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5 - Tommy and Coach Ben: Pacifism |
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Tommy was lightly tapping his pen on his desk as Mrs. Stark was finishing her class in American History. Tommy's mind was nowhere near the lesson; he was climbing a mountainside, and upon reaching the top, he saw a United States Marine and the next instant, he was in full dress blues with a sword in his hand. His daydream was just like the advertisement on TV for the Marine Corp.
As soon as the bell rang, Tommy was off to the library and found the latest issue of Popular Mechanics. The issue he selected contained reports of new weapons being used by the military including a note about new explosives on the tip of a bullet and sniper rifles with computerized laser scopes. One of the articles spoke of new technology which allowed a soldier to pull the
trigger and a computer would select the firing range, slope, distance, wind and drop, and the weapon would fire automatically.
Coach Big Ben Brooks knew of Tommy's interest in the military, and he sat down on that day across the table from Tommy in the library. Tommy looked up and greeted Coach Brooks, a man all respected, who had spent a lifetime at the school and even coached Tommy's father. Brooks was also an elder in the local congregation where Tommy's parents worshipped. Coach was a man of few words and he came right to the point.
Coach Brooks looked at Tommy and said, "Tom, I have been noticing you over the last 4 years and have heard from your friends you are interested in becoming a Marine Corp combat soldier, where you will be trained to kill the enemy. Son, you know that if you join the United States Marine Corp, you will be stripped of your Christian convictions and you will be taught to be angry and hate the enemy. You will be trained in firearms to kill other human beings. Your current values will be discarded; they will change the way you think, react, and you will follow orders blindly. If told to kill, you will. If ordered to guard prisoners, you will. When ordered to do things you know are wrong, you will do them and then you will be left with the guilt of having violated your
Christian conscience.
Tom looked at Coach Brooks and asked one simple question, "Why is it wrong to fight to defend the cause of freedom around the world?" Coach Brooks looked Tommy in the eye and said, "Tom, as a Disciple of our Lord, killing was never accepted in the early Christian Church. The first 300 years or so, Christians would not war at all. There is no evidence in history to the contrary. During the apostasy, when the Catholic Church was setting up their teachings contrary to the Lord’s teaching, they drafted the "Just War Doctrine." The church and state became one, and Christians were encouraged to kill for the church state. This was wrong, Tom, and is still wrong."
SCRIPTURAL POINTS OF LIGHT
Romans 12:1; Romans 12:9; Romans 12:14; Romans 12:17; Roman 12:20; Romans 12:21; Romans 13: 1-14; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13; Matthew 5: 21-22; Matthew 5:38-43; Matthew 6:14; Matthew 26:41-52; Acts 4:19; 2 Corinthians 10:3; Ephesians 6:12
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