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<< At The Movies: Beauty & The Beast--A Latter Day Tale | Home | The "Attempted Murder" Theory of Sin >>

Righteousness and the War on Terror

By: Drew

[From Waters of Mormon Admin:  we are pleased to introduce 'Drew', who describes himself thusly:

"I am an active member of the Church residing in the country of Texas. I am currently busy working full-time, going to school full-time while trying to figure out how to be a good husband and father to a young family (and failing miserably most of the time).

"I love the Restoration - the doctrine, the culture, and the history. I have a strong testimony and knowledge that this is the Lord's Church and we are involved in something truly celestial and heavenly."
"I am very involved in politics. Politically I am liberal and conservative. I enjoy the freedom of switching between the two depending on the discussion."

"I enjoy watching the world, trying to figure it out and make sense of it through my LDS paradigm."]

My father and I have spent hours upon hours arguing over the war on terrorism. His stance is that we need to confront this threat head on, which would include continuing our stability efforts in Iraq. My position is that we need to worry about the challenges we face at home, bringing our troops home and making the war on terrorism one of intelligence. We respect one another's position and frequently enjoy pointless debating into the late hours of the night.
 
Last Sunday during Gospel Doctrine class I was presented with a new focus to ending the war on terrorism - the righteousness of our nation.
 
In 2 Nephi Chapter 1 the Prophet Lehi says -

"Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever- 2 Nephi 1:7

When we read this scripture in class several questions came to mind.
 
If we were to keep the commandments of God would that be enough to bless us and allow us to dwell in this country safely? Would that be enough to prevent evil nations and organizations such as al Qaeda from taking away our liberty and security? Is this nation's iniquity the very reason we are facing this threat now? Have we allowed ourselves to lose this promise because of iniquity, ignoring the commandments of God?
 
I am proposing a new strategy to the war on terror - becoming righteous as a nation.
 
Is this too simplistic a solution for a country so culturally and morally diverse? Would it be impossible for our country to be righteous since it is no longer politically correct to define what righteousness is? Perhaps this is a purely political war and has nothing to do with righteousness.
 
As I ponder all of these questions I can't help but think that the Book of Mormon is for our day. And if it is for our day then does this prophecy not apply to us at this point in history? If at this point it would be truly impossible to become righteous as a nation then I fear a bleak outlook for this war and the ones to come.

Print | posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 4:12 PM | Filed Under [ Drew ]

Comments:

#1: austin

I think that righeousness as a nation involves being active politically and ethically and even "secularly." That is to say that I don't think that if we sat back in the war on terror but somehow got every single U.S. citizen to go to the temple every week, keep the WoW, and pay tithing that God would "save us" from attacks. I agree with bringing the troops home and doing what we can to protect ourselves here, especially by employing a saner foreign policy. But I don't think that "iniquity" in the sense that that word is generally understood in the Church is the cause of attacks on our soil. I know this isn't what you're saying, but your thoughts seem to lead (if taken to the extreme) towards Jerry Falwell's infamous comment about gays and atheists et al. helping 9/11 happen. I think that we do need to be a "righteous" nation to win the war on terror, but I see that righteousness as more of a selfless and humble attitude from our government and people in general, a desire to do what is right regardless of the circumstances rather than to look out for number one.

I agree that we need to be a more righteous nation to win the war on terror, but under a more open definition of "righteous." I hope that didn't oversimplify your point. Maybe I kind of fit into the camp of those who don't think its "politically correct to define what righteousness is" and I just try to water righteousness down into an areligious do-good generality. I like the post though, I think this is definitely a discussion church members should be having.
2/12/2008 12:12 AM

#2: Michael Umphrey

Being righteous is the only effective defense in the long run.

But the problem of being clear about what is right action in specific situations remains. I think philosophy is inadequate to that problem, by which I mean I don't think we can find the principle to follow and then follow it. Instead, we need revelation. Sometimes we will be asked to fight. Sometimes we will be asked to suffer, even to death.

I would never equate "righteousness" with "pacificism," for example. Nor does the Book of Mormon. Sometimes evil and corruption must be removed and sometimes the Lord does this by assigning the task to his followers.

The Old Testament prophets knew all about political passions that made talking plain and candid sense about what was right quite dangerous. There's nothing new about wondering how to get people to be righteous without all the risks attendant to calling them to repentance. But repentance, unpopular though it may be, remains our only hope.

2/12/2008 12:28 AM

#3: Eric Nielson

I think I might often side with Captain Moroni over the people of Ammon. But not always.
2/12/2008 5:00 AM

#4: Bored in Vernal

The SS lesson got me thinking along the same lines. (See my post on the subject!) I believe in pacifism for many, many reasons. But I agree that a careful reading of 2 Nephi 1 suggests that righteousness is the key to keeping the nation safe. I have always been surprised that more members do not subscribe to this policy. Perhaps we do not believe the righteousness of comparatively few will be enough? Or do we not have enough faith in the promises in this chapter?
2/12/2008 6:27 AM

#5: Drew

Austin,

You are not oversimplifying my point. Your comments echo some of the questions I asked myself during the lesson. Do you think our government and people do have a selfless and humble attitude or do you think we are too focused on looking out for number one as we wage the war on terrorism?




2/12/2008 8:14 AM

#6: austin

From my point of view there's no question that we are concerned only with our own short term interests in the war on terror. I don't see the U.S. working very hard on peace in the middle east--starting wars rather than getting out of their lands. I see us sacrificing moral superiority when we will sink to any depths to mistreat and torture terrorists we've captured. I see our foreign policy as much more selfish than righteous right now. Of course, we do try (and often succeed) to do good things around the world, sending aid in times of natural disaster, etc., but as it pertains to the war on terror I think our policies are often very short-sighted and selfish. I do hope we can become a more righteous nation, in every sense of the word.
2/12/2008 7:13 PM

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