World News Through the Third Lens: The Important War

"In Afghanistan it includes a war on Christians" reads the sub-banner of an article published in the July 17 issue of World. They quote Michael O'Hanlon, writing in The Wall Street Journal as saying that there is "too much loose talk and sloppy thinking" on Afghanistan. "Along with the debates on timelines for U.S. troop drawdowns, the confusion feeds a sense of strategic drift that is not helpful to maintaining national resolve on this important war." In context it becomes clear that O'Hanlon was not talking about something that began with General McChrystal's off the cuff remarks to a liberal journalist in a Paris hotel. It has characterized much of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan for the nine years of war in that country.

Since I have a 21 year old grandson who is currently serving in the Marines in Afghanistan, such remarks really caught my attention. While I am incredibly proud of my grandson (he continues a military tradition in my family that goes back to WWI), I am deeply disturbed by the apparent fact that our country seems to have no viable strategy for Afghanistan, unless it's the waste of $70 Billion a year; along with the waste of the lives of brave warriors whose patriotism is being used to cover up a scheme almost too diabolical to imagine. It goes way beyond the fact that our forces cleared the Taliban militants from mountaintops, only to have them sweep back in via the valley's back door. It goes beyond graft and corruption being fed on an epic scale with U.S. dollars. It goes way beyond rules of engagement being changed so as to favor an enemy with no respect for human life or the Geneva Convention.

The significant event marking the "loose talk and sloppy thinking" began back in 2004 when Afghanistan's constitution was adopted to the applause of Washington and Kabul alike. Since then our troops have been risking life and limb in a battle against two evils, where it is difficult to distinguish which is the lesser thereof. Officially the "lesser evil" is the government of President Karzai, but this government is officially an Islamic republic, with "Islam as its sacred religion." Article 3 states that no law can be contrary to Islam. Article 130 allows for "Hanafi jurisprudence," a form of Shariah law, to take precedence where there is no legal provision on any issue. These provisions marked the end of free speech and personal liberty in Afghanistan before they had ever been secured - so what are our troops fighting for?

The country's Christians (much like the Christians in Iraq) have been discovering the effects of such provisions. Christians have been arrested - some released only after intense international pressure - and others have been forced to renounce their Christianity. What happens out in the country, out of sight from TV cameras is anybody's guess. Afghan Christians had already been living in fear and worshiping underground; overnight they became targets. NGO's (non-government organizations) with the word "church" or "Christian" in their name have had their work suspended. There has been little international pressure for the Karzi's government to grant a greater measure of religious liberty, and there has been NO statement from the White House, or from U.S./NATO leaders in Kabul to this regard - for 6 years!!!

None of the news outlets with full-time correspondents in Afghanistan have covered this issue. A lesser known editor who picked up on World's story contacted the State Department, but received only silence. The only people to speak up is a group of 150 Afghan Christian exiles, all living in New Delhi, India who fled their homeland under duress. What have they said? "We do not know how the whole world and especially the global church is silent, while thousands of their brothers and sisters are in pain, facing life danger...persecuted and called criminals."

So what are we in Afghanistan for...to defend Kabul's right to kill Christian converts? If our government supports - at such a high price - such activities in other countries, how long will it be before they support it at home? If it is still OUR government, then WE need to do something about it.

Through the Third Lens of Scripture: Today I heard a sermon which was based on part two of Jesus' answer to one of the Pharisee's questions concerning which, of all the commandments, is the most important? Jesus' answer was, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31) The preacher made it clear that the kind of love we are to extend to our neighbor can only come from a vital love relationship with God. Then, referencing Luke's account, where Jesus answers a follow-up question: "...who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29b), he went on to explain that our neighbor is someone as close as our own spouse or child, extending out to fellow members of our faith community, to those outside that community and even as far as our enemies.

I cannot begin to fathom whether there ever was any moral purity underlying our initial involvement in Afghanistan, but it certainly appears to have vanished as long ago as 2004. Why should our troops be on foreign soil enabling a people who, at their very core, consider the U.S.A. as the "great Satan" and Israel as the "little Satan" to persecute a minority who have chosen to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? The Scriptures mandate that followers of Christ should "mourn with those who mourn" (Romans 12:15) and "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves." (Romans 15:1) "Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." (Hebrews 13:3)

I know this is not true of all the church, but in general there seems to be too much partying going on. There need to be loud outcries to heaven and to the halls of injustice on earth. This will probably not result in popularity, but remember Jesus' words: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12)