We used to send missionaries to the uttermost parts of the earth, but now we send soldiers. Even though there is a place for just wars with bombs, we must never forget that there is only hope in the gospel, not in bombs.

There once was a time when other nations considered the United States a Christian nation. I was raised in a Christian culture; albeit imperfect, but a culture nonetheless where most of the principles of civil law were derived from the Bible.   America cannot be viewed as a Christian nation any longer.  Socialistic Christianity promoted a secular power-religion that sought to save the world through the dominance of the state.  Pietistic Christianity reacted by totally withdrawing from the public square looking for a rapture or escape by death.  Some Christians forgot that their children and grandchildren must inherit the world they leave to them.  America, at least among its elite, is now anti-Christian.  Evangelical Christians are a nuisance to the goals of a totalitarian state that will only befriend religious sects that promote the goals of those at the top.

Now we live in a world where barbarian beheadings of American citizens are being streamed worldwide via the Internet.  Beheadings are indeed horrific.  The families deserve our compassion.  However, those non-military Americans in the middle of a war zone assumed that risk.  We all want vengeance, but vengeance only begets vengeance. It’s a vicious cycle.  A visceral reaction must not determine long-term national policy.

God has sent confusion among us here in this country.  We really don’t know what to do.  We are not united anymore.  We are divided.  We are tired of war, but yet we believe that maybe we need to fight another one as long as some else puts their boots on the ground.  We want a safe war.  Perplexity is a judgment of God; at least it was in the Old Testament (Dt. 28:20), as it was in the New Testament (1 Cor. 14:33).  As a nation, we cannot look to Christian principles anymore because we are no longer Christian.  We are now by design polytheistic, a nation of many gods. The most prominent voice in America, at least among secular conservatives (neo-cons), is that we must blanket the Middle East with bombs.  Forget about collateral damage. “Bombs away, Obama!”

The Middle East is divided into Muslim Sunni and Shiite religious sects.  It can be argued that the national borders in the Middle East were arranged by the British and French at the end of World War I in the Sykes-Picot Treaty without regard for these religious differences. The United States has now assumed the art of nation-building. This presumption demonstrates our own ignorance and arrogance.    We have failed and we are bewildered.

In my generation we have lost three wars (Viet Nam, Iraq, and soon Afghanistan). We have watched our young men and women come home in body bags or mangled for life.  What have we accomplished?   Now we watch our citizens die on real reality television.  We are being dragged into another prolonged war, and we are not even sure whose side we are on.  Our present enemy was once our old friend.  Our old friend is now our present enemy. It’s pure confusion.

The old Christian doctrine of a just war restricted the use of our military to the protection of our own borders.  We have no business meddling in the affairs of other nations, apart from an attack upon our homeland. Rumors and threats should be taken seriously, but neither one is a military attack or a basis for declaring war.  Maybe it is time to consider a total military withdrawal from the Middle East and let the Sunnis and the Shiites fight it out.  If we were a Christian nation, we could provide a safe-haven for Christians in the Middle East, but we are no longer Christian.  Consider one scenario that Iran (Shiite) can quickly stop the spread of ISIS (Sunnis), and then of course the wars will go on and on.

We used to send missionaries to the uttermost parts of the earth, but now we send soldiers. Even though there is a place for just wars with bombs, we must never forget that there is only hope in the gospel, not in bombs.  As a Christian, I don’t usually quote secular songs, but I will here.  Call me a flower-carrying liberal if you like.  As Pete Seeger wrote years ago in his popular song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (and made popular by Peter, Paul, and Mary), “When will they ever learn?”

Larry E. Ball is an Honorably Retired Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is working as a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tennessee.