An addition to my article at firstthings.com: I say there that the “first question” Christians should ask about American deployments is whether there are fellow Christians in harm’s way. My point was to emphasize that American Christians need to learn to see past national interest and recognize that the brotherhood of the church is as catholic as the church herself.
At the same time, that way of stating the point is too narrow. Christians do good especially to those of the household of faith, but also to all men. Christians should be the first to protest when American bombs fall on innocent non-combatants, whether they are Christians or not.
