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.
