A missing argument …

YOUR EDITORIAL "Looking for an argument" (December 13) urges open-minded tolerance so that denominations can have the "moral achievement" of a "genuine argument" over homosexuality. I agree, but lament that the CHRISTIAN CENTURY cannot seem to practice anything remotely similar to what it preaches when it comes to American involvement in Iraq.

Although one would never know it from the certitude and contempt that permeate the pages of the CENTURY, there is a compelling Christian and moral case for the Bush administration's policy. We who humbly and prayerfully support that policy acknowledge and wrestle with the powerful Christian and moral argument against the use of violent force in any circumstances. However, America has 1) deposed and brought to justice an aggressive, murderous and sadistic tyrant who both used and sought weapons of mass destruction, 2) acted pursuant to both United Nations and congressional authorizations, 3) vindicated the previously hollow resolutions of the United Nations and exposed the financial corruption of the United Nations in the process, 4) midwifed the birth of free government and advanced gender equality in a Muslim Arab country, 5) promoted nuclear disarmament (in Libya) and democratic reform throughout the region (Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria) and 6) opposed those who intentionally kill innocents in the service of a primitive and oppressive ideology.

These facts can undergird a quite reasonable conclusion on the part of serious Christians that America's sacrificial efforts in Iraq are just and serve the long-term goals of human rights and international peace and prosperity. The moral issues of war and peace associated with Iraq are no easier or more obvious than those that the Niebuhrs debated before and during World War II or the ones that divided denominations in the days of Lincoln.

Unfortunately, the CENTURY's unrelenting condescension and one-sided treatment of this matter denies readers the moral achievement of a genuine argument and is unworthy of this much beloved and respected magazine.

John David Dyche

Louisville, Ky.

COPYRIGHT 2006 The Christian Century Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning