Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrine’s perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday a topic is printed inviting a response. Submissions are edited for content and length.
Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrine’s perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday a topic is printed inviting a response. Submissions are edited for content and length. Thoughts or suggestions for future topics are always welcome. Next week’s topic is spite. The topic at the end of the column is for the following week.
Pastor Wayne Patton
Anahola Baptist Church
War is a problem for those of us who claim to follow the Prince of Peace. We have to face some very grim realities.
The first reality we wrestle with is the reality of evil in the world. Whatever our position on war is, we must understand that there are some people who are truly evil. They are bent on abusing their power even to the point of using instruments of death to accomplish their purposes. The fact is that there are some people with whom you can never negotiate. While war should be avoided, if possible, we also understand the reality of evil and how destructive that evil can be.
The second reality we wrestle with is that God has given governments the responsibility for the restraint of evil in the world (Romans 13:1-4). Good government, whether on the national or global level, has to do with protecting people from evil and dealing with those who perpetuate it. We must understand that if we choose to avoid having conflict with evil, then we must be prepared to accept the consequences of that decision and even to suffer.
The third reality we wrestle with is that if war becomes necessary, it must be done justly. War is never desirable, but sometimes, as a last resort, it must be carried out for the sake of the safety of a majority of people or the administration of justice. It seeks to curtail evil rather than add to it.
All of us should long for the day when the prophecy of Isaiah 2:4 will be fulfilled which says, “Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
Rev. Dr. James Fung
Lihu‘e Christian Church
One of my favorite Christian hymns contains these words, “Cure thy children’s warring madness; bend our pride to thy control.” War is a form of madness. War is not merely the breakdown of humankind’s ability to work through conflict and to find compromises that enable people with major differences to co-exist. It is not just about our ignorance; it’s a testimony to humankind’s prideful arrogance. War is the consequence of a decision to accept the immoral alternative to finding a just way for imperfect people to live in a state of agitated disharmony.
Jesus taught “Blessed are the peacemakers”. And he also taught “Love your enemies”. Loving one’s enemy doesn’t make sense to many people. We can attempt to negotiate with the enemy. We can seek a compromise with the enemy. We can try to find common ground with the enemy. But more often, we seek to intimidate, weaken, neutralize, overpower and defeat the enemy. Sadly this approach is costly in terms of human lives, a drain to valuable resources and a monument to our most primitive way of solving problems.
War demonstrates the spiritual immaturity of humanity. But rather than quickly blaming the leaders of governments when we descend into war, we can look to ourselves to see the root cause of enmity — our jealousy, our paranoia-fueled fear, our arrogant prejudice, our hateful hostility directed to those who refuse to accept our view of how things should be.
Jesus’ greatest teaching on the things that make for peace was delivered on the day of his execution. It had to do with humility, self-sacrifice and forgiveness. Until we somehow progress further in learning these virtues, as individuals and as communities, we probably will continue to inflict war’s awful toll of pain and tears upon the soul of humanity.
The Baha’is of Kaua‘i
Peace, one of the main tenets of the Baha’i Faith, was emphatically promised by Baha’u’llah, its Prophet founder. He said, “These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come.”
In the mid-1800s Baha’u’llah, in His writings, spells out some of the practical implications. The governments of the world are called upon to convene an international consultative body as the foundation, empowered to safeguard the autonomy and territory of its state members, resolve national and regional disputes and coordinate programs of global development for the good of the entire human race. This commonwealth of nations is backed by an international force to safeguard its unity. Significantly, Baha’u’llah attributes to this system, once established, the right to suppress by force acts of aggression by one state against another. Addressing the rulers of His day, He asserts the clear moral authority of such action: “Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.”
In this way, force is made the servant of justice. Warfare is the ultimate tragedy of disunity among nations where no international authority exists powerful enough to restrain them from pursuing their own limited interests. Baha’u’llah affirms that intervention by a recognized international authority is not aggression or war but the maintenance of law and order on a worldwide scale, asserting that “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”
Lami Tashi Dundrup
Kaua‘i Dharma Center
This in the human condition is caused by the idea of a “self” or “ego” separated from others. Most of the human race suffers from this delusion, which of course is not true. Every thing and every one is interconnected and all of this is one’s life support system. The antidote to war, fighting and quarreling is loving kindness, compassion and concern for all others and our natural environment. The most dangerous state of ignorance is one’s “ego” or “I.” The emotional involvement with this “ego” causes pain and suffering on all levels — mental, physical, and spiritual. This produces unrest. The extreme of this unrest is greed, anger, hatred, rage, etc. These psychotic states are enforced by political, military, corporate and even religious groups. On this planet anyone or anything that disrupts the presence of peace and harmony, cooperation and respect in one’s mind or socially is in a state of war.
Rebecca DeRoos
Science of Mind Practitioner
War gives us the grand challenge to let go and let God. The fear of losing who we are and what we have presents our greatest challenges, whether at war with ourselves or with others. We hang onto our ideas of the way things should be or how others should relate before listening, really listening, to our higher selves. When war appears, we’ve forgotten who we are — spiritual beings interconnected with all of humanity.
In his book, “Around the Year with Emmet Fox,” Emmet gives a wonderful analogy to our holding on too tight: “A party of hunters being called away from their camp left the campfire unattended with a kettle of water boiling on it. Presently an old bear crept out of the woods, and, seeing the kettle with its lid dancing about on top, promptly seized it. The boiling water scalded him badly; but instead of dropping the kettle instantly he proceeded to hug it tightly — this being a bear’s idea of defense. Of course, the tighter he hugged it, the more it burned him; and the more it burned him the tighter he hugged it; and so on in a vicious circle, to the undoing of the bear.”
Holding tight to our personal fears, our wars, our difficulties as “bear hugs kettle” only results in devastation. Opening to our spiritual selves, whether through prayer, meditation or simply peaceful listening to God and others, begins our healing and ends our war. We are all spiritually interconnected, no matter race, gender, religion or origin. Peace is always heard; God guarantees it.
“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
Topic for two weeks from today
• Will you speak to us on the after life?
• Spiritual leaders are invited to e-mail responses of three to five paragraphs to afrainier@ thegardenisland.com.
• Deadline each week is 5 p.m. Tuesday.
