One of the privileges-and pressure points-of serving as an editor is being exposed to a wide variety of opinions often fervently held. This is especially true when it comes to religious convictions, and the passion is even more amplified during times of conflict.

Suffice it to say, I've been hearing from concerned Christians with plenty to say about George Bush and the attack on Iraq. Our columnists have been weighing in on the topic in the past several issues. What we know is that many of the staunchest supporters of military action against Saddam Hussein are North America's evangelical Protestants, even though the majority of Christian spokespersons are opposed to such conflict at this time.

Still, there is widespread concern about the impact this conflict will have on global Christian mission.

"God is not in the camp of any country or government," wrote a group of three prominent Canadian evangelicals in an open letter to several newspapers and magazines. "It is wrong to hitch the mission of the Church to the well-being and particular interests of any one country," say John Redekop (political science professor and former president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada), Glenn Smith (executive director of Christian Direction in Montreal) and Gerald Vandezande (former national affairs director of Citizens for Public Justice).

"U.S. president George W. Bush has repeatedly used the language of evangelical Christianity to strengthen his arguments...When the government of any country claims that its policies, particularly its foreign policies, are distinctively righteous, that it is the power of light combating the powers of darkness, then Christian spokespeople must remember that all national governments are less than altruistic. In practice, governments all too often merely advance their own interests. Moreover, they all have some darkness in their own political perspective and historical record..."

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada issued a release offering a helpful guide for prayer. Amidst its appeal for justice, peace, wisdom and protection for the powerless, is this statement: "We acknowledge that there are differing views on whether military action is now warranted. Those who believe that war is sometimes justified also agree that war is always a last resort. We all desire a just and peaceful resolution."   

As I write the war has just begun. The arguments over whether the time of last resort had truly arrived will continue for some time to come.