Refreshing

An Op-Ed from American Baptist Press presents a perspective from what would generally be thought to be the 'Religious Right' that is refreshing in regards to the Iraq war.

I want to offer a centrist Christian take on these events.

Exit polls clearly showed that weariness with the war on Iraq, and unhappiness over its conduct, played a dominant role in this election. Conservative Christians in the last several years have often offered uncritical support for the war, primarily, I think, because of a reflexive patriotism, a desire to support the troops, and a tendency to want to back a Republican president.

I have tried to argue for the last three years that the war did not meet just-war criteria and that Christian patriotism does not mean uncritical support for war, for Republicans (or Democrats), or for this (or any) president. I have also tried to say that supporting our troops does not mean uncritical support of a policy that keeps rotating them back to Iraq indefinitely in the service of a strategy that is not working and costing 90 American lives a month. It looks like the elections may finally force a rethinking of the entire enterprise, which is a very good thing.

Combining this with the earlier post on the resignation of the Christian Coalition leader, and perhaps we'll see some people breaking away from the monolithic Religious Right. And then, maybe, just maybe, other Christians can begin to work with those people to pursue a broader agenda in keeping with the spirit of Jesus' message for American politics.

GP