** THIS WILL BE RATHER LONG FOR A BLOG POST, BUT ONCE I GOT STARTED, SEVERAL THNINGS THAT HAVE BEEN ON MY MIND/ HEART KIND OF RAN TOGETHER. SORRY **
All I wanted to do was introduce you to a web site I came across . . . 
http://believersagainstthewar.org/

American Christian Worldview : Pro-War, Materialistic, Anti-Child ? PART 1
Fifteen to twenty years ago, the term “Biblical Worldview” was only heard on the periphery. Now it is a cliche’. Everyone talks about having a “Biblical Worldview”. Not only has this term become such a catch phrase that it has been rendered nearly meaningless, but the very phrase has become utterly confusing because there are so many different people with differing agendas built on differing ideas being promoted as a “Biblical Worldview”. Many of them are not Biblical, but a Baptized humanism which is only sligtly less hideous & vapid than what Ameican culture at large offers.

BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW: PRO-WAR ???, It appears that a big part of what we mean by the term “Biblical Worldview” means throwing a few “Christianesque” terms & phrases onto a secular, neo-conservative, Republican worldview. For instance, listening to Christian radio, and talking to the vast majority of evangelicals, tells us that support for all things military is a central tennant of a “Christian Worldview”.

While it is clear (to most) that neither the God’s Word nor Christian history support anything like pacifism, it seems that American Chrstians are downright bloodthirsty. We have become so convinced that Republican=Christian and Christian=Republican that we never met a war we didn’t like when a GOP President is in office or candidate promotes the war.

Gone is our concern for is whether a War is just ? Christians now seem to agree with the National Review  editor that said “every now and then America should take some pathetic little country & throw them against the wall, just to show we can “.

Lost is the humble, non-agressive foreign policy, based on a proper understanding of the man’s sinful nature and the inability of the State to make the world better through force. Instead, too many Christians have embraced the “Pax Americana“/ benevolent world empire/ world’s policemen of the NeoConservative think tanks.

The Founding Fathers ( with a largely Christian worldview) feared a standing army in our country. We believe that having troops stationed in 155 countries is a good thing.

Former warrior Eisenhower warned of a growing military-industrial complex :

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

No one would reasonably deny that this has taken place, but American Evangelicals largely see this growth as a good thing & positive force in the world.

A friend mentioned to me the other day that “American Christians love a uniform; Christians in the rest of the world see a uniform & they think of tyranny & persecution“.

Christian General Robert E. Lee said that it was “good that war is so terrible, lest we become too fond of it.” War is no longer terrible (for Americans) it is a video game.

Devout, duty-bound Christian General “Stonewall” Jackson, once stated that: “War is the sum of all evils.” He was no pacifist, peacenik, or coward. He just understood that violence should be a last resort for Christians & War should be a last resort for Christian societies.

Contrast this to the way modern chicken-hawk Christians beat the War drum.

This is not merely hypocritical. It is idolotrous.

Rev 13:4

And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Psa 20:7

Some [trust] in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

*****************
What are the practical results of War-Mongering American Christianity ?

Compromise with Anti-family Philosophies : When Bill Clinton was in office, Christian leaders regularly not only wrang their hands about the wicked (Deut. 22:5), unbibilcal practice of sending women to fight our wars, but formed committees to oppose it politically.
NOW, we regularly hear Evangelicals support the concept of sending our wives and daughters off to fight wars in foriegn lands; leaving not only thier children, but their husbands here to tend the home fires.
Mom looses her limbs; Dad bakes cookies — makes you feel all warm & fuzzy, don’t it ?
** You can bet that if there is an expansion of the war in the Middle East that requires more cannon fodder than our all volunteer military can provide, that many Christians will support a draft that will include females.**

Another practical result : An Embrace of Messianic Statism ( in the US and abroad).
Almost without exception, Wars abroad have been an excuse for the growth of police state powers at home to the point where the State becomes God. Many Christians may not be bothered by the use of the provisions of the Orwellian-named PATRIOT ACT are used against potential Islamic terrorists.
BUT, what happens when a more openly anti-Christian administration comes to power ?(Exodus 1:8 ) 
WHEN the fires of persecution and oppression burn against pro-life/ tradtional family Christians (who some call “terrorists”), we will have laid up the kindling ourselves in our unquestioning support for the “War on Terror”.

More foundationally, this support for the Messianic State manifests itself in the Christian support for hyper-interventionist foreign policy.
Generally speaking, Christians have ended up on the “Conservative” side of political/ economic/ social issues at home. This is not because we lack compassion. It is rather because with a proper understanding of man’s fallen state, we are skeptical of schemes by the government to fix all the problems in society.
If this is true, why then do we think our government (through the military/ State Dept) is able to be so much more competent/ able to solve problems in other countries ?

The third practical result of an American Christian Worldview that supports agressive War Making is an indirect support/ promotion of wickedness in other countires that we rightfully oppose here & a diminished ability to help the needy in foreign countries:To save space, I will not go into a long, detailed tirade here, but do a little research & you will find that Planned Parenthood (the world’s largest abortion “provider”) followed closely behind our military in Afganistan. Likewise, one of the first American governement agencies to set up shop in Iraq after the first phase of our war effort toppled the government was a wing of the State Department called “US AID” who — among other functions, promotes anti-family/ anti-child population controll (with US Tax Dollars) in unsuspecting “third world” countries.

 

On the “flip side” there is a great need for American Christians to reach out to victims of oppression, War, Marxism, pagan religions, and plain old natural disasters. However, mistrust for our interventionist policies in particular & our government in general by the people/ governments of a growing number of countries puts up road blocks & stop signs everywhere.

Whether we are trying to offer the hope of the Gospel to lost souls in pagan lands; homes or hot meals to a few of the world’s millions of orphans through the Gospel lived out; the Truth of the Scriptures to people swimming in a sea of relativism & death-worshipping hedonism; deliverance for those caught in a web of modern day slavery; or merely aid to people suffering from natural disasters like tsunami’s or man-made disasters like Mugabe’s Zimbabwe; when American Christians are perceived as being supporters of militarism & interventionism, it makes it more difficult if not impossible to offer help.

Fourthly, a pro-War American Christian Worldview contributes to diminishing faith & divided loyalty . Again, I will try to be brief here, Jesus claim of what He would accomplish in conquering nations through His Gospel and the love/ service of His people are very bold.
IF all authority in heaven & earth have been given unto Him & He sends us to Baptise nations, then our hope for dealing with the world’s problems & threats lie first and formost in Him. . .  (I’ll save the rest of this for another post)

Finally, and worst of all, the most tragic practical result of American Christian’s pro-war Worldview is that the Name of Christ is besmirched and drug through the mud.
More on this in the wrap up . . .

*********************
Hopefully, I will get back to part 2 later & examine the theological roots of the pro-War Christian worldview ( psedo-Dispensational Zionism & a-biblical/ extra-biblical philosphies)

Then in part 3 (this was only going to be a few paragraphs — Ugh!) I will delve into the Materialistic/ Anti-Child Worldview of American Christianity & its bitter fruit.

As always, your comments are welcome. I will post them even if I don’t agree ( as long as you don’t get vulgar or insulting or try to write a multi-page treatise in response; get your own blog)
I likely will only respond as time allows.