The Pope: wars and rumors of war

In the 1960s former Beatle John Lennon wrote the repetitive Give Peace A Chance. It expresses an eternal sentiment, a longing for an end to war and the unity of all mankind. It was naïve, overly sentimental, and a rejection of human nature to be sure. Even a cursory study of history reveals peace is the anomaly; war is the normal state of humankind. Christians understand this well, even as they seek peace and try to love their fellow man, as Matthew 24: 6-7 teaches:

Graphic: John Lennon Performing Give Peace A Chance 1969.

Wikimedia Commons.org. Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

Graphic: Pope Francis Korea Haemi Castle. Wikimedia Commons.org. 

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

As we stand on the precipice of war, civil war, war in the Middle East, even World War III, the well-meaning impulse to peace at any cost extends even to the pope:

Pope Francis said Sunday that military disarmament is not optional but constitutes a “moral obligation” for all nations. [skip]

“How many resources are wasted on military expenditure, which, because of the current situation, sadly continues to increase!” he told the estimated 20,000 tourists and pilgrims gathered in the square.

“Let’s get this into our heads,” he added. “And this requires the courage of all members of the great family of nations to move from a balance of fear to a balance of trust.”

American leftists agree, but not for morally pure reasons. When they control government, they want to dramatically increase taxes and domestic/social program spending, which inevitably means defunding our military. When the reality of Matthew 24 inevitably becomes impossible to ignore, we are forced to hastily rearm, equally inevitably and unnecessarily costing the lives of our troops due to that lack of equipment and preparation.

Our military is now in dangerous waters. Recruitment is so low even elderly veterans are being offered reenlistment. Arming Ukraine, and to a lesser degree Israel and Taiwan, has dangerously depleted our munitions, including the smart weapons upon which every branch of our military depend, and it will take years to even begin to catch up.

In the past, the pope has suggested that if people are really serious about world peace, the solution is to “ban all weapons.”

The existence of weapons leads humanity to live “in fear of war,” the pope declared, and the only way to remove this fear is to eliminate all weapons.

Francis is also the only pope to ever declare that not only the use of nuclear weapons, but also their mere possession “is immoral.”

It’s interesting the pope is not taking the initiative to disarm the Swiss Guard responsible for the security of Vatican City and his own security. They dress in colorful, ancient uniforms, but also have a considerable arsenal of modern military weapons. Wouldn’t disarming the Swiss Guard seize the moral high ground? While one expects religious leaders—of most religions anyway—to advocate for peace, one also expects them to be realistic, to understand the fallen world in which we live.

There’s a venerable saying that well describes the Middle East:

If Islamists lay down their arms, there will be peace. If the Israelis lay down theirs, genocide.

We’re seeing that played out every day. Neither Israel, nor America, can trust Islamists to negotiate for peace, for a “two-state solution,” if for no reason other than that every time it has been proposed, they’ve rejected it, stating more than clearly they intend to kill every Jew and seize Israel. Islam is a political system of conquest with religious trappings, among them the necessity to lie to infidels. For those reasons, disarming in the face of Islam may be morally pure, but infidels won’t be around long to enjoy it.

Islamists are not alone in seeking war. Africa has always been riven with tribal hatred and warfare, as have other continents. The romantically noble American Indians were no less warlike and savage. The Civil War should also give us pause.

Sane people seek peace, which the Constitution, if honored, creates better than any other system of government. Sadly, many Americans think socialism, which murdered more than a hundred million in the last century alone, Man’s hope. Unless and until the pope can alter human nature, He, and John Lennon, inevitably fail, and war, and rumors of war, persist.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.  statelymcdanielmanor.wordpress.com.