by James Glaser
November 7, 2005

I always have a hard time with Right Wing Conservative Christians. If I write about the Lord commanding, "Thou Shalt Not Kill," they come back with, "my Bible says, 'Thou shalt not murder.'"

If I write about Jesus being the Prince of Peace, they come back with the Catholic's Just War Doctrine. If I say war is wrong, they write back to me about God's Old Testament wars, where every man women and child was killed.

I read what these people have to say, because they are sincere in their beliefs and we are reading the same book. The Bible isn't that easy to understand, people have been arguing about what it says for a couple of thousand years, openly for about 488 years, since Martin Luther started the Reformation in 1517.

It bugs me when people compare wars from the Old Testament, with George Bush's wars in twenty first century. Old Testament wars were lead by God. He started them, and in many he actively took part, remember when the walls came tumbling down? God took and active part in many wars, he told His side how to fight and win.

Telling me that George Bush's war in Iraq is God's war, is pretty much of a stretch for me, but that is where many of America's Religious Right stand. George Bush has been fighting terrorism for as long as the Second World War lasted for America. In the time it took us to defeat both Japan and Germany, George Bush has not been able to defeat even the two pitiful third world nations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Well enough of that, here is something to think about. In Proverbs, chapter 6, verse 16, it is written, "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him."

Verse 17-19 "A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

I have read the signs that say, "Bush lied and our soldiers died." I have heard it said that Bush's White House has been quick to create mischief, and has been a false witness against anyone who was against George's war in Iraq. Maybe we are not all of the "brethren," but who could argue that America is not in discord?

All of those things are debatable to one point or another, but what is not debatable, is the fact that George Bush and his wars have been filled with "hands that shed innocent blood," and our Christian Bible, from our Christian churches, explain that the Lord hates that and thinks it is an abomination unto him.

Tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis have been killed or maimed in Bush's war, some say that number is now over 100,000. That is a lot of innocent blood.

That takes me back to our claim of being a Christian country.... are we?