Is there a moral justification for the Afghan war? Ahmad Majidyar, writing for National Review Online, writes, “It is a shame that the Obama administration and its European allies no longer justify the war in Afghanistan on moral grounds, such as democracy and human rights.” He quotes a BBC account of a couple found guilty of adultery:
The video begins with Siddqa, a 25-year-old woman, standing waist-deep in a hole in the ground. She is entirely hidden in a blue burka. Hundreds of men from the village are gathered as two mullahs pass sentence. As Taliban fighters look on, the sentence is passed and she is found guilty of adultery. The stoning lasts two minutes. Hundreds of rocks — some larger than a man’s fist — are thrown at her head and body. She tries to crawl out of the hole, but is beaten back by the stones. A boulder is then thrown at her head, her burka is soaked in blood, and she collapses inside the hole. Incredibly Siddqa was still alive. The mullahs are heard saying she should be left alone. But a Taliban fighter steps forward with a rifle and she is shot three times. Then her lover, Khayyam, is brought to the crowd. His hands are tied behind his back. Before he is blindfolded he looks into the mobile phone camera. He appears defiant. The attack on him is even more ferocious. His body, lying face down, jerks as the rocks meet their target. He is heard to be crying, but is soon silent. . . .
This, he says, “is a grim reminder of what will happen to the 30 million Afghan people, especially women, if the United States and NATO forces leave the country prematurely.”
Now let me correct that statement: This is a grim reminder of what has been happening for centuries, and is what will continue to happen to the 30 million Afghan people, especially women, when the United States and NATO forces leave the country. This is how it is in Islamic nations. What are we to do about it? Shall we occupy the entire Middle East indefinitely? The fact must be faced: there is nothing we can do about this. Tragic as these stories are, they are a part of Islamic life. Until we admit that we are, in fact, at war with Islam, we won’t even begin to eliminate these tragedies. And if we consider such a war realistically, we must conclude that it can’t be won. We can, and must, police our own soil, but no one can seriously imagine eradicating Islam from the Middle East.
Majidyar also repeats the error of countless Americans before him: that democracy is a moral imperative. While a democratic constitutional republic such as ours (as it was originally designed, that is) is undeniably superior to all others, all cultures are not compatible with democracy. Islamic cultures are perfect examples of that. More importantly, there is no indication in Scripture that God wills all nations to be governed democratically. Furthermore, there is no biblical mandate for spreading democracy, especially by military force.
The founders of the United States of America were able to create and sustain a free society because of — and only because of — the pervasive influence of Christianity that existed at that time. Liberty cannot be sustained in the absence of the gospel. So if you really want to liberate the Afghan, or any other, people, trade the soldiers for missionaries. Send the gospel, which alone has the power to set captives free.
This has not been a commentary on the Afghan and Iraq wars in general. I have only meant to address the argument that the concerns of democracy and human rights require our military presence. Whether or not the wars are justified at all is another debate altogether, and will not take place here today.
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#1 || 11·02·01··10:33 || Betsy Markman
This story is gut-wrenching, but it brings up a far deeper dilemma than any questions of our current war (which I'm glad you're not debating here).
How should we Christians (who stand on the inerrancy of the entire canon and treasure both Old and New Testaments) respond to this sort of story? This "barbaric" stoning closely parallels Old Testament justice as prescribed by the God WE worship in the canon WE embrace (Lev 20:10, Deut 22:24, just to name a few).
Clearly, we are no longer under OT law, but that's not the point of my question.
My question is, how can we avoid a charge of hypocrisy if we protest against Muslim stonings without (God forbid) tearing the above verses out of Scripture?
The problem isn't whether or not we're under grace NOW. The problem is, if we call such stonings immoral, we have blasphemed our God as well as theirs, because our God commanded it for generations.
I'm afraid of people misunderstanding me, so bear with me if come at it from several angles. My concern is with our fundamental theology as it relates to divine justice, grace, the Gospel, and the character of God Himself. Who is our God? If He commanded such stonings to be performed at any time in history (and He clearly did), then we cannot approach this story as if stonings were anathema to Him.
What we read here was gruesome, but frankly, if we're true to our theology, we have to admit that what happened to these two adulterers after their deaths is a horror beyond anything they suffered at the hands of the Muslims. And it will be OUR God who punishes them. And He will continue to do so for all eternity. And He will do the same to our nice-but-unregenerate neighbor. OUR God does these things. Are we offended by Him?
Behold the kindness and severity of our Lord (Rom 11:22)!
The secular world will hit us with Leviticus and Deuteronomy, with the God of the OT who IS the same God in the New, and we must come up with a thoroughly Biblical understanding of this issue if we're to have any credibility at all. And to me that means that we CANNOT approach this as a moral injustice, as much as it wrenches my gut to say so.
Of course we prefer grace! And, thank God, grace is offered through Christ, and we want all people to know that. But do we therefore label a God-commanded act as a moral outrage? The world will see right through our inconsistency, and they will throw it in our faces. And if all we can do is blush and stammer in response, we will have lost our voice on this issue.
The question is not whether the justice meted out was too harsh. If we say it was, we deny the New Testament as well as the Old. The wages of sin IS death (Rom 6:23). Gospel-believing Christians KNOW that!
So as you correctly pointed out in your article, the only real cure for this issue is bringing the Muslim people (and all people) the grace of God...but NOT because we believe that death is an unjust response to sin. Rather we must bring them the grace of God because it is offered to them by a Holy God who loves enough to satisfy the demands of His own thoroughly righteous justice. (He would not have DIED as a substitute for us if death were not what sin deserves.) We must offer God's love and grace and forgiveness to them because God has poured love into our hearts, and has given us both the command and the desire to share Him with others.
Our response to this story shows just how lightly or seriously we take our own sin, doesn't it? This story forces us to choose. Do we believe that no one deserves such a fate, or that we all do? The Bible leaves us no third alternative. When we're faced with the ugly sight of it, do we still believe what we say we believe, or is our Gospel preaching mere lip service?
If we believe the Gospel, we must believe that WE ourselves deserve to be lying in a bloody heap just like they were.
The Gospel-centered Christian goes as an undeservingly-forgiven person, to show undeserved grace to undeserving people. He does not go as a mere social justice reformer telling people that sin deserves better treatment.
I fear that, if we approach this story with the same form of outrage that our secular neighbors feel, the Gospel will be the greatest casualty. Let us weep for the lost, not because they are getting what they don't deserve, but because they are getting what we all deserve. Let us strive to bring them what is better than we all deserve, so that they may be saved and rejoice in undeserved grace for all eternity. In Jesus' name.
#2 || 11·02·01··13:17 || Victoria
I have to say-you are absolutely right about this. I am always getting emails from the ACLJ wanting money to help with this kind of political situation. I don't even know how they got my address. I do know that what they think works will not work. As you have said -it is the Gospel alone that changes hearts. When hearts are changed-people are REALLY helped.
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