Michael Wagner

Americas War on terror:

Biting O More Tan Tey Can Chew
Tis article was originally published in
the November 2007 issue of Reformed
Perspective magazine (www.reformed-
perspective.ca).
T
he Christian position on foreign
policy and international issues can
be dicult to determine. National is-
sues are far simplera careful study of
Scripture can often sort things out. For
example, there can be little question
about the Christian position on abor-
tion and same-sex marriage.
But when it comes to international
issues, quite often dierent groups
will try to pass o their position as
the Christian one even though their
positions diametrically oppose each
other. Of course, biblical principles
can be applied to international policy
but these principles are often harder
to discern and harder to apply in this
arena. Relations between nations can
be highly complexthere is rarely an
obvious Christian answer to foreign
policy questions.
The War on Terror
Te War on Terror is one of these highly
complex foreign policy issues. But this
debate is often simplistically divided
into pro-war right-wing vs. anti-war
Issue 5_2009_2.indd 14 11/23/09 11:15 AM
15 Counsel of Chalcedon Issue 5 2009
Americas War On Terror
left-wing camps. Tis categorization
obscures some of the realityin the
United States (the main combatant)
there is a large body of conservative
right-wing opinion opposed to the War
on Terrorism and opposed to the world-
wide use of American military power to
seek out perceived terrorist threats.
One of the most articulate expo-
nents of this view is the conservative
political scientist Claes Ryn. His re-
cent book America the Virtuous: Te
Crisis of Democracy and the Quest
for Empire warns about the danger
of current American military action
around the world. A couple of his main
points could be helpful for Christians
in thinking through the use of military
force overseas, especially with respect
to the United States.
More than
self-defense
Every country, like every person, has a
right to self-defense. Tus when the US
was attacked on September 11, 2001,
it had a moral right to strike back to
prevent further attacks. However, Ryn
argues that American foreign and mili-
tary policy following the attacks went
much further than simply self-defense.
Instead, American policy became one
of worldwide military dominance, to
make the world a better place. Te
attack on America could have elicited
a strong but surgical and limited re-
sponse; it became instead the occasion
and justication for launching a drive
for something grandiose.
Making the world a better place is,
of course, a laudable goal. But its not a
goal that can be achieved by the mili-
tary might of a superpower. Ryn sug-
gests that many Americans see their
country as morally good in a special
sense and therefore tasked with spread-
ing the benets of the American way of
life to countries throughout the world.
But because this ideology of virtuous
empire envisions not only American
world dominance but the remaking of
the world in its image, it is a recipe for
conict and perpetual war. Tere will
always be nasty regimes and groups
capable of terrorism, so trying to elimi-
nate these kinds of potential threats
will be a never-ending task.
In short, trying to make a better
world through the use of American pow-
er is a utopian dream and cannot realis-
tically be achieved. Utopian thinking is
fairly innocuous perhaps if restricted to
isolated dreamers and theoreticians but
dangerous to the extent that it inspires
action in the real world. No doubt the
desire to create a better world on the part
of American policy makers is motivated
by the best of intentions. But as the say-
ing goes, the road to Hell is paved with
good intentions.
America has a log in
its own eye
Te other relevant point made by Ryn
is the foreign policy equivalent of Mat-
thew 7:5 which reads: You hypocrite,
rst take the log out of your own eye,
and then you will see clearly to take the
speck out of your brothers eye (ESV).
Like individuals, governments should
focus on the problems in their own
backyards before trying to solve the
problems of others. Te assumption
that much needs improving here be-
fore turning attention elsewhere has
shaped a corresponding attitude to-
ward international relations: a coun-
Issue 5_2009_2.indd 15 11/23/09 11:15 AM
Counsel of Chalcedon Issue 5 2009
16
Americas War On Terror
trys primary duty is to conduct its
own aairs and repair its own aws.
Has the United States cleaned itself
up such that it has the moral authority to
impose the American way of life on oth-
er countries? Far from it. Te American
way of life is not very pretty these days.
Falling standards and fading self-
discipline are prominent in all aspects
of social life. Drug abuse is rampant.
Sexual promiscuity is so common as
to be widely considered no longer ab-
errant behavior. It causes epidemics
of venereal disease, including AIDS,
whose spread is limited only by a fear
of illness. Abortions are performed in
staggering numbers as a form of birth
control. Te family has lost much of
its stability and cohesion and plays a
much-reduced role as transmitter of
civilized tastes. Standards of personal
behavior and deportment continue to
fall. Old-fashioned honesty and integ-
rity yield to greed and opportunism.
This list actually
goes on
Te point is that countries, like indi-
viduals, should exercise humility. Te
United States has many domestic prob-
lems that urgently need to be addressed.
To set out instead to try to remake the
world according to an ideological blue-
print represents not only moral arro-
gance but a ight from responsibilities
at home that are large and pressing.
Conclusion
Te United States is currently the
worlds only superpower, and according
to Ryn it has fallen for the temptation to
use its power to make the world a better
place. But since that task is unachiev-
able, it is really a recipe for never ending
war. America may have bitten o more
than it can chew. As well, it has not yet
set its own house in order, such that it
can be a good example to other nations.
Humility is a potential solution to both
of these problems. Tis may be one way
to analyze current foreign policy issues
from a Christian perspective.
Issue 5_2009_2.indd 16 11/23/09 11:15 AM