Christians and Mass-Murder (Don Emmerich)

Don Emmerich maintains a great blog that I recently discovered, and I thought this post was an excellent indictment of what passes for modern Christianity, whose extreme militarism has led to him to question his own faith:

Why would any decent, intelligent person convert to Christianity? I’m asking a serious question. Why would anyone want to become a Christian?

I know why I became a Christian. I grew up with a Jewish mother and Catholic father. Neither seemed to take their faith all that seriously, and I eventually concluded that God, if he existed, couldn’t be found in organized religion. But then when I was in college, I became acquainted with a group of Born Again Christians. True believers, the types who genuinely believe, who strive to be Christ to others. “I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

I started to want what they had. Their faith and joy. Their love. I started reading the Bible. I started getting up early on Sundays and going to church. And, little by little, I came to believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be, that, through faith, I could become a child of God.

But, as I’ve come to learn, true Christians are difficult to find. Yes, they’re there. I imagine you’ll find some in most congregations. But you won’t find many. Far from being superior to unbelievers, it seems to me that most Christians are arrogant, close-minded warmongers.

Which brings me back to my original question. Why would anyone today want to become a Christian? Why would anyone want to have communion with people who so shamelessly defend mass-murder? If I hadn’t spent more than a decade “walking with Christ,” I would quickly conclude that the whole thing is a fraud.

I put quotation marks around those words—“walking with Christ”— because I’m no longer sure if the whole thing is true. Part of me wants to believe. No story offers more hope and comfort than that of God becoming a man and dying for our sins. But I just keep coming back to this: If it really is true, then why do most Christians support mass-murder?

And it’s not just that Christians support mass-murder. It’s that they’re too close-minded to even consider opposing viewpoints. I’ve repeatedly challenged my former seminary professor on his pro-war beliefs; he refuses to even address my arguments. I’ve made numerous anti-war arguments to the former worship leader at my church; though failing to rebut any of my arguments, he continues advocating American mass-murder.

If Christianity is of God, then how can this be? If believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, then how can they be among our society’s biggest supporters of mass-murder? Shouldn’t they at least be slightly more opposed to murder than non-Christians?

If God is there, if Christ is real, then how can this be?