A few weeks ago, the United States Secretary of War, Peter Hegseth, invoked God and Christianity in his appeal for a war that would be “apocalyptic,” defeating the enemies of the U.S., and for a safely sustained outcome for the members of the U.S. military. In the days that followed, Pope Leo XIV publicly retorted, stating that God offers no favor to those who wage war. He “rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood’ (Isaiah 1:15)”.
I will admit that I am conflicted. Religion makes claims of universal truth — remember the “thou shalts?” How, then, can we distinguish between prayer received and enacted, and prayer ignored? The adage I give, to those that ask, with respect to religion, is that when it comes to prayer, it allows a conversation when no one is there, but someone is listening. War is hell, and prayer can be fickle. Our military servicepersons deserve our gratitude and prayers. To the extent that God is on the other end of every prayer, one universal claim of many religions is that every life has moral worth at inception of life. How we live out our lives determines the gradient to which we affirm our original nature and moral status. Sometimes the enemies — and those innocently captured in the conflagration — may also have an equivalency of worth.
One hundred years ago, in between the great wars, Albert Einstein reflected on many global celebrations and concerns through letters and speeches, culminating in this famous and public 1933 declaration: “As long as I have any choice, I will stay only in a country where political liberty, toleration, and equality of all citizens before the law are the rule.” His conscience brought him to the U.S. One hundred years later, are we still the nation that Einstein envisioned? It is always good to reflect on one’s self in the particular and in the collective.
Einstein was deeply religious, and his anchored soul found balance. On the topic of his Jewish convictions, he stated the following: “The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and the desire for personal independence — these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it.” Religion, for him, was liberating. Religion, for him, was relationship. Religion, though, was not vindictive. His cerebral and caring nature brought him to reflect on his own life — an act that I call sacred. Gnothi seauton in the flesh, for the flesh. Know thyself. Prayer is an outward call, but it also identifies the nature of the caller. In celebrating the gift of his religion, Einstein would go on to say that “I am a deeply religious man, [yet] I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves.” It begs the question: How closely related is creation to the Creator? Human needs are known. Often, God’s needs are not.
Some say religion is an answer. Some say religion is a tool. Some say religion is truth. Prayer mollifies. Prayer mediates. Prayer materializes. Religion and prayer together have robust influence and I see that as a good. I might even see that as god. As a citizen of the U.S., I want to live out Einstein’s gilded view of who we are, who I am, and who we should be.
To come back to our Secretary of Defense, he is mine. I am a citizen of the U.S. This is a country of great achievement and great promise. To invoke God for some and not for others bears caution. Einstein, to offers his voice in a kind of finality, knew what was behind — the First World War — and perceived what was ahead — the Second World War. He stated that “war seems to me a mean, contemptible thing … this plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that does by the name of patriotism — how I hate them!” Shall we pray for war, or pray for peace?
Jan Flaska is the Dean of Spiritual and Ethical Life at Deerfield Academy. At Deerfield, Jan is a teacher, coach and student.