Sunday, August 30, 2009

Question of the day - "as a Christian (do) we need to...oppose all forms of war"??

Recently I came across this article which I had bookmarked and then forgot about. It's from April of this year and offers an interesting perspective from a Christian who refused to fill out the Canadian census because of his anti-war stance. He went through a court battle and was eventually fined $300 but avoided jail time:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090410/census_objector_090412/20090412?hub=TopStories
"After learning that U.S. arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin had been awarded the contract to perform the survey, he immediately decided his religious and anti-war beliefs wouldn't allow him to participate.

Supporting Lockheed Martin Ltd. Canada, a subsidiary of the U.S. weapons giant Lockheed Martin Corporation, which Stelmach says manufactures cluster bombs, would have represented that level of compromise.

I feel as a Christian we need to pursue peace and resist and oppose militarism and all forms of war," Stelmach says simply of his decision."
So what do you think about this? Is this guy over the top? Has he gone too far? Or is he right on in his opposition of all forms of war/militarism? Should Christians oppose wars like Afghanistan and Iraq? Should Christians oppose all forms of militarism and war, including arms manufacturers? Thoughts?