Drones and The Kingdom of God

Two days ago I came across this article on Twitter U.S. Navy Makes Aviation History With Carrier Drone Launch[1] and said a silent prayer for peace. The ancient writers had a lot to say about violence. The prophets wrote about instruments of war being turned into instruments of peace,

                        He shall judge between many peoples,

                                                                         and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;

                        they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

                                                                        and their spears into pruning hooks;

                        nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

                                                                        neither shall they learn war any more;

                   but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their                                                         own fig trees,

                                                                        and no one shall make them afraid;

                                                                        for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:3-4)

Jesus was a victim of state driven terror.

Now, I tend to panic when I hear people use the Bible, especially the O.T to describe the United States. But I think that there is a lesson to be found in the texts, and it is this; The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not approve of the use of violence against her creation. Now before you are all start pulling out your Bibles and showing me passages of about angry god, just sit down, remain calm and keep reading. In the ancient world angry gods were common. In the ancient world god was angry because the people did not know what we know about the weather. Now, back to the point.

Creating empire goes against creating the Kingdom of God on earth. In what has come to be called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stated, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for the will be called the children of God.” In Revelation, John wrote, “See, I am making all things new.”

In their book Jesus Wants to Save Christians Rob Bell and Don Golden discussed empire and how it goes against creating Kingdom. They talked about Solomon

                       Jerusalem is the new Egypt. There’s a new Pharaoh in town, and his name is Solomon, the son of David. Not only is he accumulating horses and chariots, which were the tanks and fighter planes [and drones] if his day, but the Scriptures add that Solomon and his leaders “imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported that to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans. Two words: import and export. Solomon is buying horses and chariots, but he’s also selling them. Solomon has become and arms dealer. He’s now making money from violence. He’s discovered that war is profitable (Bell and Golden 41) .

They then go on talk about how God always hears the cry of the oppressed. Now the significant thing about this cry is; “The system works for those with the power and to change the system. They can’t hear the cry.

Now I’m pretty sure that the cry that the ancient people were making is the same cry that people are making today. We live in a world where many people live in fear everyday. We live in a world where the blood of innocents is spilled everyday. We live in a world where empires have created hells on earth.

                        The U.S spends more on defense than on all other discretionary parts                                 of the federal budget combined. Human history as never seen a military machine like the American armed forces…If you are a citizen of and empire that has the most powerful army in the history of                                                humanity and is currently on the way to spending a trillion dollars on a war passages in the Bible about those who accumulate chariots and horse from Egypt are passages about you and your people (Bell and                                  Golden 128).

Now before one of you calls me a Fundamentalist let me make this very clear;

1.     I am not a Fundamentalist

2.     The ancient texts about empire are not important because somehow the book of Revelation is going to be played out in real time one day. The United States is not Babylon. Obama is not the anti-Christ.

3.     The passages from the ancient texts are important because they show us how not to build the Kingdom of God on earth. They show us what happens when we create hells on earth. They show us what happens when we forget that we are to love one another. They show us what happens when we forget that life is sacred.

If there is any grace in the world when it comes to the use of drones it is simply the hope that one day good will over come evil.

And now for a communal prayer for peace and healing:

            How long O Lord? We, your people, are broken hearted. We, your people, are tired and in need of rest. We, your people, are crying out, “comfort, comfort o    my people.” We are in the search for peace. We are in need of peace. We are in need of the Kingdom in our midst. How long O Lord? Comfort, comfort  your people Lord. Hear our prayers Lord.

            Amen.

Go in peace. Live peace. Be peace. 

*pardon the formatting. i'm entirely sure what happened and i have no idea how to fix it*

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[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/14/us-usa-navy-drone-idUSBRE94D00M20130514?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews