A 2,500 Year Old Bible Verse Does Not Justify Modern War

Check out my latest post for the Salt Collective!

Blog excerpt:

On August 26, 2021, President Joe Biden made a speech not only condemning the suicide attack on Kabul airport by ISIS-K, which killed 13 service members and many more Afghan civilians, but  he also continued the long American tradition of ripping Scripture from its literary and historical context in order to justify the continuation of war and violence.

In his speech, Biden quotes the 2,500 year old book of Isaiah and conflates Isaiah’s prophetic call with America’s military objectives. He states: 

Those who have served through the ages and have drawn inspiration from the Book of Isaiah, when the Lord says: “Whom shall I send? Who shall go for us?” The American military has been answering for a long time. “Here I am, Lord. Send me. Here I am, send me.”

 Each one of these women and men of our armed forces are the heirs of that tradition of sacrifice, of volunteering to go into harm’s way to risk everything, not for glory, not for profit, but to defend what we love and the people we love.

And I ask that you join me now in a moment of silence for all those in uniform and out of uniform, military and civilian, of giving the last full measure of devotion.

The suicide bombing in Kabul was a tragedy for all those injured and for the families and friends of those killed. It was also a devastating end to the war in Afghanistan, a war that has claimed the deaths of nearly 50,000 civilians. 

Instead of fully lamenting the lives lost, not only in that specific tragedy but as a result of the 20 year plus War on Terror, Biden uses the speech to reinforce the myth that God blesses American war making and to prop up the dangerous idea that God specifically calls Americans to fight in wars that contribute to the deaths of thousands of civilians, to devastating injuries that impact thousands more, and to the internal displacement of millions.

For the full post go to: https://thesaltcollective.org/a-2500-year-old-bible-verse-does-not-justify-modern-war/