Broyles on 9-11

Vernon Broyles on the Tragedy of 9/11

Vernon Broyles offers a theological view of the tragedy: evil is found on all sides

[9-20-01]

"War," "Terrorism" and the Search for Peace

Reflections on a tragedy

by Vernon Broyles

LOUISVILLE --

Editor's note: The Rev. Vernon Broyles is associate director for social justice and associate for corporate witness in the National Ministries Division of the General Assembly Council. The Presbyterian News Service is publishing this reflection on the Sept. 11 tragedy because Vernon's responsibilities include theologically framing the national and social issues of our day for the church. ---- Jerry L. Van Marter

We should all be grateful for the acknowledgment by President Bush that "we are at war," and profit from the comments of those who have described the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as "another Pearl Harbor."

What is most important in those comments is not that we can now justify a massive, sustained response against "terrorism," but that we have the chance to understand that these acts have been viewed by the perpetrators all along, not as acts of "terrorism," but as acts of "war." We have no chance of responding successfully to our "enemies," whether our goal is vengeance, or elimination, or peace, unless we understand them. Osama bin Laden, and everyone of his ilk, whether they have come before him or will come after him, have always seen themselves as being engaged in "war," not "terrorism."

No "war" goes forward without an ideology behind it. Even a cursory look at their rhetoric makes clear their hatred for those they perceive as the "Christian West," whose values are forced on the world by an economic and military hegemony. Moreover, we have seen numerous video clips that show their training camps, which we describe as training grounds for "terrorists," but they understand to be military installations for the preparation of soldiers in their "war." In brief, although they may be more widely dispersed than most traditional guerilla forces, they are nonetheless part of a guerilla fighting force that uses the methods typical of every guerilla army in history that is fighting against a force far superior to their own.

Further, while it may seem politically helpful to call them "barbaric" in their acts against the "civilized" world, it is appropriate to ask why the incineration of several thousand people in the attack on the World Trade Center was a "barbaric act of terrorism," while the incineration of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are seen as a "necessary act of war by a civilized nation."

What is important here is that by declaring that we are "at war" with "terrorism," President Bush has blurred the line between "war" and "terrorism" in a very helpful way. The fact is that whenever a nation or individual sets out to define "terrorism," it is always defined as violent acts perpetrated by someone else. It does not include acts that may be similar in their methodology or effects by the one offering the definition. For, example, when the Israeli Defense Force occupying the West Bank and Gaza bombs, strafes and rockets an apartment building, killing dozens of innocent civilians, or assassinates a group of Palestinians by firing rockets at their automobile, the Israeli government describes those as "security actions." When a car bombing is perpetrated by Palestinians, with similar loss of life, it becomes "an act of terrorism."

One possible reason that the "terrorism" we have seen against the United States at home and abroad has grown to the unspeakable level of September 11, 2001, is that we have ignored many people suffering injustice at the hands of those we support. When they have reacted violently, we have simply condemned their behavior as random acts of "terrorism," rather than understanding that most of those acts represent a determination to redress their grievances through the calculated actions of a guerilla force that sees itself engaged in a "war" with us and our minions.

It also may be that we have failed to be adequately self-critical of negative impacts of our own policies and postures within the community of nations. We seem genuinely hurt by the thought that there should be so much ill feeling toward the U.S. around the world. Often it is a mix of jealous admiration and dislike, but it is really there; and we dare not take the wonderful, worldwide demonstrations of compassion and solidarity in the aftermath of the 9/11/01 catastrophe as a signal that all that is past.

We are still seen in many quarters as not only more powerful militarily and economically than anyone else on the planet, but also possessing a considerable degree of arrogance about it, which allows us to simply turn up our noses at agreements sought by other nations and declare that we will go our own way. It also has not gone unnoticed that our willingness to speak fluently of "democracy" is often accompanied by our support for regimes around the world that are paradigms of repression, because they are "friends" who can serve as instruments of our "national interest" (cases in point - Somoza, Pinochet, Mobutu and, yes, The Taliban).

As Reformed Christians in the United States, it is urgent that we make our voices heard at this time in our history. We must say to our leaders that we are at "war," not with "terrorists" but with evil. It is manifest in our selves, as well as others. In this real world in which we live, it will always be necessary, on occasion, to use force in the restraint of evil. That is the sense of Paul's description in Romans of the role of the "civil magistrate" in exercising "the power of the sword." But having acknowledged that, we must also reiterate the lessons of history, that there will never be "a war to end all wars," not even a successful "war to stamp out terrorism."

As people of faith, we must continue to insist that the only real hope for humanity is the path of peace -- the biblical vision of shalom -- which is marked by "liberty and justice for all," not just for the powerful, not for just a few select nations, not just for some in each society, but for all of God's children.

If God's Word is true, nothing less than shalom will do. But the way is far more difficult than we would wish. And our hardest challenge along the road to that kind of peace will be to believe so strongly that we ourselves are forgiven through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are finally able to forgive our enemies. As William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, said: "The only way a Christian has of getting rid of his enemies is to love them into being his friends." That may seem preposterous, ill-timed and unrealistic. Nonetheless, it is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.