NP? religion and War

[pynchonoid]

[...] During his presidential campaign Bush cried,
"I'm a uniter, not a divider." As one critic put it,
"He's got that right. He's united the entire world
against him." In his brusque, go-it-alone approach to
Congress, the UN and countless nations big and small,
Bush seemed to be saying, "Go with us if you will, but
we're going to war with a small desert kingdom that
has done us no harm, whether you like it or not." This
is a good line for the macho business. But it flies in
the face of Jefferson's phrase, "a decent respect to
the opinions of mankind." As I have watched America's
moral and political standing in the world fade as the
globe's inhabitants view the senseless and immoral
bombing of ancient, historic Baghdad, I think often of
another Jefferson observation during an earlier bad
time in the nation's history: "I tremble for my
country when I reflect that God is just." 

The President frequently confides to individuals and
friendly audiences that he is guided by God's hand.
But if God guided him into an invasion of Iraq, He
sent a different message to the Pope, the Conference
of Catholic Bishops, the mainline Protestant National
Council of Churches and many distinguished rabbis--all
of whom believe the invasion and bombardment of Iraq
is against God's will. In all due respect, I suspect
that Karl Rove, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald
Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice--and other sideline
warriors--are the gods (or goddesses) reaching the ear
of our President. 

As a World War II bomber pilot, I was always troubled
by the title of a then-popular book, God Is My
Co-pilot. My co-pilot was Bill Rounds of Wichita,
Kansas, who was anything but godly, but he was a
skillful pilot, and he helped me bring our B-24
Liberator through thirty-five combat missions over the
most heavily defended targets in Europe. I give thanks
to God for our survival, but somehow I could never
quite picture God sitting at the controls of a bomber
or squinting through a bombsight deciding which of his
creatures should survive and which should die. It did
not simplify matters theologically when Sam Adams, my
navigator--and easily the godliest man on my
ten-member crew--was killed in action early in the
war. He was planning to become a clergyman at war's
end. 

Of course, my dear mother went to her grave believing
that her prayers brought her son safely home. Maybe
they did. But how could I explain that to the mother
of my close friend, Eddie Kendall, who prayed with
equal fervor for her son's safe return? Eddie was torn
in half by a blast of shrapnel during the Battle of
the Bulge--dead at age 19, during the opening days of
the battle--the best baseball player and pheasant
hunter I knew. 

I most certainly do not see God at work in the
slaughter and destruction now unfolding in Iraq or in
the war plans now being developed for additional
American invasions of other lands. The hand of the
Devil? Perhaps. But how can I suggest that a fellow
Methodist with a good Methodist wife is getting
guidance from the Devil? I don't want to get too
self-righteous about all of this. After all, I have
passed the 80 mark, so I don't want to set the bar of
acceptable behavior too high lest I fail to meet the
standard for a passing grade on Judgment Day. I've
already got a long list of strikes against me. So
President Bush, forgive me if I've been too tough on
you. But I must tell you, Mr. President, you are the
greatest threat to American troops. Only you can put
our young people in harm's way in a needless war. Only
you can weaken America's good name and influence in
world affairs. [...] 

<http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030421&s=mcgovern>
The Reason Why
by George McGovern





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