A "Prayer" to End War

Several months after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, George W. Bush told Palestinian leaders at a Palestinian-Israeli summit that God told him to fight the terrorists in Afghanistan, and that he must end the tyranny in Iraq. The former president told them this statement in private, which was later disclosed for a BBC interview with one of the Palestinian leaders. This message was never overtly expressed in the reasoning leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Instead we were fed lies and mistruths of Iraq's possession of WMDs, despite all evidence proving there were none. Since the initial invasion, theories have swirled of whether these tales of WMDs were actually to paint legitimacy into a more sinister, totalitarian effort to secure oil fortunes, or that our deep theological differences was used as a prong to push the administration into conflict- a modern day Crusades. While one of these two reasons might be a better excuse for entering a conflict with the Middle East rather than lying about none existent weapons, neither justifies, in our modern world, military action. In fact, both are incredibly dangerous rationalizations. But the former president implicitly expressed such a sentiment to the Palestinians.

I'm not going to argue the case of criminal charges being brought against the former administration. President Obama has wrongly decided that no further inquiries into the invasion of Iraq will take place, and thus no accountability shouldered. But what I want to delve into here is the numerous "prayers" I see everywhere for an end to war. Don't freak out; I'm not about to start justifying or war-mongering in any sense, and will be first on line for a global peace treaty (I know, liberal idealism...). But what strikes me is that individuals reach out to God, a god, the God (I'm not sure) to end wars, while, as far as I can tell, it is God telling his followers to do the exact opposite. Deuteronomy 7:2: "and when the Lord your God delivers [seven nations greater and mightier] over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them." [Emphasis not added.] I'll avoid redundancy and just say the Bible offers a great many passages similar to this. The Torah: the same (obviously); the Quran: equally guilty of condoning violence as a means to an end.

And what is this end? Theological dominance; the utter destruction of competing religions (or simply competing beliefs) by the use of the sword. Why are we praying to God to end war? The only outcome is to wipe out all "non-believers," those who do not strictly follow one religion's beliefs. Praying for God to end war begets only more war, more bloodshed. The Crusades lasted nearly 200 years. I imagine many military generals at the time praying for an end to the fighting, but relinquishing their attacks only after the deaths of their enemies to regain the "Holy Land." I could see similar rationalizations offered during the Spanish Inquisition, the genocide of Jews during World War II, and rattling around in George Bush's head prior to the invasion of Iraq. Of course they don't want to fight, but if someone disagrees with their faith, they're left no choice. Right? "It's not my fault officer, she made me hit her..." If God is listening and responding to prayers, isn't the answer going to be "defeat and utterly destroy" whomever is opposed? Deuteronomy 7:2 is a passage at its core of intolerance, notably God's. It's this perspective of God, the one touted by the Westboro Baptist Church, which is often erroneously brought forward when a particular belief of the church finds opposition.

Is war a constant of the universe? Competing organisms ranging from animals to plants, to microscopic bacteria are pitted in a seemingly endless battle to survive. Is war and fighting ingrained in the very fabric of all living organisms? Each cell composing our bodies fight daily to live. We are a mass of striving cells overpowering weaker ones for sustainability. Does the collective of these tiny organisms signal hostility to our brains, a feeling of threat, and trigger a defense mechanism? Have we evolved into hopelessly bellicose beings? No. Can religion end war? Perhaps. But are prayers of peace really any good when the being we are praying too would just as soon see billions perish? Maybe those who pray should send a prayer to God of tolerance, in part for Himself, but more for the raging wave of intolerance rushing towards the sandy shores.

Prayer is the hope of intervention by some divine force capable of doing what we feel we cannot, or providing answers to the questions we feel elude us. The power of tolerance is not something that should elude any individual, nor by necessity need divine intervention to achieve. Tolerance is a power within each and every human to treat another with mutual respect; we all contain the capacity of kindness and love that is not granted by God, but is intrinsically, inherently part of our being. We've never needed a book to teach us this.