Ghastly Images

                Ghastly images of dead and dying splashed across all forms of media last week. Once again, Bashar Al-Assad, the dictatorial ruler of Syria, gassed his own citizens in the seemingly endless civil war. Horrified, we struggle to find the tool or lever strong enough to force the

belligerents to set aside their enthrallment with violence and embrace a more pacific culture. Years of cajoling diplomacy, vague, and not so vague, threats produced very little. For some reason we find civilian deaths by conventional munitions acceptable; but, death by chemical weapons disturbs us greatly. Perhaps, the grisly implications of choking out our lives poisoned by the air we breathe frightens us. The depraved nature of this act moved President Trump to action. He chose a limited air-strike on the facility Al-Assad used to launch this most recent atrocity, hoping to send Al-Assad a clear message and deprive him of some of his military capability. Shortly after, Al-Assad launched yet another strike against the same city, this time with conventional arms. Death still called on some. No matter the cause, they remain dead and their families deprived of their presence grieve just the same. What is an appropriate response to such a dark situation?

                Elie Wiesel said, "We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."  The airstrike satisfies some primal urge for order and vengeance within. We view the horrors and feel we must do something, punish someone. But such actions provide only transitory effects. We want long-lasting effects, changes that improve the lives of many citizens, changes that last for generations. These types of changes take concentrated effort for years. After the chaos and destruction of World War II we viewed a devastated Europe. Hitler and his fellow henchmen had rampaged across the continent, leaving death and destruction. The communists sought to fill the political and social vacuum they left. We responded with the Berlin Airlift, NATO, and more importantly the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan represented some $ 13 billion ($100 billion in 2003 dollars) in aid to Europe over an extended period of time. The Marshall Plan was not a simple transfer of cash. It also included assistance in the form of education and strengthening a various democratic institutions by helping Western-Europe recover quickly enough to avoid communist take-over. Our investment in time and resources enabled Western-Europe to enjoy over fifty years of peace and relative prosperity.

                We need to embrace a similar long look with the Middle-East. Yes, it will cost a lot. Yes, it will take time. Yes, it will be hard work and often messy. But, such an investment will pay great dividends. A prosperous and stable Middle-East is in all our best interests; however, we ought to willingly secure peace and prosperity for others. After all, our prosperity and peace came to us through the hard work and sacrifice of others. We ought to share our abundance willingly. Bombs and missiles may have a short-term effect; but, hard work and effort over the longer haul will last much longer. We must set aside our fondness for short term solutions. A serious investment of time and money may very well result in a stable region, one that does not require repeated infusions of munitions and personnel.

                In Romans Paul reminds us that rulers are God’s servants to execute His wrath on wrongdoers (Romans 13:3-5). This challenging passage reminds us that God expects civil rulers to keep good order and discipline. But, we must not look at that scripture alone. It is true that God expects leaders and nations to enforce laws and exact justice; however, we must not overlook the larger bulk of passages that enjoin us to provide for those less fortunate. Like Christ, we must willingly engage in the difficult work of love. We must love enough to engage and sacrifice. We enjoy great blessings, not to satiate our desires, but to help others. Perhaps if we look down the road we can envision a future worth investing in, a future worth our time and effort, a future where women and children need not gasp out their final moments in terror.