by Logan Mehl-Laituri
Logan Mehl-Laituri was a solider in the USA military. Along his journey into a deeper relationship with Christ, he became convicted that he couldn’t love his enemies while killing them. He applied for status as a conscientious objector, not to seek discharge but to return to Iraq with his unit, unarmed. He was denied this and discharged. Logan Mehl-Laituri has returned to Iraq as part of a Christian Peacemaker Team and is a founding member of The Centurions Guild.
I just thought a little bit about the author would provide a foundation for his quotes.
“Most (soldiers), if not all, … are forever altered by the performance of (their military) duties, no matter (the) legality or justifiability. The door through which you go in taking a life doesn’t remain open behind you; the threshold cannot be uncrossed. It alters your very consciousness; the truths you learn about yourself can never be unlearned.”
“When Jesus told his followers to love their enemies, I realized, he certainly did not intend for that love to be expressed at the business end of an artillery shell.”
“To love is not always the most expedient action – it might not even be the most rational – but Christians are not called to efficiency or rationality.”
“It is our duty as Christians to question war. The church’s task at the least, is to critically consider whether or not centuries-old criteria for just war have been met, like there being a just cause and right intent, a clear declaration of war, noncombatant immunity, and so on. Christians are not free to blindly follow orders; instead, we ultimately obey God rather than men.”
“I feared most a life of complacency, a life that denied my past and ignored my transgressions, a life that refused to acknowledge the presence and urgency of evil.”
“My favorite class in high school was an introduction to psychology, led by a white-haired thread of a man whom I admired. He taught us that love and hate are actually not opposites but emotionally related. Hate, he would tell us, is really just frustrated love. The opposite of love is indifference.”
Albert Einstein believed ‘peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding’ [written in his Notes of Pacifism]”
Turkey Alwan Travels
Logan Mehl-Laituri’s journey is similar to my own struggle going from Marine to Christian pacifist. Though American Christians are mostly unaware of such struggles, heroes of the faith over the centuries have spoken clearly on this issue. You may find these quotes of interest from Charles Spurgeon. Though he is well known and quoted often, you will probably never see these words elsewhere. http://spurgeonwarquotes.wordpress.com/
Thanks Michael. I’d love to hear your story sometime!