…So I’m Kind of a Pacifist

John Anthony Dunne

I say kind of because I’m very inconsistent.  On the one hand I enjoy movies about famous wars or war heroes (Gladiator, The Patriot, We Were Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan), I like some violent video games (Halo, Call of Duty), and I have complete respect for those who are willing to support their country and subject themselves to the terrors of war.  Yet, I can’t help but feel like the ethics of Jesus are incompatible with war.  Now, to be clear, this post is not a rant about why Christians should not be in the military (although I have a lot of Anabaptistic leanings that is not one of them), nor is it a post of logical or biblical reasons against war.  Rather, I want to share some of the emotional tension that I have about war as fought by the youth and the poor, as well as war in contrast to the eschatological peace that all creation is moving towards.

The Youth & The Poor

One medium that has influenced me greatly over the years is metal music.  For all its aggressive energy, the genre of metal possesses many anti-war voices.  Two songs in particular have always stuck out to me (Warning: Some of the Links to the songs contain lyrics that your Mother won’t appreciate).

The first song is Metallica’s Disposable Heroes from the album, Master of Puppets, released in 1986. James Hetfield sings in the chorus:

Soldier boy made of clay now an empty shell

Twenty-one, only son, but he served us well

Bred to kill, not to care, do just as we say

Finished here, greeting Death, he’s yours to take away

The lines are obviously very chilling, but the most distrubing line is yelled at the close of the song’s bridge section, “I was born for dying!”  Sadly, I am reminded of this song whenever I see images of the 20 year old boys who commit themselves to war.

The second song that has always stuck with me is System Of A Down’s B. Y. O. B. from the album, Mezmerize, released in 2005.  Although I should note that I don’t really like this song, or the band for that matter, the lyrics have continued to haunt me since the first time I heard the song.  In the chorus, Serj Tankian sings:

Everybody going to the party have a real good time

Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine

The “party” in this song is metaphor for the War in Iraq.  The nomenclature B.Y.O.B. (as the party animals know) is an acronym for ‘Bring Your Own Beer.’  Yet, here in the analogy one doesn’t bring beer to the party, one brings ‘bombs.’

The most direct and haunting question that the song poses comes from the song’s bridge:

Why don’t princes fight the war, why do they always send the poor?

This line is a refrain in my mind when I think about the political power plays at work in any war.  The poor teenage male who cannot afford to attend college, or feels that he cannot progress up the socio-economic ladder, is more likely to find the armed forces attractive than his peers (not to over-generalize). This concept of the poor fighting a prince’s war disturbs me.

The Eschatological Peace of God

About a month ago I went to Cincinnati, OH for vacation.  At the Union Terminal in Downtown Cincinnati I attended the Cincinnati History Museum.  At one point in the display a banner hung above the area designated for the city’s participation in various American war efforts, which read, “Plowshares into Swords.”  When I first saw the banner I was completely stunned.  I honestly stopped walking and stood in shock at the horrific choice of imagery.  Of course, the imagery was meant to convey that an agricultural society had taken up the call to arms on behalf of her nation.  Yet I simply could not ignore the biblical allusion.  Israel’s prophets spoke of a future age when God would restore his people.  Descriptions of this era are poetically imaginative and are meant to evoke longing for the consummation of God’s promises.  The entrance of sin into the world brought all sorts of evils, including hostility.  The hostile relationship between man and beast will one day be reconciled (e.g. lions will lay down with lambs; cf. Isa 11.6-9), as well as the hostility that humanity has with itself.  Thus, one of the images of the restoration of the created order is the removal of sin.  The prophets declared that pruning hooks would be turned into plowshares (Isa 2.4; Mic 4.3).  Vessels designed for warfare would be changed into vessels of agriculture; implying that this era will be one of fertility and abundance, but furthermore it conveys that the utensils that brought about destruction will one day aid in helping others.  This is quite the reversal!  The imagery is beautiful and I have long found this to be one of my favorite prophetic images.  So naturally, when I saw the banner in the Cincinnati History Museum it deeply disturbed me.  The goal of salvation history is the undoing of injustice and the climatic establishment of God’s just and righteous rule over all creation.  To that end we should certainly strive for justice in this present evil age, but I still can’t reconcile war with my emotions. Like I said, I’m inconsistent. Yet, through the prophetic words of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, I’d like to ask by way of conclusion, “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?”

John Anthony Dunne
John Anthony Dunne
John holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews, where he studied under Professor N. T. Wright. He currently serves as Associate Professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN).

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7 responses to “…So I’m Kind of a Pacifist”

  1. Carrie Allen

    I wish people would comment on this post because Christians should care about this conversation, so whatevs, I will just make the comment 😉

    Umm, okay, love love this post. When I saw the heading, “The Youth & The Poor”, I just about lost it – heck yes John Dunne is my friend.

    Some things:

    1. I would call myself a pacifist – I don’t play killer video games, and I actually try not to watch movies with a lot of death (I actually watched “Independence Day” again recently and I was shocked at how many people die in that movie… it makes me feel uncomfortable… and kind of sad). I am also thankful for the men and women in our military for protecting our countries freedoms. With that said, I struggle with enforcing my Christian principles in this area. Just because I am a Christian pacifist, doesn’t mean that I think all of America needs to follow this principle. On a similar view point I am often criticized for, I am not sure if I should be enforcing my Christian values telling America that they need to provide resources for the poor. Shouldn’t non-Christian people have a right to say, “I DO NOT want to help my neighbor… I DO NOT care about my neighbor.” ??

    If anyone is cheering me on here, then I have to pose the questions – should I enforce the issue of pro-life upon people? Should I tell homosexuals that they aren’t allowed to get married?

    Interesting issues… I don’t have it all figure out.

    2. You are right about the poor and military connection. The problem (yes, problem) is rampant in impoverished communities. The military uses some coercive tactics many times to enlist young men and women who don’t seem to think they have much of a future. We must notice that when we are talking about poor communities, we are mostly talking about diverse/ethnic communities. And usually what comes along in these communities are broken homes and an unstable family life. And while the military offers some good paths to a lifetime career, most of the great careers they promote, go to white, middle class young people, who desire to be in the military.

    Do I sound UC Berkeley yet? Ya…

    So anyway, murder is just too inconsistent with Jesus’ teachings in the NT… it’s just not compatible.

    Reply
    1. Kenny

      Yes. Nations will go to war–the Bible says so–but what should Christians do?

      Reply
    2. Tanner Gish

      Berkeley, what happened to the Carrie I used to know! (actually, I don’t think much has changed). Thanks for being such and active reader, Carrie, and for sharing your thoughts. I’m not sure if “Kenny” was responding to you or to John (I think the later), but hopefully you get some discussion. I’ll try to springboard, but there is a lot of stuff you mentioned. I’ll try to extract and reply.
      For my two cents, yes, “murder IS inconsistent with Jesus’ teachings in the NT.” I’m interested to see who would disagree here (unless the real issue is the definition of murder).

      I also think its an important consideration to, regardless of one’s position on just war theory, any war theory, etc… to consider the methods, the target’s, and the consequences of military recruitment. Think about how this works in America. Think about how this works for rebel armies in Libya. Think about how this works in Joseph Kony’s Liberation Army. How about the philosophy behind a military draft? And how about how it works in Australia (maybe this will draw Michael Bird back to the blog, being the courageous Theologian-Veteran that he is..). It is interesting food for thought…

      And totally taking the conversation in a different direction, but springboarding off of your difficult questions about “enforcing ideas:” If you HAD to chose one of these statements, which would you primarily subscribe too- 1) The Biblical Christian Testimony demands appropriate addressing and confrontation with Secular/Pagan Culture, or 2) Biblical Christian Testimony actually prescribes against any addressing and potential confrontation with secular culture.

      P.S. John Dunne is my friend too. 😉

      Reply
      1. Kenny Hood

        I suppose my comment ended up a bit vague, yeah? Originally I had gone on to talk about just war theory (or “the myth of redemptive violence”), the U.S. military, and a few other fun things, but decided to simplify–too much, I guess.

        To rephrase: Yes, Carrie, I agree that Christians shouldn’t enforce these principles on the nation at large. (Ya know, the Bible says nations are gonna war against each other anyway.) So, agreeing with you, what’s a Christian to do? How do we practice not shoving our beliefs on our country while still fighting for justice and peace?

        There we go. To address your comment, Tanner, about “the methods, the targets, and the consequences of military recruitment,” I’m not sure whether you were here defending the U.S.’s practices or not (you could have been either comparing or contrasting those different forms). Even though I call myself a pacifist, I think there are forms of military that I could really support. And even if I were not a pacifist, I highly doubt I could support the present exploits and practices of the U.S. military.

        And to weigh in on your closing question, I think I would actually opt for the latter (but only if I “HAD” to). All over the NT we find stories, commands, and exhortations regarding how to live, but never how to address issues in secular culture. Paul seems to be anti-slavery (I know there’s a big debate here), but rather than addressing the institution, he instead addresses how to live within it. Paul has very clear thoughts on sexual practices, but only tells the church how they ought to be living in spite of culture.

        Thoughts?

        Reply
    3. Dan

      I don’t know why you think allowing 3rd parties to be murdered, because you’re too legalistic and ‘principled’ to use violence when there’s no alternative, is any closer. I don’t care that you can’t imagine Jesus killing: I bet you also can’t imagine him allowing me to torture and murder your family because he refused to use violence.

      Reply
  2. Carrie Allen

    Kenny Hood, a pacifist?! Nice.

    Tanner, yes, Berkeley has gotten to me in some ways, but all in all has made me a little more conservative than I was coming up here. I actually consider myself to be very conservative, and as one classmate said to me – “You went to Fuller?! It’s so conservative there!” I was like, yes, thank you. 😉

    But for some reason people see a lot of my views as “liberal” – pacifism being one of them. I consider my views on pacifism to be very rare within all of human kind, and comes 100% from my belief in Christ.

    Kenny – to address your question, my personal life mission is clear and not easy. I am against any form of killing – death penalty, abortion, or any kind of war killing. People always ask me what if I or my family was being attacked. Well, I would try my best to defend myself and my family in all ways possible, and I just hope and pray that my instincts wouldn’t allow me to act in a murderous way. But I am always clear – I would rather die than kill anyone (because I already know where I am going for eternity…). I wanted to briefly talk about this scenario because I am ALWAYS asked about it, but in the big scheme of things, I won’t have to deal with that situation frequently (if ever), so it’s a good thing that we can move on from that conversation into other realms of life where this will come up.

    So anyway, how do I live out my pacifism views in 2011. Most importantly, I vote in favor of people and laws that protect human life. I protest against things that do not protect human life. I chose to work in areas that have very high gang violence in hopes that through therapy at least one person will turn away from that lifestyle. And finally, I ask God to give me a love for all people.

    I also lean on two Bible stories that encourage me:

    1 – Jesus forgiving and loving those who killed him.

    2 – Paul, a murderer of Christians, loved by God, saved by God, and made into a messenger of God.

    All people deserve the grace that is exampled from the events above.

    So Tanner – if murder is inconsistent with Jesus’ teachings, can the conversation stop there? Just wondering…

    I am not exactly sure where you are going with your military recruit statement…

    And if I HAD to pick one option you presented I would pick – 1) The Biblical Christian Testimony demands appropriate addressing and confrontation with Secular/Pagan Culture. I honestly already do this in many areas. But I still find it difficult because this is my “vote for Carrie Allen” platform:

    Don’t kill people because Jesus said so.
    Take care of the poor and needy because Jesus said so.

    Reply
  3. Trevor Cartwright

    John, this is a great article. We grew up listening to the same music, so you know that I dig those lyrics lol. Anyways, I would make the case that the New Testament never conclusively condemns just war or self-defense. My theology is based off of the early church, and there does not seem to be any official church doctrine concerning Pacifism. Actually, the early church condoned war in certain cases. For example, Tertullian praised Christians who served in the army (Tertullian. “Apology.” Trans. Rudolph Arbesmann, Emily Joseph Daly, and Edwin A. Quain. Tertullian: Apologetical Works and Minucuis Felix: Octavius. New York: Fathers of the Church, 1950, 106-107.). Likewise, Origen said that Christians should “mimic the bees” and be rational in warfare (Origen. Origen Contra Celsus- CHAP. LXXXI- LXXXII). Also, did not Jesus instruct His disciples to bring two swords with them when they went on their travels? The swords were for purposes of self-defense (probably for defense against roadside robbers and wild animals). It seems more likely that when Jesus spoke of “turning the other cheek,” he was countering the hateful views of the Jewish revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow the Roman empire. Receiving a blow is not the same thing as being murdered. Turning the other cheek cannot be stretched indefinitely to mean that a man cannot use force to defend his family. Some may argue, well what about Jesus? To that I would say that Jesus knew that the prophecies needed to be fulfilled. Plus, He was the one who told his disciples to bring the swords to defend themselves. Lastly, I highly agree that most wars are corrupt. To add to your song lyrics, Linkin Park once said, “When the rich wage war it’s the poor who die.” Most wars are fought over nothing more than greed and power. That is why I am the same as George Washington- a non-interventionist. In his farewell address, Washington said “Let us not be entangled in any foreign alliances.” On the national level, war should only be fought for the purposes of defending our nation. I too long for Isiah’s prophesies to be fulfilled, but in the meantime, there are a lot of cruel people who want to harm others and self-defense and war are necessary. In certain cases, I suppose that the words of Metallica in the song “Don’t Tread On Me” ring true, “To secure peace is to prepare for war.”

    Reply

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