the Entangling NATO Alliance
• March 16, 2008: St. Patrick and U.S. Foreign Policy
  Click here for notes and resources
• March 8th, 2008: Government Torture of Terrorist Suspects
• February 23, 2008: The Protect Telecommunications Companies Act
• February 16, 2008: The Protect America Act
• January 12, 2008: The President's Plan for Israel
• January 5, 2008: The President's Entangling Alliances in the Mideast
• December 15, 2007: Defense Appropriations
• November 10, 2007: "Veterans Day"
• September 15, 2007: General Petraeus Reports on Iraq
• September 8, 2007: Iraq: From "Dark Ideology" to "Normal Life."
• August 25, 2007: A "Safer and More Normal Life" in Iraq
• July 28, 2007: Expanding Powers of Government Surveillance
• July 21, 2007: Intelligence Estimate on the Terrorist Threat
• July 14, 2007: Progress in Iraq?
• May 26, 2007: Memorial Day
• May 5, 2007: The Funding of the War in Iraq

Blog posts

• Acheson and MacArthur
• Letter from Iran
• U.S.: Defender of Freedom?
• Iraq and the Constitution Party
• They Died in Vain
• Apple Pie and Torture
• The Cult of "National Security"
• Hiroshima / Nagasaki
• Saddam Will Hang
• Send the Marines?
• Rendition
• Pearl Harbor and 9-11
• Ramsey Clark: Three Reasons to Impeach
• Gerald R. Ford, Mass Murderer
• North Korea
• April Violence
• Would Jesus Celebrate Memorial Day?
• Sibel Edmonds and Valerie Plame
• Second Cold War
• Iraq: Lexington and Concord for Today
• Lexington, Concord, and Plainfield
• Vengeance vs. Self-Defense
• "The Lust of the Eyes"
• Letters of Marque and Reprisal
• Hiroshima - Gulf of Tonkin
• Nagasaki, August 9, 1945
• Inventions and "National Security"
• Secret Military Intelligence
• Corruption in the Military
• More on Military Corruption
• War and Public Relations
• "Do Violence to No Man"
• Holocaust Denial in the Service of War
• Cheney's Victory in Iraq
• Veterans' Day Weekend 2007
• Pearl Harbor, 1941-2001
• Spitting in the Wilderness
• Day 5: Peace on Earth
• "Cookie" and America's Founding Fathers
• Charles Thornton: American Archetype
• Terrorist Anniversaries
• The Myth of the "Senseless Killing"
• Unilateral Disarmament
• Happy St. Patrick's Day!
• St. Patrick for Today
• An Uninspiring Easter Message
• Ron Paul is a Warmonger
• MLK Murder
• War Tax Refusal
• They Died In Vain: Memorial Day 2008
• Politicians and Soldiers
• Better Dead than Red?
• Shame on Google's Memorial Day Silence
• D-Day: June 6, 1944
• Images of Iran
• "Conservatives" and War
• Capital Punishment
• Hamburg and the Unjust War
• Ban Nuclear Weapons
• Hiroshima, August 6, 1945
• 25th Anniversary of the 241
• The Way of Peace
• Pacifism in Action

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