No, I didn't misunderstand...

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28 Or to put it in another way, from what am I being protected when 1500 pound stupid bombs accidentally wipe out some poverty-stricken, drought-blighted village in Afghanistan? Am I being protected from some grief-crazed peasant who has decided that since America killed his family, he's got nothing to lose by joining Al Qaeda and trying to kill Americans? If we're looking for security through superior fire-power, we have already become idolaters. Is the awesome military might of the American empire going to protect me from Death? Yes, I'm saying this as one who has never seen war or occupation. But I'd rather die than kill someone. And that was the position of the Church for the first three centuries. So, here's my question. If the use of violence is ok sometimes, why should we be so shocked when it's used against us by our enemies? Why should we react with outrage that anyone dare to attack us, when we EXCERCISE the right to invade countries, fund, train, and supply terrorist organizations abroad, destroy national infrastructures, and poison eco-systems whenever it's in our "national interests" to do so? "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven... a time to kill... a time to hate... a time for war" (Ecclesiates 3). Perhaps the time for the people of God to take up arms, to kill, to hate has passed. Dirk