Sarah Palin’s War in Iraq: Paving the Way for the Coming of Christ?

by Chris Navarro

OK, the headline got your attention – but there is also much behind it. Before you read on, though, I want to make clear the purpose of this post. It is NOT a hatchet job on Sarah Palin. In truth, I like her – she is a breath of fresh air in this long and haggard campaign.

But there are serious questions she does need to answer – and they are not the questions about her children, or Troopergate, or whether it is better experience to have been mayor of a small town or a community organizer.

This post IS a bone to the bloggers and media on the left to actually ask her some very serious questions about the connections between her faith and her views on policy – just as Barack Obama was asked so many times about Jeremiah Wright.

Sarah Palin was baptized a Roman Catholic, and then became an evangelical Protestant at a young age. The church she now attends, Wasilla Bible Church is part of a wide ranging evangelical movement known in theological circles as dispensationalism.

Dispensationalism is a popular but controversial system of interpreting the Bible, characterized by its belief that periods of history are divided in to various dispensations or ages, i.e. creation (Adam), pre-diluvean (Noah), the patriarchs (Abraham), the Mosaic law, the Davidic kingdom of Israel, the church age (Christ), and finally the new creation. Each dispensation in time begins with God’s grace being manifest on man and ends with man falling from grace and in need of God’s redemption.

So for example, under the Law, God’s grace was given to the Israelites as they were freed from slavery in Egypt and ended with Saul’s defeat in battle after disobeying God’s command to him. Under the Dispensationalist system, the Church Age began with Christ’s resurrection and will end with the Great Tribulation.

This belief has spawned a generation of books, movies and prophecies of the imminent Second Coming of Christ in the wake of the creation of the modern nation of Israel in 1948. Going back in even further, however, at least to the time of Woodrow Wilson, politicians have seized upon the fervor surrounding the expectation of Christ’s return, to create their own cheering sections for military intervention in the Middle East.

Thus, George W. Bush has found a united base of support, even in his darkest days, among this large segment of evangelical Christians who believe that this war is the sign that assures us that Christ’s return is imminent.

As a Christian myself, this thinking disturbs me on many levels. First, this is just bad theology. Jesus Christ rejected the opportunity to be annointed a military leader to conquer the powers of this world, and chose to conquer in other ways.

Christians made their greatest impressions on the Roman Empire as they buried the dead from battle, rather than taking up arms to fight themseleves. They often had their own lives taken by force, and were known to sing on their way to their execution. Within 300 years of Christ’s death, the mighty empire of Rome succumbed to the multi-generational commitment of Christians to spreading their faith – without using the sword.

Second, it means that a large segment of the war’s supporters, who are but a small minority of all Americans, favor the war for reasons that have nothing to do with stated policy. Without them, The government could not prosecute this war, yet it has never suggested any specific, religious reason for having troops in Iraq.

Third, these views exist under the radar of public opinion. How can the public make an informed decision about supporting or opposing the war effort if it doesn’t know why it’s most zealous and largest group of supporters want it continue? The Dispensationalists are covert and deceptive. Yet if their views were as prophetic as they imagine, they should be proclaiming them from the top of every mountain and on every media outlet they can find – but such is not the case.

So it is more than fair to ask Sarah Palin what underlies her view that the Iraq War is a task God has given us – it is imperative. If she says it is consistent with the dispensationalist view, that should be carefully examined, because it gives rise to a worldview that is likely to keep us at war in the Middle East perpetually, with no end to come.

If she says otherwise, then other reasons she gives should be carefully examined to be sure they are credible. Frankly, unless she says she wants John McCain to bring her son home safely – and soon – it is highly problematic.

Even without specific views that would perpetuate war in the Middle East, the military intervention in Iraq has been too costly, too long and just plain too much. Our focus should be on what happens within our own boundaries. If religious fervor to conquer other people in other places is added to a foreign policy that overreaches as it is, we are in for trouble.

We have spent too much money, lost too many lives, hindered our international alliances, and gained very little from this fight. Protecting our own homeland is one thing – destroying our enemies’ is quite another.

Ask Sarah Palin the hard questions about this war.