What if the lives at risk aren't close to you, what if they're far away, people being abused in another country?
Do we need to use force or war to protect the oppressed?
I don't know.
I keep thinking about this Francis Schaeffer quote: “to refuse to do what I can for those under the power of oppressors is nothing less than a failure of Christian love. It is to refuse to love my neighbor as myself…Pacifism in this poor world in which we live—this lost world—means that we desert the people who need our greatest help.”
about people in other countries: yeah, I realized that while I was talking about it, I probably ought to have mentioned it.
I think we can help people without violence! Absolutely! There are ways to protect the oppressed without killing people.
But . . . attempting to save those that need our help by killing other people, we violate the law we're trying to uphold. It can't be right for loving one neighbor to conflict with loving another neighbor, can it? I think we forgot the oppressor is as much our neighbor as the oppressed.
A Year Of Questions is a project begun on March 22, 2010, by seven teens who want to be better at asking questions and articulating answers. This blog exists to make it easier to discuss these questions (because a 500 character limit on YouTube comments is rather limiting). Enjoy!
2 comments:
What if the lives at risk aren't close to you, what if they're far away, people being abused in another country?
Do we need to use force or war to protect the oppressed?
I don't know.
I keep thinking about this Francis Schaeffer quote: “to refuse to do what I can for those under the power of oppressors is nothing less than a failure of Christian love. It is to refuse to love my neighbor as myself…Pacifism in this poor world in which we live—this lost world—means that we desert the people who need our greatest help.”
about people in other countries: yeah, I realized that while I was talking about it, I probably ought to have mentioned it.
I think we can help people without violence! Absolutely! There are ways to protect the oppressed without killing people.
But . . . attempting to save those that need our help by killing other people, we violate the law we're trying to uphold. It can't be right for loving one neighbor to conflict with loving another neighbor, can it? I think we forgot the oppressor is as much our neighbor as the oppressed.
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