Jesus the Pacifist?

Actress Merryl Streep has been paraphrased as asking what bombs Jesus - whom George W. Bush calls his personal savior - would drop on sleeping Iraqis.

First, when exactly did Jesus become a pacifist? If you are an orthodox Christian (that is, a right-thinking Christian, not a capital O orthodox, as in patriarchs with Greek or Russian names) you are a Trinitarian. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God. Jesus was nearly arrested on several occasions (and ultimately was put to death) for making himself equal with God.

John 10:32 - 33 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?" The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."

Jesus did not clarify himself "Hey, wait a second fellas, there's been a mistake…". That means logically that Jesus (God the Son) was in on all the head-busting we see in the Old Testament. He isn't the weepy , hippy son who had to stand by while his old man laid the smack-down. Jesus WAS the smack-down.

This may make the Episcopalians squirm in their rainbow vestments, but the very same Jesus the New Testament talks about as the suffering Messiah is said to be on the way back with a big bucket of damnation.

Revelations 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

What irritates the hell out of me is that people who never darken the door of a church or spend any amount of time studying my faith deign themselves fit to offer advice as to how we should follow His examples. Don't get me wrong, the Lamb of God in his first incarnation offered His creation a way of escape through his death, and at the time I'm confident that He never hurt a fly (except for the money changers he chased out of the temple - Matthew 21:12). All things being equal, I would rather take a beating if it might improve a man's chances of seeing Heaven. However, this does not necessarily flow that Christians are to be pacifists. Any human has the right to defend themselves. I'm sure Ms. Streep would avail herself of this right if threatened.

Further, hundreds of years of Christian scholarship and thought has determined that a war can be just if it will save lives beyond those it takes. Too bad Ms. Streep did not bone up on Just War Theory before finalizing her bigoted, thoughtless remarks about our faith.

Finally, Jesus wouldn't use a Daisy Cutter. When God wants a brother taken out, he has at his disposal precision guided munitions we can only dream about. Sudden death is a frequent biblical event, not that Streep has studied the Bible.

Tim McNabb