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Turning
Saddam into Satan--WWJD
By
William Bailes
We
really need a bad guy all the time. That way
we keep the spotlight off ourselves. I mean
Americans of course when I'm talking about
us, because we really hate to see ourselves
as foolish or weak or evil. We're the
Americans, aren't we, always saving
everybody and fixing things? Never messing
things up?
Well,
we screw up more than we'd like to admit.
And I don't mean to pick on Americans here,
but a lot of us Christians in the U.S. see
ourselves as Americans too. That said, we
really have a lot of owning up to do.
Because we don't is not because we are
unChristian but because we aren't taking
Jesus' words to heart.
When
we blame Saddam, for instance, for all the
terror and destruction of Iraq and support
violence against Iraq to stop Saddam, we are
giving in the this "bad guy" or
Satan projection. This is what I call the
Anti-Jesus Projection. It's the
confrontation of evil instead of the
understanding and forgiving of trespasses.
It's where you begin to see Satan all around
you or in world figures; and then you cop
out on taking responsibility for your own
problems and decisions. Admittedly, that
kind of responsibility is hard to achieve. I
mean, who wants to do what Christ says when
he calls us to take up our cross daily and
follow him. The cross is a real thing.
Really. A lot of Christians hang an image of
it around their necks or tattoo it on their
arms, but the truth is, it's more real than
that. It's the splintery hardness of deep
introspection, a willingness to say I've got
to look at myself first, and ask what did I
do, not do?
Now,
Jesus might not have called for a
congressional investigation into why Saddam
turned out so bad, but Christ would have
probably told Saddam--whether we like it or
not--to go and sin no more. And if he
didn't? Well, even in the Old Testament,
lots of evil dictators never pay for their
crimes. The rain falls on the good and the
evil. So more important is DID WE FORGIVE?
Then
there's that really tough passage in Isaiah
where the prophet says the LORD created
evil. But does that mean it's okay to do
evil? Not if you are devoted to Christ, who
has commanded us to love all people,
especially our enemies. Whoa! That's too
much for most of us. Does that mean Saddam?
Of course it does. And Christ didn't say,
well you can hate the crime but not the man.
He said love, period. That's why the CROSS
is real! It ain't easy.
Now
to the reckoning of facts. Even if we could
find justice, it will be a bit embarrassing
to discover that Americans have aided,
abetted, and excused Saddam for twenty years
in his terror campaigns. Why? Mainly for a
puppet in standing up to Iran. But should we
have done evil to fight Iran? Are we
responsible? And what can we do to purge
ourselves if we are responsible?
However
you answer those questions will now depend
on whether accept responsibility or not. I
must say first that I am as responsible as
every other citizen for the sins of my
country, even though I am but one person. As
one person, I can also turn to Christ for
forgiveness and love. Becuase I can't
imagine any other way to do WJWD.
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William
Bailes, marketing consultant, essayist,
southerner, gnostic christian, pacifist,
father, spouse, poet.
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