Here's An Idea

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“Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) Maybe there’s a reason for that.

Sometimes the smart thing to do is not the satisfying thing. Galling though it may have been, bailing out the large U.S. financial institutions in 2008 surely reduced the severity of the hard times we have faced since then. To have treated the bankers as they deserved, by letting them live by the market, would have crushed many many more innocent people, even more severely and for far longer than has already happened. We face a similar unpleasant choice in the so called war on terror. Viscerally satisfying as it may be to execute those who have killed and maimed innocent people, before doing so we should always ask the question, will this increase or decrease future terrorism? We have recently killed one famous terrorist to our apparent great satisfaction, but how many new terrorists will be created by our action? Perhaps the big fish who is gone was more of a threat to us than the many minnows who will now come forward to replace him, but that is certainly not clear. Satisfying though it may have been to wreak our vengeance, it might not have been so smart.


Is there another way? I wonder how much it would impair the recruitment of terrorists if the U.S. were to act like the Christian nation that so many of our citizens fancy us to be. As I understand the New Testament we are implored by word and deed to “forgive those who trespass against us”. It is there in Jesus’ most famous prayer. We are told that on the cross he said, “Forgive them Father. They know not what they do.” He healed the severed ear of one of his Roman guards at the time of his arrest. When asked directly how to respond to offense, did he not say, “Turn the other cheek.” How about, “Let he who is without fault cast the first stone.” And then I think it was probably Paul who said, “Judge not that ye be not judged.” It seems to me that forgiveness is pretty much the central doctrine of Christianity.


Be assured that I am not recommending that we become a Christian nation and follow these precepts because God wants us to. I am doubtful of the existence of a caring god and I certainly don’t think we should establish any national religion. I am suggesting that if we want to minimize the harm done to us by terrorists, the smartest way to do that might be to forgive those who trespass against us, do our best to forestall attacks with passive measures and never strike back. Or else we can continue to try to beat a billion or so Muslims into submission.