Opinion

Peace on Earth

By Douglas Lummis

Christmas is the only time of year a mainstream Christian can hang up signs and send out cards saying "Peace on Earth" without being considered a crackpot.

In other seasons it's considered unacceptable to sing hymns such as:

"Onward Christian soldiers, Marching as to war"

Or:

"Mine eyes have seen the glory

Of the coming of the lord.

He is trampling out the vintage

Where the grapes of wrath are stored.

He has loosed the fateful lightning

Of his terrible swift sword.

His truth is marching on."

Christmas is a remarkable moment in the Christian calendar. The sacred act being celebrated is the act of birth. The chief actor is not the man - Joseph had little to do with it - but the mother. And the object of worship - God - is in the form of a newborn baby. This is a god who cannot even walk, let alone "march" or "trample" or wield a "terrible swift sword."

How good it would be if Christians and other religious believers would always imagine their gods in such an innocent form.

But today millions of Christian, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and others are persuaded that their respective gods want them to go off to war: holy war, crusade, jihad, etc.

Think. What sort of god would it be, who would sit up in heaven and command His (or Her) believers on Earth to kill or conquer people who believe otherwise?

Does this mean (as the Old Testament seems to say) that actually there are many gods, each seeking to defeat the other? Do these gods, instead of bravely fighting it out directly among themselves, fight "proxy wars," using their believers on Earth as cannon fodder? Would such behavior be worth worshipping as "sacred"?

Or does it mean (as many believers think) that only one of these gods is the God, and the other supernatural beings who are worshipped are actually manifestations of the Evil Spirit, the Devil, Satan, as he is variously called? If so, this would only mean that the believers in other religions have been deceived, not that they themselves are evil. Would it be god-like to send out proxy armies of believers against such people whose fault is only an innocent mistake?

Or is the situation, as Mahatma Gandhi believed, that the believers in all religions worship the same God but in different ways? If so, can we imagine that this God would organize wars among His (or Her) worshippers merely because He (or She) likes some manners of worship better that others?

As you have probably guessed I am not a religious believer. But for those who are, or wish to be, I have a suggestion. If you think you hear a voice from a supernatural being urging you to go to war, you will be wise to assume that this is the voice of Satan, not God. If you want to worship God, worship the child. Merry Christmas.(489 words)

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Discussion: Consider the relationship between organized religion, god(s) and war.

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Shukan ST: Jan. 6, 2006

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