Considering Extreme Measures

“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

The man responsible for those words is Sir Winston Churchill, a man for his times.  Notice he says “those who would do us harm,” not those who did us harm.  Many think we need a man like Sir Winston Churchill who understands our times and acts in light of that reality.

We have an interesting political battle going on as we have released our interrogation methods, yet refuse to put them into the context of the information received or circumstances in which they are used.  This unfairly politicizes the issue- trying to make things black and white when they are a little less so.

This quote from Sir Winston is at the beginning of Vince Flynn’s latest Mitch Rapp novel, Extreme Measures.   It is a novel for these times, trying to explain why it is important to have such rough men ready, for there are despicable men who hide behind religion to exploit others and protect themselves as they wage a war of terror on civilians.

Yes, Vince has found a formula that works (though he deviates from it at the very end of this novel), but I enjoy his books.  I do want that man out there protecting my family from those who would harm them simply because they live in America.

As Christians we can often confuse the issues, misapply Scripture and really be muddle headed about these issues.  Emotions can cloud the issue on both sides.

First, there is a difference in Scripture between the response of an individual to unjustice, and the response of a government.  We see that clearly in Romans 12 – 13.  The individual is not to seek revenge, but entrust such justice to God.  The government, on the other hand, bears the sword to punish evildoers.

Turning the other cheek is about insult, and again is the individual forsaking retribution.  This would not rule out self-defense should one want to physically hurt you.  Context is key.

We see something of a wartime ethic in Scripture.  Both the midwives and Rahab were blessed for deceiving those who sought to perpetrate evil.  Truth is not a black and white issue- sometimes we have to consider what will be done with the truth.  Will they use the truth to rob, steal or kill?  The context of “speaking the truth in love” is the covenant community moving toward maturity.  You can lovingly speak the truth to an evil person by calling their actions what they are, while refusing to divulge the information they want.

But we have some positive encouragements about the righteous man:

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Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.  Proverbs 28(NIV)

The righteous man/person resists the wicked.  He does not stick his head in the sand and let them commit great sins against others.  This is because God is seen as the One who defends the defenseless.  As those being renewed in God’s image, we are to act like Him.  We are to defend the defenseless, protect the poor, care for the widows and orphans.

So, if an evil person has knowledge of an evil pl0t I may have an obligation to reveal and stop that evil plot.  This, without the theology, is the view taken by Mitch Rapp and Jack Bauer in 24.  They see themselves as sworn to protect the civilians.

Extreme measures for such a person are not about punishment, revenge, boredom etc.  They are about gaining information to protect the lives of the defenseless.  When Senator McCain was being tortured in the Hanoi Hilton, it was not to protect the defenseless.  It was to use him as a propaganda tool.  This is what the Islamo-fascists do.  They torture and kill people to show them to others to instill fear.  They kill and maim, rather than simply “break” a known terrorist.  They do this to captured uniformed combatants and civilians alike.

Things have changed.  In Sir Winston’s day, carpet bombing was not seen as problematic.  Today we try to prevent the needless death of civilians.  Yet, this is impossible for two reasons.  First, the terrorists often target civilians, and use civilians to carry out their plots.  Second, they hide in the midst of civilians rather than bases.  We, regretfully, kill civilians accidentally.  They kill them on purpose.

We have to consider the important differences lest we think we have become the monster in trying to stop the monster.  Are we seeking to vent blind rage regardless of who is killed?  We have become the monster.  Are we seeking to bring justice (including the sword) to evil people who have and/or will commit acts of terror?  We are not the monster, but rather defending the defenseless.  Why are we using extreme measures?  If to use them as propaganda, or to protect our plan to perpetrate evil, we have become the monster.  If to uncover evil plots, we are protecting people from the monster.

So, this is a more complex issue than perhaps we who follow Christ want to realize.  As Christians we can’t hide behind pacifism.  Nor are we to embrace some kind of ethnic or religious cleansing.  We shouldn’t protect the wicked while endangering the “innocent” just as we shouldn’t recklessly harm the “innocent.”

But I sense a growing disconnect in our own society.  Some want to protect the ‘right’ of others to kill unborn children, but remove the right of the state to put criminals to death.  Similarly, those who want to protect the terrorists from “extreme measures” want to increase government power to restrict the rights of citizens against a very questionable enemy- global warming. 

Sadly, there is never any discussion allowed.  You can’t question the “right to abortion,” “defend extreme measures”, or even question global warming.  It seems odd to continually protect the wicked, and oppress the innocent yet claim a higher moral ground.  As a nation we do need to start talking, and thinking.  As Christians, the church needs to start talking, and thinking, about these issues.  Sadly, we tend to succumb to mere fear, sentimentality or false dilemmas. 

Oh, yeah- the book.  I liked it.  But it may not be your cup of tea.