Onward Christian Soldiers?

In the Fall of 2006, Canon Kathleen Kelly and I wrote a series of commentaries for the Sacramento News and Review. This was the first and was written in early September.

Onward Christian Soldiers?
I met Jesus at West Point. It was my girlfriend (another cadet) who made the introduction. She sang in the choir. I went to church to impress her. And I heard about Jesus. It was the unconditional love that first caught my attention. Through the teachings of Jesus, I learned that God loved me, and loved everybody else. I learned about forgiveness and acceptance. I learned about a force in the world that was moving creation toward wholeness.

I drove tanks and fired anti-aircraft guns. I threw hand grenades. Blowing things up was exciting and exhilarating. In Bible study I read Jesus’ commands to love enemies. In Physics class I learned to graph the trajectory of an artillery shell.

It didn’t really seem crazy at the time. At West Point, soldiering was an honorable profession. We were to manage the use of violence so that peace was maintained with the fewest people harmed. We were trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary and to spare the lives of civilians. We were trained to disobey illegal or immoral orders. We had a moral obligation to protect others, even if it cost us our lives.

It didn’t seem crazy because we were the “good guys.” We trusted that our nation would go to war only as an absolute last resort. Our cause would be clearly just. Civilian deaths would be few and tragic. We would not torture.

Now it seems crazy. We are no longer the obvious “good guys.” We have invaded and destabilized a country without provocation and without international support. We had no good plan for stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq. We have killed countless (literally) women and children. Our poorly supported soldiers have tortured innocent Iraqis.

Each act can be explained or justified as a reasonable post 9/11 response. That does not make them right.

As a West Pointer and as a Christian, I am angry and heartbroken at how we have chosen to deploy our military. As a priest, I am concerned about the soul of our nation as we consider more military intervention. I am certain that the wisdom in our great religious traditions can help us find more creative and life-giving responses to terrorism.

-Brian Baker