There seems little doubt that armed conflict will be the next chapter in the United States’ war on terrorism. President Bush’s demands of the Taliban government concerning their support for terrorists have been rejected. The Taliban’s bellicose response of holy war, jihad, places two determined governments on a collision course.
To say that some will die in the struggle is almost to ignore that many have already died. It is presumed that on the morning of Sept. 11, more than 6,400 people died and the toll continues to rise. That is more than twice the number who died in the Spanish American War (2,893). It is a third more than died in the Philippines War (4,273).
The people who died as a result of the air attacks on the United States are more than 10 percent of the Americans who lost their lives in the Korean War (54,246) or the Vietnam War (58,219).
September 11 has to be one of the bloodiest days in American history. Unlike other instances, most of those who died that day were civilians. They were not in the military. They were in no war, or so they thought.
But the blood already shed does not lessen the concern for the blood that will be shed in the days ahead. A mother asked prayer for her two sons. One serves on a nuclear submarine, probably at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Another tends the missiles of attack helicopters. War has no romantic overtones for her. It means her boys are in harm’s way.
Another mother reports that her daughter is on two-hour alert. The daughter is in the National Guard and her unit can go at a moment’s notice. The day of our conversation the mother helped her daughter rewrite her will. How is that mother to feel about the conflict?
Another mother watches her son pack his gear. He is a reservist. For him, President Bush’s order to “get ready” has been translated “get packed and stand by.” The mother’s patriotism is as high as anyone’s, but so is her love for her son. For her, this is a confusing time, a scary time.
Before Sept. 11 few people thought about an invasion of Afghanistan by the United States. The people there were engaged in their own civil war. We understood the current ruling side, the Taliban, were Muslim fundamentalists but had little understanding of what that meant.
Only a few people paid attention to news reports that the Taliban had charged eight Western relief workers with being Christian evangelists. Two of the eight are from the United States. Four are from Germany and two from Australia. The two Americans and two of the Germans graduated from Baylor University. All were in Afghanistan with the German relief agency Shelter Now.
Christian videos and printed material in the Afghan language were supposedly found in the living quarters of the eight. That was all the Taliban needed to charge them with attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity, a capital offense under the Taliban. All eight have strenuously denied the charges.
That the Taliban would actually kill someone for possessing Christian material seemed unthinkable a few days ago. But after a report was aired on national television Sept. 19 showing a Muslim woman being shot in the back of the head by an executioner in a Kabul soccer stadium, it is more believable. The result — more possible bloodshed.
Americans pray for the friends and families of those who died Sept. 11. Americans pray for their national leaders and for their military. Americans pray for peace. God commissioned His children to be “peacemakers.”
Americans also pray for justice as President Bush said, “for the terrorists to be brought to justice or justice to be brought to the terrorists.”
It is a confusing time. We ask how peace and justice mix in situations like this, how one reconciles “turning the other cheek” and “bearing the sword.” Hot-blooded revenge is wrong, we know, but what about efforts to hold mass murderers accountable for their deeds? We want no more bloodshed but understand that failing to risk bloodshed in the pursuit of criminals invites greater bloodshed still.
This is a serious time. It is a time that people turn to God. That is why church attendance jumped noticeably the Sunday after this tragedy. We all need to be reminded that God cares for us, that God understands our confusion and our fear. God understands our determination and our commitments too.
We all need the care of God’s people, the church. The mother whose boys are in the Navy needs her church now, perhaps more than ever. The mother who helped with her daughter’s will needs her Christian friends. The mother who sees her son’s military pack sitting by the front door every time she walks through the house needs to know her church cares.
From the care of one another, we learn about God’s care for us. We do not have to agree on every point. We can still listen to one another. We can still understand one another. We can still uphold one another. We can still love one another.
After all, that is what God does for us. How can we do less for one another?
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