Todd Starnes of Fox News got
himself all wound up because Michael Moore tried to give what he called the
“Sunday school” answer in explaining his recent comments about the movie
“American Sniper.” Moore sarcastically
tweeted that Jesus would shoot people in the back. Moore’s
sophomoric attempt to explain what Jesus would do, no doubt in an effort to
tweak the evangelical right, seems to me standard operating procedure for him,
so why get wound up?
I don’t like seeing folks like Starnes
rush in explaining why Chris Kyle was okay with Jesus. Starnes, while begging off that he’s “not a
theologian” nonetheless was prepared to claim Jesus would have been perfectly
okay with Kyle shooting jihadists and sending them to “the lake of fire,”
offering that Jesus would have said to Kyle “well done thy good and faithful
servant.” Chris Kyle may well have been
okay with Jesus, but only if he repented of his sins and believed the gospel
(Mark 1:15). Shooting jihadists is
unequivocally not a qualification for entry to heaven.
Starnes’ argument is based more on
his conservative political views than sound biblical thinking.
He confuses being a good Christian with being a good American. In fact, Starnes goes on to talk about how
Hollywood used to support the troops – citing John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and
Bob Hope – as if somehow their support has some connection to Jesus being happy
with Chris Kyle. Earth to Todd: there’s
no obvious connection here.
Moreover, I don’t know that one
can so easily characterize what Chris Kyle did as obviously right or wrong from
a biblical standpoint. When Roman
soldiers asked John the Baptist what they should do in light of the coming
wrath, he replied “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation;
be satisfied with your wages.” Luke 3:14
(HCSB). John didn’t tell them to stop
being soldiers but didn’t encourage them, either. Jesus proclaimed that a Roman centurion
showed faith greater than that found “even in Israel.” Luke 7:9 (HCSB). Centurions were hard-bitten leaders who
gained leadership of 80 to as many as 500 men through the grit of time and
blood, making Jesus’ willingness to commend one astonishing. Yet, Jesus said nothing about his status as a
soldier. While arguing from absence gets one only half way in any argument,
neither the Old nor New Testament seems to condemn or commend soldiers for
soldiering (any more than it might have condemned or commended bloggers for blogging). Note to Michael Moore: read Revelation – Jesus is coming back, and
he’s geared up for . . . (gasp, oh my) WAR.
Note to Todd Starnes: neither Jesus nor John told the soldiers they ought to keep soldiering.
I didn’t know Chris Kyle and I
feel badly for his family. He has
children who will never know their dad.
He has a wife who is missing her husband. From what I discovered about him, he really
was a magnificent soldier. From a
heavenly perspective that neither makes nor breaks him. He either had repented of his sins and
believed that Jesus was the Christ, or he didn’t. I hope he did. I’d love a chance to meet him in heaven.
In the meantime, both Moore and
Starnes need to get out of the theologizing business and stick to what they
both seem to know well: sarcastic bomb throwing.
Did I really just say that?
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