by
Laurence
M. Vance

Recently
by Laurence M. Vance: Observations
on the Aurora, Colorado, Shooting

I have been
asked often over the years when and how I came to be such an outspoken
critic of war, the military, and the warfare state.

I have been
writing about these evils since Bush invaded Iraq in 2003. My first
article on the subject was “Eight
Facts about Iraq.” It was first published in an obscure
monthly newsletter soon after the invasion of Iraq and then published
by Lew Rockwell on January 2, 2004. My next piece, and first article
for this website, was “Christianity
and War,” which appeared on October 29, 2003. Little did
I know that it would turn into a book,
now in its second edition, lectures,
and the theme of scores of other articles.
But my antiwar odyssey did not begin when Bush launched his unconstitutional,
immoral, unjust invasion of Iraq. It goes back at least ten years
before that dreadful event.

I grew up in
sunny central Florida near Patrick Air Force Base. Although I live
in central Florida now, for twenty-four years I lived in Pensacola,
Florida – the home of the Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron
and the “Cradle of Naval Aviation.” I was once a conservative
Republican – albeit a very libertarian-leaning one – with the usual
respect for the military. If it seems to you that I am the most
unlikely person to be such a critic of the military, then I agree
with you.

Until the late
1980s, I had never really given the subject of the military much
thought. It was about then that I began to read – where I have no
idea – about how the United States had troops in over a hundred
foreign countries. I thought this rather odd, unnecessary, and ridiculous.

The next influence
I can recall is Pat Buchanan in 1991 criticizing Bush Sr. for invading
Iraq the first time (the Persian Gulf War). This made a notable
and lasting impression on me because I was reading Buchanan’s columns
and knew he was a conservative Republican. Buchanan went on to write
one of the most important studies of World War II ever penned, Churchill,
Hitler, and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and
the West Lost the World (2008). I reviewed the book here.

It was sometime
in 1993 or 1994 that I made the acquaintance of Lew Rockwell of
the Mises Institute. I had stumbled across – where I have no idea
– a reference to the Mises Institute publication called The Free
Market. This was before LRC and before the Mises Institute had
a website. I remember calling and requesting some copies of The
Free Market, which were graciously sent to me through the mail.
I went on to write
for this publication, beginning in 1996. It was through articles
in The Free Market that I was introduced to Murray Rothbard.
This led me to the Rothbard-Rockwell Report, which I used
to read at my mailbox the moment it arrived. It was then that I
came to realize that I was more of a libertarian than a conservative.
For me, it
didn’t begin with Ayn Rand; it began with Murray Rothbard.

Some time in
the mid 1990s, I came across an article – where I have no idea –
critical of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For years
I thought it might have been written by Doug Bandow, but he told
me one time when I asked him that he can’t recall if he wrote it
or not. This was my first exposure to historical revisionism. My
analysis of World War II is “Rethinking
the Good War.”

In 2001, I
began to reprint old books and articles as part of my Classic
Reprints series. Two articles I came across in the late 1990s,
which I reprinted in 2003 as the Classic Reprint titled Christianity
and War, were from Baptist ministers writing in the Christian
Review. The first article was called “Wickedness of War.”
It appeared, unsigned, in June of 1838. It was put online in October
of 2002 here.
The other article, by someone who called himself Veritatis Amans,
appeared in September of 1847. Here I read things like:

War has ever
been the scourge of the human race. The history of the past is
little else than a chronicle of deadly feuds, irreconcilable hate,
and exterminating warfare. The extension of empire, the love of
glory, and thirst for fame, have been more fatal to men than famine
or pestilence, or the fiercest elements of nature.

And what
is more sad and painful, many of the wars whose desolating surges
have deluged the earth, have been carried on in the name and under
the sanction of those who profess the name of Christ.

It has not
been till recently, that the disciples of Christ have been conscious
of the enormous wickedness of war as it usually exists. And even
now there are many who do not frown upon it with that disapprobation
and abhorrence, which an evil of such magnitude as an unjust war
deserves.

These articles
confirmed for me that there was a conservative religious antiwar
tradition that I had never been exposed to.

I have also
been influenced along the way by some other individuals, organizations,
and institutions, but as they would not wish to be associated with
me, I will not mention them.

The immediate
occasion of my first writing about the Iraq War was an e-mail that
was forwarded to me in 2003 that defended U.S. foreign policy, the
war in Afghanistan, and the yet-to-come war in Iraq. The bulk of
the text was actually from a London newspaper editorial written
in 2002.

Now, I normally
ignore or at least don’t reply to e-mail that is forwarded to me.
I made an exception in this case because I was so sick of the adoration
that many Christians at that time had (and unfortunately still have)
for George W. Bush. Here is what I wrote in reply:

Tony Blair
is a jerk. George Bush is a jerk. The U.S. has no business sending
one soldier to any foreign country, and especially to invade it
(as is the case now). The U.S. has been meddling in every foreign
country for 100 years. September 11 was a reaction to our stupid
foreign policy. For every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction. Remember your physics classes?

Then I simply
listed some quotes from the Founding Fathers:

Thomas Jefferson:
“Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations
– entangling alliances with none.”

John Quincy
Adams: “America . . . goes not abroad seeking monsters to
destroy.”

George Washington:
“The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations
is, in extending our commercial relations to have with them as
little political connection as possible.”

This unexpectedly
ended up being forwarded to a Bush-worshipping, military-loving
individual who had also been sent the original e-mail that I had
been forwarded. The emotional God-and-country screed that I personally
received as a result of my negative comments prompted me to begin
writing about the Iraq War. And the rest is history.

I have now
written twenty-five
articles about the Iraq War. A war in which of 4,484 American
soldiers died, not defending
our freedoms or fighting
“over there” so we don’t have to fight “over here,”
but unnecessarily,
duped,
in vain,
and for
a lie.

Although the
war in Iraq is “officially” over, by the grace of God
I will continue writing about the folly of war and the idolatry
of military worship, and especially by Christians. With the war
in Afghanistan now in its eleventh year, with drone attacks increasing,
with the U.S. empire of troops and bases still garrisoning the planet,
with U.S. foreign policy still as reckless, belligerent, and meddling
as ever, and with the warfare state further eroding our civil liberties,
there is a greater need than ever to press on.

August
22, 2012

Laurence
M. Vance [send him mail]
writes from central Florida. He is the author of Christianity
and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State, The
Revolution that Wasn’t, and Rethinking
the Good War. His latest book is The
Quatercentenary of the King James Bible. Visit his
website.

Copyright
© 2012 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in
part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

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