There will be war!

War is a curse caused by sinful people world-wide! Every newscast reminds us that our world is at war. War is never far from us: some of us have fought in a war; some of us have loved ones and friends who are fighting in a war even now. We deplore war. We glorify war. We talk about "a just war" and "a holy war." We wish that there were no wars. We don’t understand why people go to war. Yet, war remains an ever-present threat!

Why war?

POWER! The desire to conquer and control those around us. War is about gaining the advantage over others through the use of force, power.

GREED! We live by the "golden rule" – the one with the most gold makes the rules! War is always profitable – at least for some! War is good for our economy. The more wars in the world, the more guns and planes and tanks we can sell, for a profit.

FANATICISM! I’m right; you’re wrong. That means that I am justified in trying to convert you to my way of thinking: by threats, by torture, by terrorism, or by killing you.

HATRED! You are different from us; so we hate you. You have hurt us in the past; we will remember, and we will hate you, now and forever.

PRIDE! We are a "proud" people. When you say hurtful things about us, or make us feel inferior, you have hurt our pride. To save face we must prove to the world that we are better, and mightier, than you.

FEAR! We don’t understand you; so, we fear you. We don’t trust you; so we are afraid of you. Because of our fears, we fight!

These are the root causes of war. As long as there are sinful people in the world, there will be wars. Jesus reminds us that we will "hear of wars and rumors of wars" until the end of history. G. L. Dickinson writes:

"War is not inevitable, but proceeds from definite and removable causes."

If it were not for our sinfulness, wars would cease!

Reflections on war.

* General William Sherman wisely said: "There’s many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory; but boys, it is all hell!"

* Ernest Hemingway wrote: "They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."

* War destroys. War is the enemy of life and goodness.

* War creates more problems than it solves. War only strengthens the walls that divide us from one another.

* Life is sacred because the Lord God has given us life as a gift.

Life is too precious, too valuable, to waste in a war.

* Sometimes a nation must fight to preserve its freedom. Thomas Paine wrote in 1777: "We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon this earth for honest men to live in." Fighting a war to protect ourselves, a war of self-defense, might be justified.

War is a curse caused by sinful people world-wide! As long as sin remains, there will be wars! We look forward to that Day that God has promised will come – when all war and strife shall cease, and all peoples shall live together in harmony and peace!

Dr. Don Kuehle, United Methodist, Retired, Jackson, Mo.