Wars, Religion, and Peace

The Rev. Bailey Smith, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention said: "With all due First Battle of Ypres respect to those dear people, my friend, God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew." The audience responded with enthusiastic applause.

Emerson said: "Peace can't be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding."

Robert Kennedy once said: "Each time a person stands up for a perfect , or acts to enhance the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... those ripples build a current which may sweep down the walls of oppression and resistance."

It is often believed with suicide bombers that their motivation for going into war is to receive a reward in heaven. But an American, Sergeant Jones, had a different strategy with new recruits. He sold life insurance instead!

It wasn't long before Captain Smith noticed that Sergeant Jones was having a staggeringly high success-rate, selling insurance to just about 100% of the recruits he advised. Rather than asking him about this, the Captain stood at the rear of the space and listened to Jones' sales talk .

Jones explained the fundamentals of GI Insurance to the new recruits, then said, "If you're killed during a battle and have GI Insurance, the govt has got to pay $200,000 to your beneficiaries. But, if you do not have GI insurance and obtain killed within the battle, the govt only has got to pay a maximum of $6,000.

"Now," he concluded, "which group does one think they're getting to send into battle first?"

Today, I want to look hard at the connection between religion, war and peace. When we look at the reports from Syria, it is so easy to get discouraged, isn't it? What an incredible mess is there. What a tragedy!

Like you I have witnessed the funerals of our military who have died from roadside bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq; I have seen them come home without arms or legs, or psychologically damaged, suffering from PTSD. Their amazing courage to go on despite all that they have endured is inspiring. I know about the tragedy of families who have lost loved ones, families who have lost father or mother to war, and the little children left alone with only a picture to greet them when they get up each day.

I am aware, as you are, of the suicide rate amongst our veterans. Daily, we see the horrors of war on our television news casts. It affects us all either directly or indirectly.

We also live in a time of unprecedented gun-related violence in America. The President was giving a good bread-and-butter speech for his State of the Union address this week, when suddenly he soared into greatness when he asked Congress to unite to do something about gun violence. He singled out those who had come to the State of the Union from the Sandy Hook massacre and other killings, including Gabby Giffords, who touchingly was trying to clap her hands together but could not. He pleaded for Congress to vote their consciences. I had tears in my eyes.

The very best person I have found to sum up the connection between religions and war is a Quaker scholar, William Frost.

He says that there are things about religions that don't necessarily cause war but do help to facilitate it.

1. He faults all major religions for having sacred texts that portray violence approvingly, whether done by God or some heroic figure. The war's success is guaranteed by God, and imitation of that behavior then becomes approved. For instance, when I was a boy I loved the story of David and Goliath. I also thought that Joshua was a good guy when he defeated the natives who already lived in the so called Promised Land. Today, I have other opinions.

2. Religions have rituals or prayers that are supposed to enlist the help of God in war, which teach that those fighting are fighting for a holy cause. Think of prayer before battle. Remember the Crusades, when even children were sent to battle, or even a football game in the NFL where one side prays to defeat the other.

3. If you lose your life in a Holy war, God will compensate you in the next life. Martyrdom is the highest mark of religious devotion, as every suicide bomber knows.

4. Religions teach that their adherents are the chosen ones, with rights and privileges, particularly involving a right to land ownership. And these folks go to war if they feel persecuted, either in the past or present, and are unable to get justice, or if there are enough of them to unify politically into a nation state, they will seek power through war, especially if the land is sacred or a "Promised Land." Nationalism that is linked to fighting for land and family then becomes a religious duty.

5. Political or spiritual leaders come from an upper class and see in the religious teaching a way to maintain their power. The Queen of England is also head of the Church, the Pope of a nation state.

6. Priests and religious leaders are willing to use secular power to institutionalize or enforce correct doctrine, worship and ethical practices. Think of the Taliban here preventing girls from going to school or proponents of Proposition 8 here in California, which banned gay marriage.

7. States fail to uphold minority rights and give in to majority faith practices that would weaken or remove minority rights. Think here of the American deep south before Martin Luther King, Jr. Or South Africa and Apartheid, which was justified on religious grounds.

8. Different faiths live close to each other, but their teaching and practices are seen to be incompatible. Think here of Northern Ireland, or Israel and Palestine, or Bosnia.