Marching As to War

I am a busy and lazy man. So my desire to start email forwards has been thwarted. But what should I find in my inbox this morning? Not a forward per se, but an email from Sojo.net with all the potential to be a great Christian forward: it's got Christian persecution, commitment to faith, a support the troops moment, plenty of opportunities to use the word "radical," and a perfect "go make disciples" denouement.

Here's the source material.

I couldn't send it in its entirety. I figure it's too long for a classic forward. But true to the genre, it shouldn't be a problem to condense and adapt it without citing the origin. I know it doesn't really fit with my original intent for forwarding. I wanted to see how outlandish my story could be and who would hop on the forwarding bus. This might have to do though- since I am so lazy.

It'll go something like this:

This is a TRUE STORY

Sergeant Logan Laituri came to Jesus at a dramatic time in his life. He was back from 14 months in Iraq as a front-liner in the U.S. Army, and scheduled to return. It was spring, 2005.

His new girlfriend's family welcomed him with a Christian love so genuine he couldn't resist. He ended up in a New Testament history class at a local college, and was also faced with the incisive questions from his philosophical brother and roommate. Soon he found himself immersed in scripture, filled with the spirit and brimming with passion.

His conversion brought change. He started heeding his college instructor's directive to let the Bible shape his opinions, rather than his opinions shaping it.

"I realized I had to figure out what it meant to me to be a soldier," he says. "How do I act in my particular job and still follow the great commandment to love your neighbor as yourself? Ya know, how can I do that when I'm asked to basically lay waste to kinda large scale areas?" When it says love your enemies, he says he "can't kill someone in love."

Sgt. Laituri soon faced opposition and persecution for his faith. As his infantry company started gearing up for a return to Iraq, Lairturi was busy asking people about faith, war, and the decisions he faced. People told him it was morally wrong to do nothing about the nation's enemies. One commander, who is also a Baptist preacher, assured Laituri that since he was a Christian, Jesus had died for all his sins, and therefore he was already forgiven for whatever he would do on the battlefield.

The people who had welcomed him to the faith did not welcome his questioning of military morality. His then-girlfriend's father told Laituri he was part of God's hand in bringing judgement to Muslim extremists. The views he heard didn't fit with the convictions he felt, and his company was set to leave for a training session in California before heading back to Iraq.

Logan Laituri sat in the bus, he and his colleagues headed to Honolulu airport for their flight to California. It was April 20, 9:40 in the morning. Headphones on, local Christian band Olivia playing a song called "Heaven," and his thoughts on what in the world to do about his beliefs. Then, for a moment, heaven itself seemed to open.

"I felt like somebody was showing me something... I saw myself in the Middle East, I'm pretty sure it was Iraq," he says, describing the emotionally vivid experience. "What struck me were two things: number one, that I did not have a weapon." The second thing was a feeling of "confidence;" the confidence that he was "doing what was right."

It was his calling. He would go to Iraq, but without a weapon. At first he thought he might be able to do that as a non-combative member of his company. So after prayer and consideration, he applied for Conscientious Objector (CO) status, as per the Army regulation allowing a soldier to request discharge for reasons of conscience, as long as military officials deem the applicant "sincere" at the end of the stipulated process. He was ready to go to prison if need be, which, in today's for-us-or-against-us climate is a real possibility for CO applicants. Major Jones says the majority of CO applications are denied.

At that point Laituri was not actually trying to leave the Army, because he saw the human anguish within military ranks, and didn't think it was Christ-like to just abandon people in need. He just wanted to have the right to refuse to bear arms.

But the military is not going to send someone to war without a weapon, and, as it turns out, it may not treat you very well if you make such a request. With re-deployment looming, Laituri's superiors dragged their feet on the CO process, missing stipulated procedural deadlines without explanation.

Laituri talks of theological discussions with commanders, hostile rumors, and bureaucratic tangles. One superior berated him, saying his actions benefitted the enemies of America – an insult Laituri took as affirmation, given Jesus' invitation to love the enemy.

Laituri's military term expired. But, last Sunday he left for Israel/Palestine, not in the military, but as a Christian soldier, on a delegation with Christian Peacemaker Teams, the violence-reduction organization now famous for the four of their members abducted in Baghdad a year ago.

So off he goes, back to the front lines, disarmed and disarming, an "attitude of active compassion" at the ready. With the courage of a warrior and the love of God, he's living radically for Christ.

If you love Jesus you will forward this to as many people as you can. For every person you think of right now and do not send this to, a baby will die. Now that you've read that it's true.


Maybe I should change his name- Laituri sounds kind of foreign. And I should probably have him following the advice of a pastor not a college professor. Everyone knows college professors aren't really Christians and secretly want to destroy people's faith. And maybe I should include a picture of an eagle perched on a cross with a flag waving in the background.

That's tough, all I find when I do an image search for "eagle cross flag" is stuff like this.

We'll see, in any case, if you've ever sent me an email, get ready for this.