In all fairness, I never used to be as much of a pacifist as I am now - granted, I'm still not a "hippie" radical, but I am beginning to see the "light". Over the years I've gone from defending specific wars, to being against wars but supporting our troops, to finally sitting back and saying "Really? We really think that this is going to make things better?"
I think that the movie The Kingdom makes my point for me. An FBI team goes into Saudi Arabia in order to find those responsible for bombing an American "settlement" and killing one of their own. When they first find out the news, the team leader whispers something to only woman on the team, which instantly calms her down. At the end of the movie, they get the person they're after, but just before he dies, he whispers something to his grandson. In the closing sequence the scenes flip back and forth between the FBI team and the grandson with his mother. The FBI team leader is asked by one of the other team members what he whispered and the mother asks her son what his grandfather whispered. The FBI team leader says "We're gonna kill them all." And the young boy responds to his mother, "Don't fear, my child. We're going to kill them all."
Isn't that what's happening around the world right now? Isn't that why the US is fighting in the Middle East?
Chapter 12 in Patriarchs and Prophets talks about Abraham's time in Canaan, including his relationship with Lot. When Abraham decides it's time for the two to go their separate ways in order to maintain peace, Ellen White says:
"Here the noble, unselfish spirit of Abraham was displayed. How many under similar circumstances would, at all hazards, cling to their individual rights and preferences! How many households have thus been rent asunder! How many churches have been divided, making the cause of truth a byword and a reproach among the wicked!...The children of God the world over are one family and the same spirit of love and conciliation should govern them. 'Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another' (Romans 12:10), is the teaching of our Savior. The cultivation of a uniform courtesy, a willingness to do to others as we would wish them to do to us, would annihilate half the ills of life." (pg. 132)
If my time here in Asia has taught me nothing else, it's taught me that the greatest flaw humanity can have is a character that is self-seeking and proud. Living among many cultures that are family oriented makes me look at my own culture and wonder if life would be better if we had a similar orientation, rather than teaching our children how to rely only on themselves and to think only of themselves and how they can get ahead.
The world is going to hell in a hand basket and our constant need for revenge, our quick tempers, and our tongues quick to blame others for our actions is only making the situation worse. Abraham is to be our example, to show us that life with an unselfish spirit is not only possible, but beneficial.
I can hear it now, somebody reading this is scoffing and saying "wuss" or "wimp" or "coward" or some other such word. But before you jump to that conclusion too speedily, lets jump ahead in Abraham's story...
Abraham gets news that lot has been captured as a prisoner of war. Calling upon his allies (Canaanites who respected him for his beliefs and character) he heads off to save his nephew. Ellen White calls Abraham a man of peace, shunning any disagreement or conflict as much as possible (pg. 136). But also says that "It was seen that righteousness is not cowardice, and that Abraham's religion made him courageous in maintaining the right and defending the oppressed." (pg. 135).
Abraham had earned the respect of his pagan neighbors not through fighting them or others, but through living a godly life and showing through his words and actions that he was a good man. In a world such as ours, it truly takes courage to look someone in the face and refuse to fight them, to turn the other cheek and "be the bigger man."
If you want my opinion...picking fights, flinging insults and returning punches is truly the coward's way out.
