What it really seems to boil down to is not whether or not there are evil people in places like Iran, the Taliban, and N. Korea. The question really seems to be whether the strong have a responsibility to the weak, especially across borders. The Nobel prize mandate is meant to accomplish peace through talk and reduction of military alone. That is the polarizing speculation. Whether peace can be found in such ways. Some believe yes, some believe no. This is not a religious split either. Christians are also divided. So it should not be too surprising that words alone earned President Obama this prize. The interesting questions are:
1. Do the strong have a responsibility to protect the weak even across borders?
2. Depending on our opinion of #1 above we then decide whether talk alone will bring sustainable peace.
#1 is the big question, even on this point. If we have no responsibility to starving North Koreans made to worship their missile slinging leader like a god, then our peace is simply that we stay in our Country and they stay in theirs. When the few who escape plead for help, we just recite that anthem: “we stay in our Country and you stay in yours”. Once #1 is decided it is easy to believe on #2 that friendly conversations with such people bring about actual peace, since the definition of peace becomes absence of war, absence of soldiers, like the Nobel mandate promotes.
I find it terribly difficult to believe that we are not responsible. After all, it was France joining the Colonial Army that removed America from the jurisdiction of a madman king. We should remember that whichever side of this issue we find ourselves on. Not just that, but a comparison of N. Korea and S. Korea should remind us that it wasn’t for nothing Americans fought and died there. Even a glimpse at Iraq today could bring to mind some parallels of a post Revolution pre Civil War America still trying to nail down their values and priorities.
Jesus did tell us to turn the other cheek, and to love our enemies. It is even possible that He did mean that to be within the context of nations. It may be even possible that He meant that even when human rights are decimated at the hands of those enemies. It is possible, but with the whole of the Bible and even the context of Jesus’ words, it is also possible that this was meant exclusively for individuals. It is possible that God hate’s the evil done in North Korea or Darfur, or Iran.
In closing I’d like to just share this scripture about the man that God called perhaps even His favorite King:
2 Kings 18 – 5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
He chased the enemies of Israel all the way to Gaza and there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah.