Revisiting D James Kennedy’s Support For Invading Iraq in 2002

Back in October 2002 5 Evangelical Leaders wrote an open letter to President George W. Bush telling them, they supported a war with Iraq. It is know as the Land Letter. I will provide a link to it here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_letter

The 5 signers of this letter were Bill Bright, Chuck Colson, D James Kennedy, Richard Land, and Carl Herbster. They believed that a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq met the requirements of a “Just War”. Richard Land at the time was President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Today he is President of Southern Evangelical Seminary in North Carolina.

These 5 Evangelical Leaders believed the invasion of Iraq “had a reasonable chance of success” They believed the human cost on both sides would be justified by the intended outcome. They believed the intent of Invading Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein to be “just and noble” These 5 men also believed that Iraq had nuclear weapons.

Well we all know what happened. Iraq has been an unstable disaster ever since 2003. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein created a power vacuum that remains to this day. Democracy in Iraq failed. Iraq had no nuclear weapons. The civillian casualities were excessive and unacceptable. Iraq was an overblown threat. The Iraqi people are not thankful for what the US has done to their country. They do not like the US presence in their country. That is evident by the rocket attacks on our embassy in Baghdad.

Christian Nationalism is dangerous. This is an example why. Back in 2002 and 2003, I remember some Christians at the time trying to paint the Invasion of Iraq as a “War Against Christianity and Islam” The US Government did not go on a mission to bring Christianity to Iraq. What most American Christians were not aware of, was there were already Christians in Iraq before America invaded, for many centuries. The Saddam Hussein regime actually left Christians alone, since they left him alone. Ever since 2003 life has actually been worse for Christians since the US overthrew Saddam.

John Mccarthur was one of the few Pastors at the time in 2003, to clearly say that the Iraq War had nothing to do with Christianity. That took boldness to say in 2003.

It frustrates me to this day, how some of the loudest voices in the American Church still act as war mongers. Wanting the USA to invade Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, etc. Pat Robertson is one of those people. Christians should not be encouraging the US Government to destabalize the planet. We as Christians need to stop bringing up World War 2 as an excuse to invade another country. You can’t compare World War 2 to the invasion of Panama in 1989 or the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. It make no sense.

D James Kennedy was right about a lot of things. He also also wrong about many things and misguided on some issues. He was adamant in speaking out against Homosexuality but did not make an effort to encourage them to visit his church and show them Jesus’ Love. This turned off homosexuals towards the Gospel and ever wanting to come to church.

I pray that more Christians in the United States will begin ignoring people such as Pat Robertson, Jay Sekulow, John Hagee, and the others. They are not taking us down the right path. They encourage us to be angry and hate others. Not what our Lord Jesus wants us to do. John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.