Ten years ago today the towers fell.
For a decade we have dropped bombs; we have sent soldiers; we have deployed drones. We routed the Taliban; we toppled Hussein; we took out bin Laden. The terrorists murdered 2,977 people on 9/11. The Pentagon confirms the deaths of 6,215 American service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.
War as an act of revenge is always a failure.
C. S. Lewis argues in his famous essay, “Why I Am Not A Pacifist” that an extreme pacifist must demonstrate that wars always do more harm than good, a position that is speculative and thus beyond proof. One could counter that an advocate of just war must prove that at least some wars do more good than harm, also a matter of pure speculation.
War as deterrent may be justifiable, but war as an act of revenge is always a failure. Sacrificing six thousand lives to avenge three thousand is bad math; it runs on the red side of the ledger, and the red is not ink but blood.
When the Twin Towers fell the terrorists danced in the bazaars. When bin Laden died Americans chanted “U. S. A.!” in sports stadiums. The helpful questions ten years later may not be whether we should fight, but how we should feel. When Israel saw the Egyptians float dead to the shores of the Red Sea, they sang, but since the story predates sheet music by several centuries, we do not know if it was a march or a dirge.
The Talmud, the ancient rabbinic commentary on the Law, contains an interesting legend about the crossing of the Red Sea.
But does the Holy One, blessed be He, rejoice over the downfall of the wicked? When the Egyptian armies were drowning in the sea, the Heavenly Hosts broke out in songs of jubilation. God silenced them and said, “My creatures are perishing, and you sing praises?”
The sacred historian reports this portion of the Exodus story in terms of a new creation as dry land emerges from a watery chaos. What perish in the formless void are armies and instruments of war. What walks dry-shod into new life are the formerly enslaved. God makes no apologies for acting on behalf of the oppressed, but grieves the oppressors would not repent.
Jesus came to preach the Kingdom of Heaven, a whole new world of restored reality that arises from the maelstrom of the fall. Cheek-turners and peace-makers enter freely. Self-avengers sink.
Perhaps it is important on this awful anniversary to speak of the need for action in the face of evil. Perhaps it is important to encourage those who die in our defense. But perhaps it is also important to say, even if only to ourselves, that God’s heart grieves for each of God’s creatures who dies on either side.
Sadly,
Doug
Collect
Mighty God, You are the great defender of the dispossessed. Place Yourself between us and all harm and make clear our path through chaos to salvation, not for us only but for all who trust in You. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Benediction
May God send forth the pillar of His presence:
A light before you and a guard behind you.
May God call forth His creation out of chaos:
A path to lead you and a wall to defend you.
May God show forth His judgment on evil:
A fear to awe you and a love to win you.
In the name of the Father,
And of the Son,
And of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment