The gospel doctrine lesson on Alma 43-52 proposed four principles of war as waged by the righteous:<\/p>\n
1.\tFight only for righteous reasons, such as self-defense (Alma 43:8-10, 29-30, 45-47; 48:14)
\n2.\tHave no hate toward your enemies; seek their best interests as well as your own (Alma 43:53-54; 44:1-2, 6)
\n3.\tLive righteously and trust in God (Alma 44:3-4; 48:15, 19-20)
\n4.\tFollow righteous and wise leaders (Alma 43:16-19; 48:11-13, 17-19; see also D&C 98:10)<\/p>\n
In Sunday School, we read through most of the references, talked generally about the principles, applied them vaguely to peace in our country and world, and then applied them more specifically to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153conflict\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in our personal lives.<\/p>\n
What we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t discuss was how those principles of war would apply in the United States\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s current war on terror or, in fact, any other particular war. For example, what should be done in Georgia? Perhaps you could help me with that.<\/p>\n
Principle 1\u00e2\u20ac\u201dFight in self-defense. Do you buy into the argument that we are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153defending\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ourselves by taking the war offensively to another country? Self defense as a modern war concept seems much more complicated to me than it was when someone holding a sword came attacking my village. That was rather clear-cut and obvious; fight back, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s self defense. (Unless you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an Anti-Nephi-Lehi who took an oath\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthen you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever fight back.) Once there is an attack on home soil, is action self defense? Or is it self defense only so long as the battle remains at home, literally defending the home?<\/p>\n
Principle 2 applies to motivations, which I can certainly detect for myself. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wondering how to discern whether those with decision-making power \u00e2\u20ac\u0153have no hate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d toward and are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153seeking the best interest\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153enemy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll tell me straight up if their secret motivation is hate, except for perhaps Hitler and few of that ilk. And even if they do tell me their motivation, do I believe them? (Probably not. See #4.)<\/p>\n
Principle 3. Can do this. Should do it better.<\/p>\n
Principle 4 is a great idea, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to do it. Anyone found some \u00e2\u20ac\u0153righteous\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wise\u00e2\u20ac\u009d national leaders lately? Someone to follow wholeheartedly? Someone along the lines of Captain Moroni? Helaman? Even Pahoran? (Probably not, since BIGresearch reports that 2.6% of Americans think members of Congress are trustworthy; 2.2% for Senators; 14.2% for the President). As someone in Sunday School facetiously suggested, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It seems like the choice is between not good and worse.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d You can label who is who. <\/p>\n
Full disclosure: I am the wife of someone currently serving in local public office. Obviously I believe some leaders have admirable motivations and are righteous and wise, even loveable. What interests me about politics is when people who are striving to be righteous and wise choose opposite sides of an issue and make it a moral stand, thus vilifying anyone who disagrees. Yes, my husband has been called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153demonic\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and worse. Once the rhetoric of righteousness is invoked, rational debate often disintegrates into proving one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s morality. Discourse hinges on misleading rhetoric about the appearance of morality, rather than on logic and real character. I have my doubts about whether the average citizen has enough time and information to make a good choice. (But I still think a democratic republic is better than the alternatives at this point in time). So how do we sift through the war rhetoric and decide whether the righteous Nephite principles of war apply to contemporary situations?<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s enough to make me bury my political head in the sand and consecrate all my time and efforts to the gospel; I feel more certain that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m doing some good there. Except then I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get caught in the moral (political) debates in California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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