The Need for Christian Military Leadership

Dr. David Gushee is a professor at Mercer University and recently spoke on his contributions to a report entitled “Coming to Terms with Torture: Truth, Accountability, and Renunciation.” His emphasis was the treatment of detainees, and his call for an American apology headlined the article.

However, Dr. Gushee’s statement about how he became involved in the issue should be enlightening for those who hold a Christian faith and commitment to the US military:

The Abu Ghraib photos came out in 2004, and a lot of evangelical Christians are in the military, and Christianity Today was receiving requests for some help in this from soldiers and intelligence people who were having moral concerns about what they were hearing about or what they were being asked to do.

Christians in the military often want advice and mentoring on how to integrate their faith and their profession — especially when the two appear to clash.

Given the number of Christian ministries to the military, it is disappointing that brothers and sisters were relegated to a magazine in their quest for spiritual guidance.

But if they don’t know where else to get it…

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