Inherent Violence
A colleague of mine posted an article about the situation in Iraq - it spoke of familes being chased into the night by ISIS, of fathers, husbands and sons being shot out-of-hand, of daughters being sold at slave markets, and girls as young as 9 becoming pregnant. It spoke of sex as a tool of control and power and dominance, and the thread throughout it is, "How DARE we sleep snugly in our beds, enjoy our choice of breakfast cereal, and wander blithely down the street when such atrocities are happening in this world!"
I agree. In many ways, we ignore things that are happening in the rest of the world, and "caring" about them, beyond sending some money, signing a petition, or offering up a prayer, is difficult. We have lives here, with cares and concerns here. I have a couple of people screaming at me that I'm moving too quickly on a project; how can I care for a woman half-a-world away who might have thugs burst in her door at any moment and take her children when I'm so busy deflecting a harsh opinion?
So I read the article. The suggestions at the bottom regard school for the children in the area, or helping a mother with a business start-up so that she can provide for the children. And my mind says, "But, what good is school when the ignorant can come raging out the wilderness at any moment to kill the teachers? What good is a business when the callous will reduce it to rubble on a whim, to show that they can? What is the root? What is the source? What is the "first need"?"
The popular misquotation is, "People sleep snugly in their beds because rough men stand ready to deliver violence on their behalf." This is a distillation of ideas that track back to both George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling - no one actually "said it" until 1993, but the sentiment was there: we can sleep because we are guarded. Police, fire and EMS stand ready to come to our aid at any moment, and thus we have peace and security in our homes; military forces guard our borders and project our values and beliefs to trouble spots around the world, in hopes that others there might have peace and security in their homes.
I find myself thinking of shepherds and sheepdogs. (John 10)
I find myself thinking of the "needs" of people, the true need that must be addressed before the gospel can be shared. (James 2:16).
I find myself thinking thoughts that are decidedly out-of-character for a man of peace as I am thought to be - thoughts of aggression, infiltration, extermination, liquidation, thoughts of getting men with rifles to winkle every last ISIS fighter and leader out of their holes and end them...!
We can send money to areas rife with corruption and tell ourselves that we have "done our part."
We can set up businesses that have all the permanence of candy floss and tell ourselves that we have "assisted in a trouble spot."
But what we really need, in my emerging opinion, is boots on the ground and a willingness to do whatever it takes to provide true security for those people. If we are going to go there and try to help, it does no good to send aid workers - ISIS doesn't care about the "bad optics" of shooting aid workers. We'd be better served sending men dedicated to ending oppression even as they end the oppressors. We made WWII a "just war" because innocents were dying. Is this not the basis for a "just war" being declared here?
True "commitment" in Iraq will, I believe, involve troops on the ground, and a commitment to fighting ISIS directly. Throwing money at the situation is a balm, a bandage, without security to back it all up. Iraq has basically lost an entire male generation, as far as I can tell. It will take more years before they are able to provide for their own security. We can't commit money without committing bodies. I'd like to be wrong, but this is where my mind is at this time.
I agree. In many ways, we ignore things that are happening in the rest of the world, and "caring" about them, beyond sending some money, signing a petition, or offering up a prayer, is difficult. We have lives here, with cares and concerns here. I have a couple of people screaming at me that I'm moving too quickly on a project; how can I care for a woman half-a-world away who might have thugs burst in her door at any moment and take her children when I'm so busy deflecting a harsh opinion?
So I read the article. The suggestions at the bottom regard school for the children in the area, or helping a mother with a business start-up so that she can provide for the children. And my mind says, "But, what good is school when the ignorant can come raging out the wilderness at any moment to kill the teachers? What good is a business when the callous will reduce it to rubble on a whim, to show that they can? What is the root? What is the source? What is the "first need"?"
The popular misquotation is, "People sleep snugly in their beds because rough men stand ready to deliver violence on their behalf." This is a distillation of ideas that track back to both George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling - no one actually "said it" until 1993, but the sentiment was there: we can sleep because we are guarded. Police, fire and EMS stand ready to come to our aid at any moment, and thus we have peace and security in our homes; military forces guard our borders and project our values and beliefs to trouble spots around the world, in hopes that others there might have peace and security in their homes.
I find myself thinking of shepherds and sheepdogs. (John 10)
I find myself thinking of the "needs" of people, the true need that must be addressed before the gospel can be shared. (James 2:16).
I find myself thinking thoughts that are decidedly out-of-character for a man of peace as I am thought to be - thoughts of aggression, infiltration, extermination, liquidation, thoughts of getting men with rifles to winkle every last ISIS fighter and leader out of their holes and end them...!
We can send money to areas rife with corruption and tell ourselves that we have "done our part."
We can set up businesses that have all the permanence of candy floss and tell ourselves that we have "assisted in a trouble spot."
But what we really need, in my emerging opinion, is boots on the ground and a willingness to do whatever it takes to provide true security for those people. If we are going to go there and try to help, it does no good to send aid workers - ISIS doesn't care about the "bad optics" of shooting aid workers. We'd be better served sending men dedicated to ending oppression even as they end the oppressors. We made WWII a "just war" because innocents were dying. Is this not the basis for a "just war" being declared here?
True "commitment" in Iraq will, I believe, involve troops on the ground, and a commitment to fighting ISIS directly. Throwing money at the situation is a balm, a bandage, without security to back it all up. Iraq has basically lost an entire male generation, as far as I can tell. It will take more years before they are able to provide for their own security. We can't commit money without committing bodies. I'd like to be wrong, but this is where my mind is at this time.