Illustration by Cody Angell

Living in one of those God-disturbed times

In Akira Kurosawa's film "Ran," which is an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, an aging warlord divides his kingdom among his three children, one of whom he banishes and two who later betray him. The warlord then descends into madness while his once mighty kingdom crumbles around him.

In this bleakest of moments, two loyal servants lament over all that has gone wrong. One questions God, asking Him why does He do such things to man? Is God so bored that he has to crush men as if they were ants? He weeps bitterly then says: "Man is born crying, and when he has cried enough he dies."

The other says the first servant is wrong. Men have created their own messes. It is God who cries because He sees history and bloodshed repeat itself over and over and over. He observes strife we bring onto each other by our very own hands, yet we never learn from these mistakes. The servant ends his introspection with the words, "Men prefer sorrow over joy · suffering over peace."

Bill Wetzel columnist

So what is God's take on all of this anyway?

Most people do not consider themselves bad people, no matter what they may have done. Murderers and rapists still believe they have their good side. By this same token, most people, whatever their particular conviction may be, believe that a higher power is on their side, no matter what sins they may have committed. God, Allah, Jehovah, etc. are always there to forgive and bring strength.

So to hear George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden morally justify their actions by utilizing faith-based initiatives, one would think that God is on the side of each man. Each one makes impassioned and somewhat convincing arguments to his people about the righteousness of his cause. Each one considers faith to be the strongest guidance in his life. Each man believes he is right and that God is with him.

So is He?

God is a perplexing, confusing being. Sometimes He blesses us and then sometimes He disturbs us. God loves man, but often challenges everything that man has ever worked for and believed in. God is on all of our sides, but now is one of those moments in history where He has disturbed and challenged us once again.

We are seeing a God who stirs up hard questions inside our minds and souls.

For the last year and a half, Americans have had to inquire within about war and peace, patriotism and religion, and fear and love. For these hard times, do not allow a conscience to rest easily. We love our country and we love our God. We want to preserve our sanctity, but Christians wrestle with the idea of pre-emptive warfare.

Preemption is a troubling matter to those who are guided by faith.

The Christian just war tradition says that all nonviolent options must be exhausted, that the threat has to be imminent, that violence must not be out of proportion and that more good than harm must come from the end result.

So, are all of these true?

When George W. Bush speaks of moral clarity, it makes our conflict with Iraq an action of faith and not a political decision. It is difficult to be comfortable with that one way or the other. On one hand, Saddam is a despicable and ruthless human being. There is no question about that. Yes, he does have chemical and biological weapons, which were supplied to him by the United States and used to gas Iran and the Kurds. Why didn't our country condemn these weapons then?

Moral clarity and faith should not take sides when it only benefits a certain interest.

No good has ever truly come from blood spilled by a sword, a gun, or any other weapon man has created since the beginning of time. Whether history judges us right or wrong in the end, we once again repeated that bloody cycle we never learn from. In using faith to justify death, man has again chosen to prefer sorrow to joy, and suffering instead of peace.

God will continue to confront our consciences until we can learn to choose otherwise.