Q&R – bin laden and just war

A reader of life.remixed writes:

Hey Matt,

I was talking to a Christian guy yesterday about the killing of Bin Laden. He was saying that he believes governments are put into power by God, and so are given authority to protect/defend their nation in such a way as America did with Osama. His main argument came down to this – it is ok for soldiers to kill other soldiers in a war, as they are both willing participants and are therefore not innocent victims. What are your thoughts on that point? Is there ever a ‘just war’? He cited the war in Lebanon as support, saying that had the Christians not fought against the Muslim groups, Lebanon would now be under Sharia Law. From reading your blog [referring to this post – MCA] I think that I take a similar stance to you, but I am interested how you would respond to that argument.

Great question! I have dealt with this question somewhat in my post and review of Brian Walsh’s work – Remixing Romans 13.

To expand on that post I would want to challenge the idea that a government is ordained by God and therefore can kill; this conclusion somewhat defies logic:

remixing romans 13: overcoming imperial zombification

¹Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that
exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Following the assassination of Osama bin Laden, and my subsequent reflections, I was confronted with numerous comments and questions regarding the above passage from Romans 13. One friend commented that, in light of this passage, he thought armed intervention was completely within the scope of government as taught the New Testament.

What I offer here is not a criticism of my friends, but a challenge to the way we read passages like Romans 13.

maher: if you rejoice in revenge, torture and war… you’re not a christian

Sometimes Christians need to pay attention to the prophetic voices outside the Church…

Bill Maher: If You Celebrated Bin Laden’s Death, You’re Not Really a Christian

Make sure to watch the clip at the end of the post, which should confront the Western Church’s collusion with empire.

MCA

hating your enemy: the bin laden episode

In the hours following the announcement of the killing of the world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, it takes but a few mouse clicks to peruse countless comments on Twitter and Facebook by Christians who unashamedly celebrate his death.

I will do you a favour and not publish some of the awful comments I have read, some from well-known Christian pastors and authors.

The pictures are enough. In the news we have seen images of celebrations pouring into American streets, assumedly including Christians. These are a sad reflection of how far many Christians have moved from the teachings of Jesus, having replaced them with nationalistic zeal.

This is in now way intended to defend the past action of bin Laden. It is however to say that Christians need to rethink what Jesus might have to say about our enemies.