During This Time of Worry and Confusion, We All Have Concerns About Our Country's War With Iraq.

Dan Haseltine and Stephen Mason of Jars of Clay Offer Their Heartfelt Thoughts On the Subject.

DAN HASELTINE:

I can not speak for all the guys in the band on this issue. For me war is always difficult. I have wrestled with it and have found myself gravitating to the ideal that God has put authorities in power. He has called us to "give to Ceasar what is Ceasars" or respect the authority that is in place.

I do not like the effects of war. My heart goes out to the people who must fight and their families. My heart goes out to the people of Iraq that are caught in the middle of a potentially devastating process. I believe that God is sovereign. I believe that God's justice and plan are unfathomable. I know that I live in a fallen world that groans with frustration. War is never what I would choose. But even the Old Testament shows God very able to use War to fulfill his purposes. I put no faith and hope in the military powers. I put no faith and hope in the process of war. I believe in the Gospel. I believe that God will redeem what has been broken, For now, we live in a world full of anger, hatred, jealousy, pride, and pain. I am hopeful that God will use the events to stir hearts and reflect his glory. There is no hope amidst war if God does not show up.

As far as feeling Patriotic.....I am an American. I was born here, and feel blessed to be in this country. I worry a bit at the superpower mentality that would say "How dare anyone attack us! We will fight no matter what anyone else thinks." I have shuddered to recognize a hint of hubris in the diplomacy of our country. I have been put at ease a bit as this process continues to find that we are not just entering into war with people because they hate America. I certainly hate the horrific things that Saddam has done to the people of his country. The ethnic cleansing, torture, and deadly games he plays are cause to remove him from that country or from the earth itself! God has called us to be fighters of injustice. So I am a supporter of the fight to remove this man. I hope it will not lead to the mass loss of life.

I feel like war was inevitable, but feel like it is our duty as a country rich in world leadership to walk humbly into this situation and understand that war is bigger than the agenda we have for entering into it.

peace and grace
- Dan

STEPHEN MASON:

Would the amount of innocent lives that die in Iraq have ever stopped increasing before we had taken a decisive action to end it? 30,000 Kurds died in an uprising against the Iraqi government after Desert Storm. More die every day. There are cases documented that are TOO GRAPHIC to include here.

I think to love what is righteous and true means to hate what is unjust. As I respond to the AIDS crisis in Africa, civil rights and religious oppression in China and Vietnam, I feel the need to respond in the same way in regard to the Iraqi people and their suffering. I believe that is why we are engaged in this fight. This is NOT about oil. If it was, we would own all those oil fields we moved through during Desert Storm, but, no, we gave those back to their respective countries (Kuwait and Iraq).

I pray for and support those that have and would give their all to fight against injustice for freedom and liberty. I hope that the action in Iraq, which will have American casualties, will be to the end that more would know freedom to live in peace. It is a great sacrifice.

I appreciate the freedom we have in this country to agree and disagree. Some say that world peace can be achieved through the UN. I don't personally agree with that - as we've seen in Cambodia and Uganda - the UN is currently an obstruction to freedom in the case of the Iraqi people. We set out to disarm Iraq after Desert Storm, and to this date, the movement has been met with lies and deceit. The only way I see us disarming Iraq, is to remove the oppressive leadership.

It may difficult to come by a "band statement." What would be fair to say is, Jars support our troops, the innocent people involved on either side, and pray for them!

From Steve