Millions of dollars have been made from selling T-shirts, wristbands and bumper stickers inscribed with the letters “WWJD” short for “What Would Jesus Do?” A recent ad campaign aimed at curbing the use of gas-guzzling SUVs implied that Jesus would drive a more fuel-efficient vehicle out of his love for the environment and rhetorically asked, “What would Jesus drive?” Since the American public and marketing firms have poured millions of dollars into the idea of what Jesus would do, it is sensible to explore this question when we stand at the precipice of a major war led by a self-proclaimed Christian whose outbursts of evangelicalism are more frequent than Bob Dole’s erections. While deciphering the feelings of a man who has long since departed Earth is not exactly easy, it is possible to determine with some clarity how Jesus felt about war, and maybe more importantly about peace by looking at what he said.
“Blessed are the peacemakers.”—Matthew 5:9. Some in the administration have argued that by invading Iraq they will actually further the interests of world peace. If the United States preemptively strikes Iraq on the belief that they have weapons of mass destruction, what happens if the weapons never turn up? We will have invaded and attacked another country on a dangerously incorrect hunch. Net gain for world peace: negative.
If Iraq does have the weapons and does plan to use them, what better time than when it is facing an invasion from the largest military in the world? Net gain for world peace: negative. And what happens when we respond in kind with our own weapons of mass destruction, as has been stated the president and members of his national security team? Again, net gain for world peace: negative.
“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace.”—Romans 14:19. This has been a source of constant division at home and abroad. Has every effort been made to resolve this conflict by peaceful means? By its own admission, the Bush administration is tired of “wasting time.” Declaring weapons inspections a necessity and useless in almost the same breath, they are reluctant to even complete them, bluntly stating that “inspections are not the goal.” To claim such an affinity for the Bible on one hand as President Bush does and to act as if he’s never actually read it on the other smacks of ignorance and hypocrisy, neither of which would buck the trend for his Administration.
“In our anger, we must not give way to sin.”—Ephesians 4:26. Remember the backlash against Muslim-Americans after 9-11? Fellow Americans were targeted simply because they had the same skin tone or a similar sounding name as terrorists even though they had no involvement with al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations. Now our government is rushing to make the same mistakes on a global scale. Our anger after 9-11 has given license to the administration to go after people we don’t like or understand on the basis that they might threaten us, no matter how scant the evidence.
It is, of course, too easy to take anything out of context, and the Bible has been manipulated for a variety of causes. However, the basic teachings of Jesus as presented in the Bible, and also the Quran, concern love and peace. Beyond his words, his actions spoke volumes. Jesus, to the chagrin of the Republican Party, was a pacifist.
While some religions have condoned or even endorsed violence to further their interests, Jesus was such a pacifist he would not even summon an army to save himself from crucifixion. That should be an indicator of how strongly Jesus felt about the use of violence, yet some will still wave the Bible in one hand and stand ready to pull the trigger in the other, claiming that one justifies the use of the other. This cannot be—as President Lincoln said, “God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.” A choice must be made, and President’s Bush’s selective Christian virtue will not suffice.
“You have heard it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say love your enemy and pray for those who would spite you.”—Matthew 5:43-48. What would Jesus do? I think he’s already answered that.
Christian Keeney is a Junior in the Washington Semester program. He thinks Jesus would write for the Voice.
