Living by the Sword...

For many today is a day of celebration. The longstanding dictator Muammar Gaddafi has been killed by Libya's freedom fighters. A despotic reign has come to an end; but whether that will turn into stability is still to be seen. It may seem at first that we should lump the Libyan revolution in with the Arab Spring movement. The Egyptian governmental overthrow was largely peaceful (apart from military and police brutality). Libya's government was overthrown because of a violent uprising of the people and aided by western military powers like the United States, France, and Great Britain.

It is my argument that rather than classifying the Libyan overthrow as part of the Arab Spring uprisings it should be considered a continuation of the west's neo-conservative (shoot first and ask the meaningful and important questions later) foreign policy. Because of the violence used to quickly change the situation in Libya what would have been a very long (and brutally deterred) public uprising in Libya has been condensed into a few short months. It is this use of violence to establish civil order that casts into doubt whether or not Libya can make the transition to a truly democratic nation. It is the use of violence which categorizes the Libyan conflict as a continuation of the Afghanistan and Iraqi campaigns which to date have failed to create anything close to stability in the Middle East, or the security that was advertised to citizens of the United States.

While the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings have yet to prove long-lasting and stable, their foundations are not laid on the corpses of their predecessors. Instead they found a way to reform their government rather than resort to armed revolution. It does not take a genius to understand that when you employ violence against a particular group of people you are creating an enemy. The base human instinct is one of vengeance and it does not care about equality.

The law of Moses was radical in that allowed an 'eye for an eye' or a 'tooth for a tooth' in a world in which the norm was a 'life for an eye' or a 'entire family for a tooth'. Within the barbarity that was ancient human culture God's people were called to a higher standard. As a result the Israelites, as they followed this model of justice, would have found themselves far less politically exposed to rival nations than were they to practice the barbaric vengeance of that day.

Jesus Christ set a clearer and higher standard for his followers. Jesus told us to endure our enemies attacks, to not repay violence with violence but instead to counter violence with the justice of God's love. In Matthew 26:52 Jesus admonishes Peter that those that live by the sword will die by the sword. Rather than ensuring peace, violence only leads to more violence. Of the thousands of Americans killed on 9/11 we have in return aided and oversaw the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslims. Not only as a nation have we failed in enduring our enemies and trusting in God's loving justice, we have fallen below even the standard set for the barbarous world of the Old Testament.

Muammar Gaddafi lived by the sword. Muammar Gaddafi died by the sword. So have his predecessors. So has the United States since its inception. Are we more stable as a country today because of our readiness to repay violence with violence? Is Afghanistan? Iraq? Libya? Israel?

As one that has close friends that serve in the military what are they sacrificing their lives for? Is it really justice? Is it to ensure peace? If there is no peace apart from relationship with Jesus Christ how are we conveying that with each bullet, each bomb, each drone in the air? What lasting peace can be bought with the blood of our enemies?

Jesus Christ freely shed his blood on the cross so that no one would again have to shed their own. Yes we live in a violent world. Yes there is evil that must be stopped. When was the last time we as individuals (or as a nation) stepped back and let God do the judging? Are we afraid of who he would judge first and for what?