War on terrorism could set back missions

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Popular Christian speaker Tony Campolo says the current U.S. war on terrorism could set missions back 1,000 years.

Speaking to a North Carolina Baptist Men’s conference in Charlotte, Campolo reminded his listeners that Jesus told Christians to be peacemakers. “I’m not sure we want to hear about this Jesus who says ‘Those who live by the sword die by the sword’ as we engage in a military buildup,” said Campolo, who teaches sociology at Eastern College in St. David’s, Penn. “I’m not sure we want to hear of a Jesus who says ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.’”

Campolo compared the current military response to trying to get rid of malaria by killing mosquitoes. “You get rid of malaria by destroying the swamps in which the malaria mosquitoes are bred,” he said. “There’s a swamp out there called poverty and injustice.” Campolo insisted, “If we’re going to win that Muslim world to Christ we cannot make stupid statements about their religion and we cannot, in fact, engage in a holy war against them.”