“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” – Jesus (Matthew 5:9)
“Cursed are the warmongers, for they will be called the children of Apollyon.” – (the implied antithesis of Jesus’s statement)
On Friday, #47 signed an Executive Order (his 200th such order to date), renaming the “Department of Defense” the “Department of War” because it sounds tougher. He then turned over the microphone to his re-named Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.
After making an odd (and questionable) historical observation that under the name “Department of War” the military had never lost a war, and that under the name “Department of Defense” the military had never decisively won a war, Hegseth said, “This name change is not just about ‘renaming;’ it’s about ‘restoring’. Words matter. It’s…restoring the ‘warrior ethos’; restoring victory and clarity as an end state; restoring intentionality to the use of force, so…the War Department is gonna fight decisively, not endless conflicts. It’s gonna fight to win, not not to lose. We are gonna go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We’re gonna raise up warriors, not just defenders. So, this War Department, Mr. President, just like America, is back.” He finished by adding, “America First.”
Within hours, the Department of Defense website was rebranded, “war.gov.”
Let’s go back 80 years to September 2, 1945. World War II officially ended, but the world was in shambles. Upwards of 85 million people—3% of the global population–had been killed directly during the war or had died of disease and starvation, cities had been completely destroyed, six million Jews, gay people, people with disabilities, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Romani people had been gassed and incinerated in Nazi concentration camps, two nuclear bombs had been dropped (by the U.S.). It was the deadliest military conflict in human history.
Coming out of the devastation there was a global cry for peace. On October 25, 1945, the United Nations was officially established with a mission “to maintain international peace and security, promote friendly relations among nations, and foster cooperation on economic, social, and humanitarian issues.”
President Harry Truman, stood before Congress on September 6,1945–just days after the war had ended–and proposed the creation of a unified department of national defense to address concerns about military preparedness that arose following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 1, 1941. Congress passed the National Security Act two years later which created the National Military Establishment—which combined the Department of the Army and Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps and the newly formed Air Force. President Harry Truman signed the act into law on July 26, 1947. In 1949, the NME was renamed the “Department of Defense.” Its stated mission was to “provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.”
Eighty years ago, our war-weary nation focused on preventing future wars, promoting international peace and cooperation, and pursuing diplomacy. But it didn’t take long for us to return to war again and again. And now we seem focused solely on American military supremacy through “maximum lethality.” without concern for “tepid legality.”
Earlier this week, the newly named War Department authorized the attack of a Venezuelan boat in international waters that was allegedly filled with drugs and manned by the Tren de Aragua cartel.. No one bothered to inform members of the Armed Service Committee of Congress of to the attack as is required by the War Powers Act,, and there was no evidence that the boat was delivering drugs to the US. We’ll never know. The boat—and the eleven men aboard—were obliterated. “Maximum lethality, not tepid legality.”
Maybe we’ve always been a nation of warmongers who ignore accepted boundaries and bend the rules of engagement, but this open embrace of thuggery and this promotion of the “warrior ethos” feels different. Maybe it’s because the people promoting it—like Pete Hegseth—claim to be followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Maybe it’s because anyone that questions the administration’s pre-occupation with war and domination is considered “weak” and “woke” and is deemed “the enemy.” Jesus wouldn’t survive this administration.
God isn’t going to bless warmongers. The blessing is reserved for the peacemakers—those who “seek peace and pursue it.” Right now, it feels like we are being led by the children of Apollyon—the Destroyer. And we know what their end will ultimately be.
So, I’m going to go the mountain of the Lord to learn the ways of peace—where swords will be turned into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks and where nations will no longer pursue war. Let’s go there together.
Tongue on Fire 