How do you support a soldier and not the war they fight?
I remember it as if it was yesterday. It was about 4 years ago. I was pulling up to the church on a Sunday morning and one of the members approached my car as I was getting out. She said, “Here Rev. Brown, take one of these. It’s only $2. I’ll get the money from you later.”
What she shoved in my hand was one of those yellow, magnetic ribbons that donned the message, “Support Our Troops!”
I remember not knowing what to say for fear that I might offend her, but deep within me I knew that I wanted nothing to do with that yellow, magnetic ribbon. At that time, there was this blind patriotism drenching popular culture supported by right-leaning religious groups who declared that God gave the “Divine OK” to utterly destroy human beings in Iraq with shock and awe in Jesus name.
As a Believer in Jesus and a Follower of The Way, I disagree with war and believe that it is inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. How could one follow a man who was called The Prince of Peace and encouraged loving one’s enemies and at the same time champion war and the killing of other human beings?
Soon after that parking lot experience, I began preaching sermons as I had opportunity against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I also started preaching against the military activity between Israel and Hezbollah. (and particularly Israel’s murdering of innocent civilians and unjust occupation of Palestine.)
Sometimes with reckless abandon, prophetic zeal, and perhaps doses of self-righteousness I tried as best I could to send a clear message that Followers of Jesus could not waver on the issue of war. The teachings of Jesus just don’t support it.
Now, however, I’ve had a few more experiences in life. Now, I’m a pastor who possesses a greater level of concern for the well being of the sheep. I’m not some itinerant minister who can run to a foreign pulpit, unsheathe my blade, cut up the sheep, leave the sanctuary bloody, and walk out satisfied because I told it like it T. I. is. Now, to a much greater degree, I’m concerned about preaching the truth in such a way that will bring about spiritual growth…that will help build people up -not just tear them down and leave them crippled. And even if I cut them I attempt to extrapolate the cancerous growth with a surgeon’s precision leaving the healthy cells in their proper place.
Now, I can say that I’ve sat down with some of my family members who are in the Armed Forces and had conversations with them about how they are wrestling with being the one who makes sure the screws on the missile launcher are tight. Now I can say that I’ve seen the residue of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in family members who still have nightmares about bombing schools in Iraq. Now I can say I’ve met men who were in Vietnam and who still can’t speak about what they saw or participated in while there. Now I can say that I have friends who work for some of the largest weapons manufacturers in the U.S. and who engineer some of the most deadly weapons that the general public has not been made aware of yet.
And now, as of a couple of weeks ago, I can say that two young people who are dear to me have informed me that they have chosen to join the Armed Forces and submit themselves to a process where they will be forced to surrender their ability to think independently, silence their conscience, and dehumanize other human beings so that pulling the trigger will be easier. They’ve agreed to become a part of the world’s war machine - a highly profitable system utilized by the principalities of this world to control the general population of the global community. They’re not the only young people in my circle who have made this decision. I know many young people who have opted to take this path…despite the scriptures, despite Dr. King, despite their religious beliefs, despite Jesus. It baffles me why young people join the military.
And yet - How do I minister to them? How do I support them while maintaining my ardent disagreement with their decision? I try to think of them as if they were my own children. What would I say to my daughter if she wanted to enlist? What would I say to my son? Surely, I wouldn’t picket against them. I wouldn’t kick them out of my house. I wouldn’t disown them. I wouldn’t barrage them with deep philosophical arguments that prove that “I’m right.” But my deep, unyielding, and longstanding love for them would compel me to say something.
I don’t know if these are the right answers, but I think I’d say something like:
“Son, God did not create you to kill other human beings.” …or
“Daughter, there are better ways to expand your horizons and see the world than by signing your life away to the government.”…or
“Son, I sense that you feel your options in life are limited and that you have to enlist in order to pay for college, but I guarantee you that there are other ways to fund your education.”…or
“Daughter, I urge you to read the stories of other young people who walked this path before you and consider what you’re really getting yourself into.”…or
“Son, before you enlist do your homework on what you’re getting yourself into and don’t just count on the word of the recruiter. Like a used car salesman, it’s their job to embellish and fabricate benefits in order to get you to sign.”…or
“Daughter, I know you’ve already enlisted, but there is still time…you can still change your mind”…or
“Son, it is remarkable that you have expressed your willingness to die for your country’s causes, but have you considered enlisting in a different type of army where you can still face injury and possibly death for PEACE instead of for war?”…or
“Daughter, I want you to know that there is a Federal Law that would prohibit me from discouraging you to join the Army, but I am willing to face being arrested if it will help you to think again about this decision.”
What would you say, Faith in Action family if you were in my shoes? Have any of your children, family, or friends joined the military? For those who are in the military and are Believers in Jesus, how have you reconciled what Christ says versus what your Commander says? For any clergy out there how do you minister to your parishioners who are either in the military or have loved ones overseas? For any activists out there, what strategies have you found to be effective in the effort to get military recruiters out of our schools and off of our college campuses?
Help. Our children are marching off to war.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
JOIN THE ARMY, travel to distant lands, meet exotic people and kill!
Those were the words inscribed on the back of young man’s shirt. I remember the day when my son walked into the house with his ROTC uniform on, I had to think fast, because as the young folks often say today, “I was not feeling it”. What followed was that we had the talk. No, not that talk, we had that one already. We had the talk about war, unjust wars, American style-hegemony, white-supremacy, American injustices around the world.
I was taught that information was the basis for making (good and bad) decisions. I gave my son information, and I encouraged him to garner more information from independent sources, and soon after he returned the ROTC uniform to the school.
Yesterday, Senator McCain declared to the world that we, all Americans, are Georgians. I thought, speak for yourself KemoSabe. Why? The nation of Georgia is currently participating in the illegal occupation of the nation of Iraq, along with the United States and the remainder of ‘the [Cotillion] of the willing’! I thought, how dare the Georgian Republic complain about being invaded? Is Russia justified in terms of what it is doing?
My answer is that what Russia has done is far less egregious than what the USA has done and is currently doing in Iraq (with the assistance of the Republic of Georgia). Does that make Russia’s behavior proper? I simply refer to the canon where it reads, how can you judge your brother when you are doing the same thing! There is as usual far more to the story than what we have been told by the western media or western sycophants.
The USA has been harassing the Russians, interfering in elections in that region, encasing Russia itself and its Republics in the Black and Caspian seas…, and the USA has helped to install the kind of leadership that it wants in the Georgia Republic’s government, students from American Universities! It would appear that Russia has not been sanctioned by the USA to have its own Monroe Doctrine.
I have been in battles with Christians before with respect to American-style invasions and war, that typically invoke Ecclesiastes 3 and St. Augustine’s ‘Just War Doctrine’. In every instance when either of the two were invoked, I have been able to prove that ‘it was not the time, neither was the justification for fighting consistent with divine principles’, for example the Iraqi invasion, in deference to the will of the United Nations (which the USA accused Iraq of ignoring that which it did itself), was not and is not a defensive war.
I find it necessary to remind the war-mongering Christian church, typically encouraged by men of questionable character like Pat Robertson, John Hagee, the late Reverend Falwell and others to remember what the Bishop of the Jerusalem church wrote. In his writings he explained two important principles with respect to the motivations for war, “the desire to satisfy lusts”, as well as the juxtaposition between earthy and heavenly wisdom. American Christians have supported the wholesale support of the murder of innocent people around the world in the M-E (including its inviolate support of the Israeli war machine and Americas own involvement in the Americas…!
I refused to serve during the time that I was eligible to serve citing 2 reasons. First of all I reminded my critics that until the USA decided to guarantee me all of my Constitutional Rights, I would not serve, for the Constitution did not guarantee me that things would getter for me as a black person, it guranteed my rights, and point of fact the government failed to ensure my rights. Second, I reminded my critics of American duplicity, schizophrenia, hypocrisy that goes along with its practice of world-wide hegemony based upon white supremacist values.
The black troops who served during WWII for example fought against fascism only to return home to American style Nazi fascism. We cannot stop our young people from joining the military; however, we certainly can educate them. And finally, when battling with my critics with respect to the American military and the unjust wars that the USA typically creates or engages in, I find that I have little sympathy for those who refused to be informed, particularly those who believe in American injustice themselves and vote for administrations who are eager to attack other innocent people in nations who haven’t done a thing to the USA!
God’s plan is for the lion and the lamb to lie down together in peace, which is not the goal of the USA, an Empire that simply desires to remain atop the world order, have the world to comport to its mandates and ‘to be like the Most High’! Dr. Rice said it best recently, the USA negotiates in a different manner than other nations do, she said that we tell other nations what they will do and what their rewards will be when they comply, otherwise…!
The same USA that is currently occupying Babylon appears to the post-modern Babylon that has been referred to in biblical eschatology! I believe that we must encourage our young people to follow the mandates of Jesus Christ, and to be conscientious objectors unless there is a reason to fight, one that is sanctioned by Heaven, not by white supremacy or white supremacists!
Interestingly enough, Cheney, Bush and other warmongers have refused to do what they want others to do; our young people also have the choice to refuse to participate in the wholesale murder of innocent people around the world! Ironically, many in America’s Federal Government scoffed recently at the idea of creating A Peace Department in Washington, that was being pushed by Dennis Kucinich. Is there any wonder why they would prefer The United States War Department (now referred to as the United StatesDefense Department) over a Peace Department?
August 13th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Forgive my verbosity again, however, I must remind black Americans in particular that WE SHOULD NOT DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT HAS BEEN DONE AND IS BEING DONE UNTO US!
How dare black Americans fight for white supremacist values, and kill other people around the world, who are experiencing from white America what we have experienced ourselves. Consider America’s immigration problem with 14 million individuals walking across its borders. Could it be that America is reaping what it sowed for walking in and taking this nation in the first place, or for its tendencies to walk in and take over other nations with its guns ablazing! God is not mocked —
Fighting for America, to do so is merely to keep the white hegemonists in power, and that is not a part of God’s plan. And shame on Senator Obama for perpetuating the same politics of greed and American-style hegemony! He is in a position now to help to organize the world towards peaceful dividends. The world will listen to him, however, even if he continues to perpetuate the politics of evil - the world will realize that he is there to perpetuate evil American foreign policy and American-style hegemony!
August 13th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Jesus had members in his inner circle, not only Peter the Knife, that preferred to call fire down from heaven and destroy those who did not see things as they did, and Jesus rebuked them. Christian America is calling fire down from heaven today in the form of laser guided bombs, hell (no pun intended) fire missles - why did America name them ‘Hell Fire’ missiles, Tomahawk Missies, Cruise Missiles…’ and aside from our nuclear arsenal we are working secretly on death Rays and lasers which can be sent down out of heaven from satellites and space platforms!
The individuals who will be killed will never know what hit them, and in some instances they people will simply disappear, without a trace of evidence left behind - their loved ones will never know what happened to their vaporized relatives. This kind of technology I suspect, won’t be restricted to use against America’s enemies, how about its citizens?
This is not God’s plan for the Earth - we must teach our kids!
August 18th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Congratulations Heb! I see that you are one of the finalist in the Black Web Awards. I already voted for you to win the award. You know you’re already in my top three favorite bloggers. But now, others will know how you are bringing the pain over here at Faith in Action. I know that you are not one for praise and thangs. But the work you are doing here, the dialogue that you have going, the issues that you are highlighting are so critically important. It’s time for others to know more about your work/your blog.
Bless you, brotha. I got you in my prayers.
A
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:52 am
“And now, as of a couple of weeks ago, I can say that two young people who are dear to me have informed me that they have chosen to join the Armed Forces and submit themselves to a process where they will be forced to surrender their ability to think independently, silence their conscience, and dehumanize other human beings so that pulling the trigger will be easier. They’ve agreed to become a part of the world’s war machine - a highly profitable system utilized by the principalities of this world to control the general population of the global community. They’re not the only young people in my circle who have made this decision. I know many young people who have opted to take this path…despite the scriptures, despite Dr. King, despite their religious beliefs, despite Jesus. It baffles me why young people join the military.”
Sir, it baffles me as why such a man that should be educated, talks on things he is not educated on. Against the scriptures? The bible, the Koran, and the Torah never say war is evil.
Surrender to think? This absured comment from someone outside the military is rediculus. The Armed services actualy highely incourage independent thinking to help the team. The team is what matters.
Then you say Silence their Conscience? See its people like yourself that are pulling this country down. Your uneducated words, unresearched, biased and blind ability to talk down on a profession because you are a Rev.? Not to want to except a Magnent to support troops in a war to protect you?
You know what Rev. Brown please leave this country. Please go practice your religion and this so called freedom of speech in Russia, to China , to Cambodia. See how long you last in a country where the troops don’t protect you from the outside enemy, yet protect the government from the citizens.
Lets see how forgiving they are of your outright rediculas rhetroic where you put down the country and the troops.
Sir you don’t deserve to live in this country. You can not believe in this war, or what this country is doing, but to sit there and say you don’t want a magnetic ribbon because you believe in Jesus is stupidity on the highest level.
Good day sir,
And thanks for your support
OIF III Vet
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:22 am
Andrew,
I had made up in my mind that I was not going to respond to this post for a number of reasons. The first one being that after reading it thoroughly, I was at a loss for words. You may not know the man that wrote this post but I do. Since I was a little girl he has been my example, mentor, big brother and friend. I am one of the two young people that he was referring to but I say to you, the comments that you have decided to make are outlandish and rude. The man that you have decided to go against is a man of integrity and honor but more than that he is a TRUE follower of Jesus Christ. Does that mean that you must agree with his beliefs?? Not at all. I dont agree either. But I would advise you next time you decide to come past Faith In Action to bring some Word with you. It is one thing to completely go against what someone is saying and down them for their beliefs but it is something incredible when you agree to disagree. Noble men stand up for what they believe in but keep an open heart and an open mind to accept, hear and evaluate others’ thoughts and beliefs. So, Mr. Andrew, what kind of a man are you?? To tell someone who is fighting the good fight here at home that he does not deserve to be in this country is ubsurd. If anything, we need more men like Rev. Pastor Heber M. Brown III in this country willing to stand up for what it is that they believe in.
HebHeb,
I think I have read this post every other day since you put it up and I have been trying to wrap my mind around everything you have dared to mention. Since I first met you, I have admired your ability to stand up for your beliefs. Of course, I rarely agree with the things that you say but I respect you more for refusing to settle even in the face of controversy. This is not a response to the post but rather a message to you. Thank You, for being the MAN that you are. Thank you for your determination and drive. Thank you for the time, tears and effort that you have put in to make the world that we live in a better place. I honor you, I respect you, I love you. To say that your support would be appreciated is an understatement. Let me say this and then I’m clicking the green button:: If standing up for what you believe means NOT supporting my decision, I am okay with that. I would respect you more, at the end of the day, for refusing to bend rather then conforming to the beliefs of others who dont even have what it takes to stand on two feet. So, lets agree to disagree (smile) …oh and by the way, I admire you ten times more right now than I EVER have simply because you dared to post this. Love Yah Bruh!!
YOU ARE MINISTRY!!!
August 25th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Tanae - I know that today is your big day. To the extent that I 100% disagree with the decision that you and your sister have made; I even more so love you and your sister greatly. I will pray without ceasing regarding this transition in your lives and I’m thankful that we serve a God who is “everywhere present.” With all the new voices that will enter your ears in your new role as a soldier; I pray that God’s voice becomes even louder…even more distinct…never close your ears or your heart to what God is saying to you. Keep that independent, questioning, and rebellious spirit. I have a feeling that you’ll need it now more than ever.
Go in peace.
Your brother.