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Christianity Today, March (Web-only), 2008 |

Spiritual Disaster Preparedness

Will evangelicals show the will to pursue the prevention of a pending threat?

Tyler Wigg Stevenson | posted 3/31/2008 09:35AM

At 10:13 a.m. on Thursday, May 25, 2017, a 14-foot U-Haul truck will abruptly come to an inexplicable stop in the middle of the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. There, in the heart of downtown Washington, ...

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Mark Smith

Posted: April 06, 2008 8:42 AM

"There are mechanisms" to prevent post-disarmament rearmament. Like what? All nukes transferred to UN control? Dial back to 1963 and ask what else would have deterred the subjugation of Western Europe by the USSR? Certainly not a conventional WWIII supported by a war-weary USA to stop the Russkies. Insultingly implicit in many comments above is the asserted equivalence between favoring a strong defense--so we don't have war--with desiring war. The clerical imprimatur of the good reverend lends no additional weight to a woolly-headed fantasy that has recurred regularly since the 1950's. Trot out the Holy Grail disarmament enforcement mechanism for public inspection & then we'll talk. PS, I'd check the context of what the conservative luminaries said in endorsing this Pied Piper parade to nowhere.

Earl Click

Posted: April 05, 2008 11:52 PM

You folks need to live in reality. This is an ignorant dream you have that is based on the false hope that all mankind share our common Christian values. They don't. Large parts of the world are trying to live out in real time the words we heard long ago from a relentless enemy. "We will bury you." The Bible itself says that wars will never end until the Lords return. Only traitors in the disguise of elected official's would ever agree to such insanity. They take a oath, which God expects them to keep, to protect our nation and way of life. Remember history and grow up.

Wayne Smith

Posted: April 05, 2008 3:22 AM


I have been a Christian for over 50 years. I have watched the word "evangelical" change from a word that described the people the took the Gospel to the world into a description of a political demographic. That's what puts fear in my heart.

Ted	Posted: April 04, 2008 5:40 AM

I know this is going to sound like I am a conspiracy theorist but I am simply a father of 3 and married for almost 14 years now living a very simple ordinary life in rural NJ. I have discovered over the years through plenty of prayer and research that there are some very evil minded men and women on this planet that are calling for a one world order. What they desire is simple - one world government to make all decisions for all people of all nations, & one world religion that coincides with the one world government that combines all the world religions. In orther words control basically over everyone to a certain extent. Why? So that the Anti-Christ can take over and run everything. America stands in the way of this plan in a big way as we are a superpower with a huge ecomomy that effects the world in a big way. We are also very independent as a nation. We have to be broken. Our nukes are the only thing standing in the way of a foreign gov't like China or Russia of taking us

Margie Reilly

Posted: April 03, 2008 9:19 AM

Yes, the churches should prepare for a disaster. We have an abortion holocaust in our midst that has been ignored. So, will the churches care about the born when they neglect to defend the unborn? We shall see. California recently came out with a disaster plan that includes saving the strong and the young and jettisoning the weak, feeble, elderly and sick. That's our strong man Arnold at his worst! All churches should prepare themselves to care for the weak, the vulnerable and the sick. We should be doing that now. For example, the new Cathedral in Oakland will house a free medical clinic. Why can't all churches have nurses and doctors available to help those who need medical care? It is time to stop shouting for free health care and assert the strenghth of the church to help the poor, and vulnerable. The lives we save may be our own. That is true disaster planning. Let us start now to prepare for an era of limited care. We can train our young, our people to provide basic care now.

warning

Posted: April 02, 2008 9:04 PM


this might happen next month according to Ron Weinland.. just a warning

Raymond Takashi Swenson

Posted: April 01, 2008 9:49 PM

The world will have to be willing to enforce a nuclear weapons ban with real military force. Otherwise, rogue nations like North Korea and Iran will be able to carry on surreptitious nuclear weapons programs while hypocritically denying they exist. Frankly, in a nation the size of China or Russia, there is no way to be sure that some weapons are not tucked away somewhere in a U-Haul truck. So miminizing nuclear weapon arsenals is great, but going to zero is not even sensible. Second, the cost effectiveness of nuclear weapons, once you have the manufacturing capability, is HIGH. They are CHEAP compared to planes, subs, tanks and crews. It is NOT nuclear weapons that drive defense costs, but conventional arms, as Iraq demonstrates. Nuclear disarmament will require MORE conventional forces, to deter attack and to enforce any anti-nuclear regime. Third, it will make war with Russia or China POSSIBLE. Fourth, we need some nukes against asteroid strikes like Comet Shoemaker-Levy.

Adam S

Posted: April 01, 2008 1:57 PM

Alison, why is disarmament ludicrous? We have been doing it for decades. We have a fraction of the number of missiles that we had in the 1970s and 1980s. Of course we set up inspections, etc. But dismissing the concept shows a real lack of understanding of history. Also I don't understand the "contemptible" charge. It is quite common that in order to change a policy you need people that have been traditional supporters of the policy to get the ball moving. If it is started by left-wing peace activists it is never going anyway because the Republicans that are pro-strong defense do not pay any attention to peace activists. They are not constituents and therefore not worth paying attention to. So if there is a groundswell of support. It is most efficient to mobilize conservatives and Evangelicals to start making noise about it.

Roger - Australia

Posted: April 01, 2008 12:15 AM

Howard Pepper is correct. Many Americans see the Stars & Stripes as the moral leadership of the world, while a large proportion of the the rest of the world (including some allies) see the US as ultimately egocentric, imperialist and self-serving (just ask Australian wheat farmers about decades of protectionist trade policies from our great friends in the US, propping up their own farmers at our expense). Sometimes the US is seen to manipulate the playing field to it's own benefit at the expense of others (including allies). This contributes to it's status as a target, including the simple fact that you are a super-power with other up and comming regimes who would like to topple the US and be the new big boy on the block. It's a complex issue, but the US could help itself by reviewing how it's foreign policies are perceived by other nations and try to act less unilaterally. American Christians have an important role in keeping its government's policies just and fair.

Ted Voth Jr

Posted: March 31, 2008 11:24 PM

When will we bad-news 'evangelicals' stop suckering up for cynical politicians who play on our fears? " Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread"– Isaiah 8:12, 13. "… And be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts…" 1st Peter 1.14, 15. What did the angels always say when they startled people? And they always did. Don't wh*re for the world, judge the world. What did Jesus say whenw=everf He surprised the gdisciples? As He frequently did.

JackW

Posted: March 31, 2008 10:28 PM

Perhaps, we as christians could support peacemaking instead of war making. Maybe support a Dept. of Peace in our government? Discerning believer, I have a guestion. Do you remember how Christ said the poor will always be with us, but he also said how you treat "the least of these" is very important? Remember: I was hungry and you feed me...I was in prison and you visited me...naked and you clothed me). Christ did say blessed are the peacemakers even though the bible says there will be wars and rumours of war. Shouldn't christians try to work for peace instead of just believing wars are inevitable (and a sign of the impending end times)? Is our faith just a way of escaping this bad old world?

Howard Pepper

Posted: March 31, 2008 9:32 PM

We Americans tend to think of our international relations and foreign policy as moral leadership, while much of the world, rightly or wrongly, sees them as intrusive coersion and anything but moral. Strong, courageous leadership in nuclear disarmament could be one important part of a reversal in this situation, not to mention that it might indeed be the best chance we have of ensuring that nuclear weapons are never again used by anyone, anywhere. I can't imagine that terrorists are going to abandon the effort to get and use some kind of nuclear device anytime in the near future, so maybe making the necessarily materials much harder to get is the best (or only) way to deter them.

Discerning believer

Posted: March 31, 2008 5:04 PM

The title of the article is "Spiritual Disaster Preparedness." That's precisely what we ought to do. Prepare spiritually for anything, sudden death or sudden death enmasse.***** Rev. Stevenson's cheeky section heading about "not your daddy's disarmament" is unfortunate. Was that CT's heading or Rev. Stevenson's?*****The time of total nuclear disarmament hoped for by Rev. Stevenson will not happen before Christ comes. The Bible says there will always be "wars and rumors of wars." We ought to continue our efforts against terrorism, particularly Islamic terrorism, because in the 1980's and 1990's, leaders of American Muslim organizations said America would become an Islamic nation within 100 years.

Alison

Posted: March 31, 2008 4:55 PM


In theory this sounds grand, but imagining that others would disarm if we did is ludicrous, and making this the responsibility of republicans and/or evangelicals is contemptible.

Jen	Posted: March 31, 2008 4:36 PM


George Shultz discussed this topic in an intriguing video series last week: http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowl edge/

Gill Duffee

Posted: March 31, 2008 4:14 PM

The tragic truth involving threats of mass destruction wrought against this country lies not with other countries who are nuclear powers. Historically, Islam has justified and cultivated jihad as a necessary part of converting the whole world to a state of submission to Allah. And, unfortunately, Allah is NOT the God of Abraham. While there is some distance between Abraham and the documentation of the chronicles of God's people begun at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, there are approximately 2500 years between the time of Abraham and Mohammad's revelation. And the written version of that revelation justifies lying to nonbelievers and the use of treaties with unbelievers as a period of regaining and consolidating resources to continue jihad until the world submits. Until the Islamic world renounces terrorism and acknowledges the rights of other faiths to exist with equal status under the law, the threat of mass destruction will remain, nuclear disarmament or no.

Joe Chip

Posted: March 31, 2008 1:47 PM

Either I've woken up in the 1950s or CT is indulging in some seriously fearsome speculation. I'm all for new-kewlar abolishment and all, but crikey! Imminent attacks? DC getting nuked? Possible? Uh... sure. Waste time thinking on it? No. While we're about it, let's prepare for the inevitable Clinton / McCain / Obama presidency -- far more likely, nearly upon us, and (some would argue) much more terrifying. :p Christianity Today ain't your momma's Christian tabloid, is it? This nuke-scare silliness should be on the back pages, if at all.

Glen Land

Posted: March 31, 2008 1:11 PM

I concur with Adam Shields that conservative Republican evangelicals need to be in the vanguard for this initiative to have any traction at all. Coming from anyone perceived as just another anti-war liberal it would be stamped “D.O.A.” Only if key political hawks and respected military strategists come on board will talk of such multi-lateral nuclear disarmament have a prayer. Having said this, it is certainly a worthy goal.

Adam S

Posted: March 31, 2008 12:02 PM


Mark, just because God has ultimate control doesn't mean we should plan and work. We should plan and work with our minds on God, listening to his voice and seeking his will. What you are talking about if fatalism, something that is far from Christian.

Adam Shields

Posted: March 31, 2008 11:59 AM

A good place to start, for Christians that are overwhelmingly Republican, is to ask our Republican officials to stop asking for new researching into new nuclear weapons, that the defense department is not asking for. There is a strong group of neo-cons that want new smaller nuclear weapons (bunker busters, etc.). The best people to affect this type of policy change are not Democrats but other Republicans.

Mark Phifer-Houseman

Posted: March 31, 2008 11:57 AM

How can any of these "experts" actually know the odds of such a catastrophe? Do we as the Body of Christ live by odds? What were the odds of the Incarnation or the spread of the Gospel in the hostile Roman world? What were the odds of the survival of the Jews as a people after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple and the wholesale slaughter and enslavement of its population? We serve a God of Providence not odds. If America ceases to exist as a nation, it will be because God willed it. It could come from a global virus pandemic, a meteorite striking the earth, or nuclear terrorism. What we do know is that if it will come, God is good and His purposes will stand in redemptive history. What about the implosion of America morally as a greedy, immature, debt ridden nation whose foreign policy is far more dictated by China's willingness to service our national debt than by our best interests as a nation. The Roman empire collapsed internally before the terrorism of the Goths.

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