Why Christians Should be Against the War in Iraq

by Matt Miller 1/20/08

The President has given many reasons for going to war with Iraq, but none of them are Biblically or constitutionally valid. Some people have said that we have good reasons to continue to occupy Iraq, but these aren’t Biblically or constitutionally valid either.

1. There was some talk in the beginning about connections between Sadaam Hussein and Al Qaeda. The 9/11 Commission made the determination that this is not the case. Colon Powell admitted that this was not the case. Even the President has abandoned this claim. Iraq has never participated in any terrorist attack against the United States. General Petraeus has admitted that there were no Al Qaeda in Iraq before the war.

2. Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Should every nation that has WMD be violently overthrown? Is this a Biblical or constitutional mandate? Psalm 37:7-9 says, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.” Read also I Peter 3:10-14.

3. Iraq violated U.N. resolutions. But the corrupt and hypocritical U.N. violates its own resolutions all the time (e.g. the oil for food program). Let their “peacekeeping forces” be the ones to enforce their rules at the expense of their citizens. The United States should have gotten out of this wicked organization a long time ago. The American people should decide what America does, not some conglomeration of nations.

4. There is the idea that the war in Iraq makes the U.S. safer. A GOP slogan was, “If we don’t fight them over there then we will have to fight them over here.” Is that a Christian thing to say? Does only the fear that a nation will attack the U.S. justify a preemptive attack? That sounds like the same justification that a terrorist would use to attack the U.S. The Bible teaches that we should not rely on military might for our protection, but the Lord (Psalm 118:8, 9, Ephesians 6:12). This not to say that we should never bring lawbreakers to justice (because the Bible authorizes and even commands this), but military force should only be used against those who have violated U.S. laws.

5. There is the idea that it was good to bring down Sadaam Hussein because he was a brutal dictator who killed his own people. I reject the idea that U.S. should be the policeman of the world. I find in Scripture no Biblical mandate for this. This is a matter that, as far as military force goes, should be left up to God and the Iraqi people. How bad does a nation have to get before it becomes justifiable to attack it? What Sadaam Hussein has done is a drop in the bucket compared to what we are doing in the U.S., which is brutally murdering 3500 innocent unborn babies per day. Would you advocate a violent overthrow our government because of this? We should remove the planks from our own eyes first.

6. There is the idea that a democracy would bring stability to the region. Does the U.S. have a mandate from God in the Scriptures to take down governments and set up democracies? Our nation was founded on Christian principles by Christians. We are a strong nation because God gave the Founding Fathers the wisdom to establish our Republic (it is not actually a democracy). We are losing our strength because we have turned our backs on God. Do you really think that this “democracy” will work in a nation which is mostly Muslim and contains three warring factions? Jeremiah 51:9 says, “We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth up to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”

7. There is the idea that it is unpatriotic or disrespectful to say things against the people who are fighting in Iraq for our freedom to dissent. Being against the war in Iraq is in no way disrespecting the people who are fighting in Iraq and trying to make the best of a bad situation. People fighting in Iraq are not giving us the freedom to dissent, but Almighty God is. It is true that there are times in which the sacrifice of lives is necessary for freedom, but that doesn’t mean that all wars that America has engaged in were justified or helped the cause of freedom. I have relatives and friends in the military who are in Iraq and I don’t want them to die unnecessarily. Is that wish unpatriotic or disrespectful in any way? The distraction of Iraq has left us powerless to accomplish the real patriotic mission which is to capture Osama Bin Laden and the top Al Qaeda leaders. Being against the war in Iraq does not disrespect the families of those who died on September 11th. Dividing our forces and not going all out with all our military might to capture Osama Bin Laden is what has denied justice to them. God has allowed our government to make foolish choices because we have turned our backs on Him.

8. There is the idea that we should be for the war in Iraq because the Democrats and the news media are against it or because Republicans are for it. These are ridiculous arguments. Each person should think for himself. If the Democrats were really steadfastly against the war, they could have withdrawn funding for it and it would be over. But instead they have attempted to bargain with the Bush administration about this to get the goodies that they want, while fooling their anti-war constituency into thinking that they are really doing something to stop it.

The Bible specifically warns God’s people to stay away from Babylon. There are evil spirits there. The reason given for one to stay away is so that one does not share in its sins (Revelation 18:4).

Remember that Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and most of the prominent Democrats voted in favor of the war in Iraq in the beginning. They only changed their position (or tried to take both sides) when it became politically advantageous for them to do so. But Ron Paul has always voted against the war in Iraq for the same reason he is against legalized abortion—he doesn’t want innocent people to die unnecessarily. He stood on his convictions and went against his own party.

Ron Paul is running on the Republican ballot. If you agree with him, join the revolution!