When Religion Becomes Evil
V. Declaring Holy War
Craig Anderson
Romans 12:1-2;Romans 12:9-21 April 6, 2003
We know what jihad is don’t we? At the outset of the 21st century, unable to suppress the memories of airliners flying into buildings, this concept has been burned into our consciousness. We know what jihad is, or at least we think we do. Charles Kimball finds an illustration of jihad in a popular video series on world religions, “The Long Search.” Exploring the basic tenets of Islam, the host of the series,
...spends considerable time in Cairo with two medical doctors, a husband and wife. At one point the woman takes the host to a free clinic literally in the shadow of the great pyramids. Dr. Ahdeen and others created this charitable institution for young children with serious, chronic heart problems. In a gentle, self-effacing, and yet deeply moving way she explains that this work is her jihad, a help to the children for the betterment of society. She clearly doesn’t want any praise or special recognition. Her demeanor reveals her faith that “God knows our intentions” and assurance that “God loves this mercy toward children.”
Jihad: just when we thought we knew something with certainty, along comes a gentle woman whose jihad is to help children.
This Egyptian medical doctor was not trying to be ironic or sarcastic. There is more to jihad than the media with their focus on war and terror would lead us to believe. Indeed, as Kimball tells the story, it was the Prophet Muhammad himself who told Muslims on the way home from battle:
...that they were returning to the ‘greater jihad’ from the ‘lesser jihad.’ The outward struggle in defense of Islam is not the biggest challenge. The greater jihad is the inner struggle to overcome selfish and sinful desires, the strong tendencies that inhibit human beings from doing what they know to be right.
Jihad therefore is a term with greater detail and nuance than can be shown on television.
At the most basic level, (Kimball says), jihad is the constant struggle to be virtuous and moral, to do good works on behalf of others and for the betterment of society. When we can get past the media focus on violence and extremism, when we begin to put a human face on Islam, we find the large majority of Muslims living their lives and talking not about holy war but about the jihad of the heart, of the tongue, and of the hand.
By now it is obvious: today’s theme in our continuing sermon series is that declaring holy war is yet another way in which religion becomes evil. We know enough world history to realize it is not only extremists in our time who display religion on their banners and wear it as a mantle as they march to war. Indeed, we must return to the chilling assessment in the very first paragraph of Kimball’s book to underscore this point:
More wars have been waged, more people killed, and more evil perpetrated in the name of religion than by any other institutional force in human history.
By now we have explored several ways in which religion becomes corrupt. The worst has been saved for last, declaring holy war. When war is depicted as a holy cause, Kimball argues,
Leaders and combatants distort the very heart of the religion they claim to be defending... Because in fact, at the center of authentic religion one always finds the promise of peace, both an inner peace for the adherent and a requirement to seek peaceful coexistence with the rest of creation.
The “greater jihad” of the heart, the struggle to be virtuous and moral, is important in all the world’s religions. The promise of inner peace of which Kimball speaks, resounds in our own scripture, perhaps most notably in the Gospel of John at the Last Supper, when Jesus says to his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and neither let them be afraid.”
The passage we read from Romans expresses the requirement that we live at peace with others. Paul wrote:
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God... 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.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Records are sparse, but it appears that few Christians served in the military for three centuries after the testimonies of Jesus and Paul. Such Christian pacifism however, faded under Constantine, when Christianity became the religion of the empire. Subsequently attacks on the state were also regarded as attacks on the church. But even then, early theologians like Augustine began to articulate just war theory, with its central concept of proportionality. That concept, even as I speak, continues to be employed by our military leaders in Iraq.
Unfortunately, the history of Christianity is rife with its own holy wars, most notably the Crusades. Those unholy campaigns seem like ancient history, but Kimball informs us they are still searing and incendiary memories in the Middle East. This was evidenced by the broad and outraged reactions to President Bush’s remarks in the days after September 11 about launching a crusade. The savagery and slaughter of the Crusades supposedly in the name of God, are a sad blot on Christian history, and they match in horror anything which contemporary extremists can perpetrate. An eye-witness account to the first Crusade asserts: “What happened there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief.”
As Charles Kimball sees it, Christianity through the centuries has revealed “three distinct attitudes and approaches toward war and peace: pacifism, just war doctrine, and the Crusade.” Notice that between pacifism and holy war, Kimball stakes out middle ground, where I personally would join him, and where it seems, Paul may also have come down.
In the middle of the passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, we find these words: “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” The overall thrust of the passage counsels living “peaceably,” but notice what many of us would see as a realistic hesitation, a cautious nod to the possibility that this may not always be feasible. Charles Kimball can imagine, and many, though not all of us may presently agree that, “Perilous situations, at times, may indeed warrant the decisive use of force or focused military action.” He for one is also willing to concede that “there are legitimate bases for collective military action in the community of nations.” Kimball draws an indelible line however, when he asserts that such military actions “must not be cloaked in religious language or justified by religion.”
Why not? By page 180 in his book, Kimball is loathe to repeat the obvious yet again. But a basic point deserves to be underscored: human beings must never assert that they know the mind of God with certainty; especially if that assertion may lead to the suppression of human freedom or the sacrifice of human life in supposedly noble causes.
In recent weeks several articles about President Bush’s faith have appeared in the press, one notably by Garry Wills last Sunday, and another by Martin Marty the week before. As Marty notes, theologians and commentators are not questioning the President’s sincerity, nor that there is a place for personal faith in making political decisions and judgements. But Marty sounds this note of caution, saying, “The problem isn’t with President Bush’s sincerity, but with his evident conviction that he’s doing God’s will.” As Paul warns, we must not “claim to be wiser than (we) are.”
If at all possible, we are to live at peace. Only as a last and final resort, with the greatest humility and caution should we proceed to war. And not only because in most circumstances we should leave vengeance to God, but also because our own military leaders and heroes are the first to admit that they are reluctant warriors. For me, the cautions of these military figures are even more compelling than the arguments of pacifists, for such men and now women have witnessed the horrors of war first hand, and have returned to tell us that war is anything but holy. Modern day warriors too could testify, “What happens on a battlefielded there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief.”
Pacifists will always disagree; but sometimes, maybe this time -- maybe not -- war is necessary. When that happens, as people of faith concerned for justice and mercy, we will insist that military forces conduct their campaigns with stringent limits on the use of force, with the restoration of peace as their ultimate goal. Again, to return to Charles Kimball for a final word:
This much is crystal clear, holy war is not holy. However deep the grievances and perceived injustices may be, holy war is not the answer... Extreme circumstances may call for military force, but we must all be wary when political leaders seek to justify policies on religious grounds... If the past teaches us anything, it is that peace, justice, and security cannot be achieved and maintained through violent means.
Let us pray for peace this morning, and every morning, and strive fervently with our neighbors and enemies toward that day when all of humanity will take “thought for what is noble in the sight of all.”
This Lenten sermon series relies on:
Charles Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil, Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. New York, 2002.
“Charles Kimball is a professor of religion and chair of the department of religion at Wake Forest University. An ordained Baptist minister who received his Th.D from Harvard University in comparative religion with specialization in Islamic studies, Dr. Kimball is the author of three books about religion in the Middle East.” ...from the book jacket
Would you like to raise a question or make a comment (even a provocative one)? If so, e-mail Craig Anderson at craig@brooksidechurch.org