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"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (Isaiah 5:20).

One problem that we see today is the difficulty of some to recognize evil and what to do about it. Interestingly, some of this comes from the pacifist movement. There are many shades in this movement but recently, a number of books have come out criticizing what is called the religious right (1) and among the issues argued against it is the support of the war on terror and patriotism. There are two lines of thought in their arguments: one is against the war and the other is the discussion on social issues such as the poor and the relationship of economics, visiting the sick and those in prison.

Most of the arguments against the war on terror are based on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said that we are to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44-45), not kill them. We should turn the other cheek rather than reacting in a violent way, not resisting an evil person (5:39) (2). Most of the arguments center on the teachings of Jesus and have validity for the individual and the church. Applying it to a nation however, seems to me out of the realm of what Jesus had in mind. Maybe it is a lack of trust in God on my part but Romans 13 tells me that government comes from God (3). There are those who argue that human governments are of the devil and should not be supported in any form (4). The arguments then proceed to what some call "blame America first." We should look at our own actions from racism to the destruction of the American Indian. We should understand both our own problems and the situation of those we consider our enemies. Talk, negotiation, and appeasement to settle wars rather than killing should be our means. How many Christians have died in war killed by other Christians? Is this what God wants (5)? What is not discussed or recognized is the subject of evil, or if it is discussed we find that the religious right is part of the evil.

The second line of argument deals with social issues. The authors of the recent books often appeal to the prophets. For instance, Jesus began His ministry quoting Isaiah 61 about the good news being proclaimed to the poor, freedom for prisoners and the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19). What is not mentioned in this text, though certainly not ignored by Jesus, is sin. The implication is that poverty is sin rather than the ignoring of those in need. This has led to various theologies such as liberation theology which says that some need to be freed from the dangers of capitalism (6). I have been reading those prophets and have found some additional interesting ideas. Primarily it comes in the form of the shedding of innocent blood. God’s complaint through Isaiah is that of those who abuse worship and people and whose "hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:15). Jeremiah talks about not oppressing the foreigner or the widow or shedding innocent blood (Jeremiah 7:6) (7). One of the criticisms of the religious right is that they spend too much time arguing about abortion and homosexuality rather than about the poor and oppressed (8). Considering what the prophets said about the shedding of blood, the religious right seems to have a better understand of these issues than what the authors of those recent books think (9).

It appears that sin or evil for those authors are those things they are opposed to and they have difficulty identifying Biblical ideas of sin and evil. Why is this? Why do they find it difficult to see the evil in those who murder innocent people in street markets or plan to destroy planes in the air and kill hundreds if not thousands? Why is it difficult to see the blowing up of trains and buses with women and children is not evil, or for some perverted reasons the fault of those riding on those buses? Dennis Prager asks those same questions (10). "Why won’t the Left label and confront evil?" He gives three reasons for this, and while writing from a political perspective, it certainly can be applied to Christianity as well.

First, there is more concern for inequality than for evil. Based on a Marxist view of life, economics is what makes the world run. Religion is outdate and dismissed as primitive. The battle is between "rich and the poor…bosses and workers, corporations and society." The greatest evil is poverty. They cannot bring themselves to see that murdering innocent people is evil because they do it out of poverty. While we need to help the poor and are taught so in scripture, to call poverty evil goes beyond what is said in scripture. Again, ignoring, abusing or oppressing the poor is sin but poverty isn’t. So the haves have too much and the have nots do not have enough. All must be the same. The Bible addresses money and wealth and the dangers associated with them, but also tells us that God does bless both people and nations who recognize Him as God.

The second issues Prager raises is that of pacifism. There is a "ambivalence" or hostility toward police and the military. Killing is never moral, even if it is justified. Hence we see the opposition to capital punishment. What is difficult to understand is that it is always the United States that is wrong. They cannot bring themselves to condemn the Muslim extremists who murderer. Nor can they see anything wrong in abortion as the murder of innocent life (11). The religious right support of the war on terror and opposition to abortion is condemned and rejected. The right is mocked for its Biblical literalism and its absolutes of right and wrong and good and evil.

Finally, the Left hates the talk of good and evil because it "either loathes Judeo-Christian values or redefines them." Europe becomes its model because there is less inequality and it is secular. Christians should stay out of politics if it comes from the right though the left can be very involved because it has the proper perspective on issues, social and moral. To say that there is good and evil and that people will be held accountable horrifies the Left. Moral judgments are too judgmental and in a multicultural society should not be expressed.

In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." This is very direct. All roads do not lead to heaven, nor are all religions, and one could argue cultures (12), are the same. This statement by Jesus is offensive to many but truth can be offensive. We do not have to be offensive in presenting the good news but there will be times when all of us must confront the truth.

There is good and evil in this world. God has been very clear as to what those are but humans have difficulty accepting that. There are good brethren and people on both sides of these issues but there are also some who have been deceived by arguments that lead to a rejection of the good and the acceptance of evil. Isaiah saw it in his day and we need to see it in ours.

George B. Mearns

(1) Unfortunately, using the terms "religious right" or "religious left" can be misleading. The brethren and people mentioned in this article are all Bible believers and would not approve of many of the behaviors supported by the religious left. Churches of Christ were at one time known as one of peace churches because of its strong Biblical emphasis.

(2) Lee Camp, a professor at David Lipscomb and author of the book Mere Discipleship argued this recently at the Lipscomb Lectures but admitted he did not know how he would respond to an attack on his family. At the risk of sounding like a situation ethicist, love of neighbor including family might mean a stronger response for their protection and a threat to me as an individual alone a more non-violent response.

(3) see also Daniel 2:21 and other texts that tell of how God deals with nations who do or do not repent. Jonah would be one example.

(4) David Lipscomb made this point along with some other Restoration preachers; see John Mark Hicks and Bobby Valentine, Kingdom Come, Leafwood Publishers, 2006.

(5) These are not new arguments. Joseph Loconte complied sermons by both peace activists and opponents in the late 1930s that use the same arguments we hear today. See The End of Illusions.

(6) Capitalism isn’t a perfect system. It can lead to greed and power trips and can ignore social concerns. But socialism and communism have been shown to be much worse, rejecting religion and therefore repentance, with the state as the supreme and only power. Capitalism has so far not rejected the Judea-Christian ethic and corrections can and are made. What we must remember is that the Bible supports no particular system of government; Christians live and work with whatever system they live under.

(7) see also Jeremiah 22:3, 17; 26:15; Lamentations 4:13-14; Ezekiel 16:36, 38, et.al

(8) Randy Harris made that point at the Pepperdine Lectures, 2006, following many from the religious left.

(9) see also Stephen Monsma in Christianity Today, 7/06 and his findings that the evangelicals are more active in social concerns than is thought or reported.

(10) "Left Behind," Citizen, September 2006.

(11) I think that abortion fits into the idea of the shedding of innocent blood.

(12) God warned Israel before and on entering the Promise Land not to be like those nations He was driving out and not like the nations surrounding Israel. In essence, do not adopt their cultures.