Scene from 20th Century Fox Film, Kingdom of Heaven
I watched the show, Kingdom of Heaven just the other day. It's supposed to be about a guy who's wife has committed suicide and, according to his roman catholic faith, is condemned to eternity in Hell. Then he gets a chance to travel to Jerusalem with his bastard father and he goes. He hopes to seek redemption for himself – and his wife – in God's Holy land. To make the long story short, he gets embroiled in a Holy battle to save Jerusalem from the marauding Muslims (Jerusalem was taken from the Muslims by Christian Crusaders about 1,000 years before).
By Holy battle, I mean it's a battle created in the name of God but devised in the hearts of men. Here were some of the worst heretics in the history of men. To be honest, I don't know what was going through the mind of the Christians when they decided to provoke the Muslims Turks into war. Could it they wanted act on "God's" will to eradicate the world of all other gods except the one True God?
For whatever reasons the war was created on, the end result is definitely not Godly in the least. Stories in the old Testament told of glorious Holy wars raged on the hand of God and believers were rewarded with majestic victories. But didn't all these end with the New Testament, with the coming of the Lamb of God, Jesus? Who, with His blood, cleansed the world and made peace with everyone. Isn't that what "turn the other cheek" means? Doesn't his greatest command, "love thy neighbour as you love yourself" count for anything? Doesn't that mean live in harmony as a testament to My Godliness?
Yet many sycophants and so-called Holy people waged wars in the name of God and Allah. I mean, for whatever wrong you've faced and oppression you've endured, does it justify killing another man or massacring their family? Does having your family killed by robbers give you reason to seek revenge and kill another? I don't know. I'm a pacifist – or coward, if you prefer – i don't believe in wars. They're barbaric and serve no purpose except to fulfill the bloodlust of some crazed dictator.
Just like the people of now, the guardian King of Jerusalem in the show deliberately provoked the Muslim Turks into war. Don't know why? Maybe it was just a show of power. Maybe he wanted to conquer more lands. Maybe he was just plain stupid. Whatever reasons, the war caused lots of death on both the Christian and Muslim side. With the Christians giving in to the Muslim Turks at the end of the film. An epilogue then said Richard, the Lionheart, braved the Muslims and fought for three years to regain Jerusalem. But even then, they didn't win. They shared an "uneasy truce". This truce is now a full blown war with Palestinians and Jews fighting for the Holy Land.
I don't know. But isn't the Holy Land supposed to be free from strife, violence and anger? Should it not be kept free from the blood of innocents? Shouldn't God be doing something about the mortality rates in "His Holy Land". I, for one, am not a theological student, nor a good Christian, nor, even, very smart. But when you see reports of death and grieving families on TV, you want to blame someone.
Most people blame God – especially in their hour of grief – but we should be querying the men in charge, the leaders of the Holy Land. Are they doing this to protect their power status, to keep their "Holy Land" or just because it'll take too much trouble to move? Is God aware of the situation? Is He doing anything about it? Are we supposed to say something and, hopefully, God will inspire us? I've no clue.
All I know is God is too omnipotent a being for me to fathom. To even imagine what is going on His mind and the plans He has for us all. All we've got to do is keep the faith and to think about the consequences before we conduct ourselves. If the end result of our actions is going to hurt someone, it's not God-like and should not be carried out.
Not if we want to be soldiers of God.