Beyond the War of Words:
War with Iraq? Three Christian Perspectives
Friends Forum
Held Sunday, October 27th 2002
6:30 — 7:45 PM
Bethel College Library
It was wonderful to see the Library packed, literally almost to the
rafters, as about 160 people joined us to listen, learn, ask questions,
and think about the issue of a possible war with Iraq. Bethel faculty
provided three different Christian perspectives and references
to resources for further study and reflection.
Presenters:
G.William Carlson, Professor
of History and Political Science
John Lawyer, Professor of Political Science
Sandie McNeel, Assistant Professor of Organizational
Studies
G.William Carlson, Professor of History and Political Science
B.A., Bethel College, 1965; M.A., University of Minnesota,
1969; Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1985.
Bill has written articles on Christian nonviolence
and peace education, teaches a course on Christian Nonviolence using
"just peacemaking" ideas, and works on Bethel history
and compassionate evangelical political ideologies.
Viewpoint:
Just Peacemaking is an emerging concept which intends to fill out
the promise of two competing viewpoints: pacificism and just war
theory, which tend to focus on whether or not to go to war, but
overlooks the question of what to do to make peace. This approach
"encourages pacifists to fulfill what their name (derived from
the Latin pacemfacere) means, 'peacemakers.' And it calls
just war theorists to fill in the contents of their underdeveloped
principles of last resort and just intention–to spell out what
resorts must be tried before trying the last resort of war, and
what intention there is to restore a just and enduring peace. It
asks both to act on their stated intentions." (From the introduction
to Just Peacemaking edited by Stassen)
John
Lawyer, Professor of Political Science
A.B., Harvard, 1960; M.A., University of Delaware,
1965; M.P.A., Kennedy School, Harvard Unversity, 1970; Ph.D., Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts/Harvard), 1976.
Prior to coming to Bethel, John served in the Office
of the Secretary of the Defense in Washington, DC. A retired Air
Force officer, he worked in the Directorate of Plans at Headquarters
USAF, also in the Pentagon, through the mid-1980's.
Viewpoint:
"Under international law as it has evolved in the four hundred
years since Grotius, war is a legitimate attribute of sovereignty.
A state's decision to go to war becomes a matter of statecraft,
not theology, guided by essentially prudential considerations. In
light of Saddam's record of unprovoked aggression , the brutalization
of his own people, his oft-proclaimed desire to eliminate Israel,
and his continued commitment to weapons of mass destruction, prudential
considerations argue in favor of whatever measures including war,
are necessary to head off the danger he represents to the international
community."
Sandie
McNeel, Assistant Professor of Organizational Studies
B.A., Westmont College, 1968; M.A., Southern Illinois
University, 1973.
At Bethel Sandie has taught writing, and is currently
in the Organizational Leadership Department at the Center for Graduate
and Continuing Studies, where she also serves as Bethel-Frogtown/Summit
University Educational Coordinator. She has been deeply involved
in Bethel racial reconciliation efforts over the years. Her perspective
has been influenced by experiences growing up on Guam during the
Vietnam War.
Viewpoint:
US decisions about Iraq need to be viewed by Christians, in great
part, from a values perspective. God’s value of life, love,
and law revealed in the Hebrew scriptures, summarized in the two
greatest commandments, and taken to the extreme by Jesus in His
directive to love our enemies, are essential considerations. Reasons
for Christians’ support of or resistance to "render unto
Caesar what is Caesar’s" must be evaluated. International
law allows preemptive strikes only against imminent danger. The
act of regime change violates Iraq’s national sovereignty.
Christians must also consider alternative ways of spending the estimated
war costs of $100-200B. It is all about values.
