I recieved an e-mail today from a friend addressing the issue of pacifism/aggression, violence / non-violence, etc. He said some good things, here's a statement by him and some citations he offered from the Church Fathers. Think on these things (yes, that includes you Mr. John Hagee!!!):
"What I believe and am about to say may offend you, but I think it is borderline blasphemous to say that soldiers died for my freedom. The only person that has died to bring true and uncorrupted freedom and liberty is Jesus Christ!"
"We who formerly murdered one another now refrain from making war even upon our enemies." -Justin Martyr
"...These people [i.e., Christians] formed their swords and war-lances into plowshares, ...that is, into instruments used for peaceful purposes. So now, they are unaccustomed to fighting. When they are struck, they offer also the other cheek." -Irenaeus
"It is not in war, but in peace, that we are trained." -Clement of Alexandria
"If, then, we are commanded to love our enemies...whom have we to hate? If injured, we are forbidden to retaliate, lest we become just as bad ourselves. Who can suffer injury at our hands?" -Tertullian
"Now inquiry is made about the point of whether a believer may enter into military service. The question is also asked whether those in the military may be admitted into the faith-even the rank and file (or any inferior grade), who are not required to take part in sacrifices or capital punishments...A man cannot give his allegiance to two master-God and Caesar...How will a Christian man participate in war? In fact, how will he serve even in peace without a sword? For the Lord has taken the sword away. It is true that soldiers came to John [the Baptist] and received the instructions for their conduct. It is true also that a centurion believed. nevertheless, the Lord afterward, in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier." -Tertullian
"A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate who wears the purple must resign or be rejected. If an applicant or a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God." -Hippolytus
