WHERE IS THE WISDOM OF GOD IN WAR?
Christian reflection on warfare has usually taken the path either of pacifism or just war theory, and the community of faith is grateful to the thinkers who, over the centuries, have pursued these lines of thought. Yet whether a war is just, or whether Christians should ever be directly involved in wars, is irrelevant to a 19-year-old Nebraskan stuck in a firefight in southern Afghanistan. And the finer points of pacifism cannot help a wounded 23-year-old in a Baghdad alley. Yes, young men and women may volunteer for military service partly motivated by assumptions about the justice of a war. Yes, the experience of war may push a former combatant toward pacifism. But when the bullets fly, when the napalm cascades to earth, when the gate on the landing craft opens, when the improvised explosive device disables your vehicle in the middle of a hostile neighborhood, philosophy goes out the door. In a battle zone, writes one combatant, there is absolutely no room for day dreaming or soul-se
