While I sit relaxing this evening in the quiet comfort of my living room, mesmerized by the twinkling of lights on the tree and the warm glow they cast throughout the room, there’s a deep sense of gratitude that wraps around me like the wool blanket I break out on the first chilly night of fall. This time of year, there is an undeniable enchantment in the air – the scent of pine and cinnamon, the songs of vintage Christmas records from my youth, the giggling of children as they scamper about the house in anticipation of opening the gifts that await them beneath the tree. These moments stir a desire for the angelic proclamation of “peace on earth, goodwill to all” to be true.
Yet, as I contentedly sit here, my mind can’t help but drift to places far from this kind of comfort. The peace we so cheerfully sing about is a distant dream in regions torn by conflict. Images, not of sugarplums, but of destroyed homes and death in the streets take hold in my head… in Syria, where scars from 13 years of civil war etch deep into the land and violent retribution has commenced; in Palestine, where Christmas for the Christians living in Gaza will seem non-existent, overshadowed by the horror of possible genocide; in Yemen, where our season of joyful gatherings brings no respite for its people now under a hail of missiles and bombs. And, of course, there’s the war in Ukraine, standing as a stark reminder of how fragile peace can be in the face of disjointed, scheming politics and corporate greed, even on Christmas.
These crises cast a grim shadow over the holiday’s sparkling lights and our public proclamations of benevolence.
The contrast lays bare a troubling hypocrisy among societies that claim to hold Christian or Christian-informed morals. Many leaders in the collective West nod toward virtue in their Christmas addresses, speaking of compassion and prosperity, even as they authorize arms deals and lend support—direct or tacit—to authoritarian, corrupt, and oppressive regimes. Their hollow words reveal a disheartening truth: the values we extol through Advent are often set aside when political expedience or economic gain is at stake. The ever-present hum of the military-industrial machine feeding armed conflicts has become background noise in our global conversations.
In such circumstances, how do we reconcile the serene image of the Christ child in the manger with the agonizing cries of children wounded and displaced by war?
Such innocents, caught in the crossfire of international aggression and moral blindness, are all too easily brushed aside. Their plight reveals not merely a tragedy but a profound emptiness in our moral accounting.
Astonishingly, some of the very people who profess Christian faith and celebrate what is culturally its most wide-ranging feast remain indifferent to these victims. Selective moral outrage exposes the frailty of our public conscience and the fragility of our moral commitments.
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data website, as of July 2024, there were 59 ongoing armed conflicts worldwide. The website Phys.Org notes that this marks the highest number of armed conflicts since the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP, a program of Sweden’s Uppsala University) began tracking them in 1946. And while the number of countries experiencing conflict had decreased slightly from 55 in 2022 to 52 in 2023, Phys.Org quotes UCDP’s Senior Analyst, Shawn Davies, “2023 was one of the bloodiest years since UCDP began collecting data on deaths in conflicts in 1989.” Furthermore, there are “several unusually deadly wars going on, such as the war in Ukraine with almost 71,000 deaths last year, and Israel’s war against Hamas where UCDP recorded over 22,000 deaths in 2023.” (One can only dread the thought of what the final 2024 numbers will be.)
The Star of Bethlehem is shining brightly upon “man’s inhumanity to man” (to quote Robert Burns) this Christmas season.
- 165,273 political violence events were recorded worldwide between July 2023 and July 2024, a 15% increase from the previous 12 months1.
- The estimated number of conflict-related fatalities rose from 153,100 in 2022 to 170,700 in 20232.
- In 2023, there were four major armed conflicts (involving 10,000 or more fatalities): civil wars in Myanmar and Sudan, and the Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars2.
- The number of high-intensity armed conflicts (those recording 1,000-9,999 fatalities) increased from 17 in 2022 to 20 in 20232.
It’s important to note that while the overall number of countries experiencing conflict has slightly decreased, the number of conflicts has increased, indicating a concentration of conflicts in certain regions.
Regional distribution3:
- Africa remains the region with the most state-based conflicts with 28.
- Asia follows with 17 conflicts.
- The Middle East has 10 conflicts.
- Europe has 3 conflicts.
- The Americas have 1 conflict.
Over the past 12 years, certain U.S. policies have contributed to exacerbating global violence in several ways:
1. The U.S. has increasingly viewed global developments through a military lens, prioritizing force over diplomacy. This shift has led to a 1.4% increase in global military expenditure in 2023, equivalent to $116.3 billion4.
2. The U.S. has often acted outside the bounds of the international legal system it helped create, weakening the role of multilateral organizations in balancing global conflicts5.
3. Unwavering support for certain allies, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia has fueled discontent in regions like the Middle East, intensifying conflicts and public opposition to U.S. dominance5.
4. The U.S. has increasingly relied on coercion, including economic sanctions and military interventions, to maintain its global hegemony. This approach has often led to increased tensions and instability in various regions5.
5. U.S. military actions in countries like Afghanistan have led to unintended consequences, such as the current humanitarian crisis and potential for further conflict escalation4.
6. U.S. policies aimed at preventing the rise of regional powers in Europe, East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa have contributed to even more power struggles and increased tensions in these areas5.
7. Intense internal divisions within the U.S. have damaged its international standing and soft power influence, even among close allies. The weakening of authentic U.S. leadership has created power vacuums that most likely lead to increased global instability6.
8. The U.S. has oscillated between interventionist and isolationist tendencies, creating uncertainty in global affairs, which potentially emboldens adversaries7.
These policies have contributed to a complex global security environment where the threat of violence has often increased rather than decreased, despite (or sometimes because of) U.S. involvement.
How is it we can celebrate peace when our own policies contribute to its absence elsewhere?
It’s hard not to feel pangs of guilt and sorrow, knowing my country, the United States, has played roles in the creation of these narratives of suffering: the sanctions that seem to only tighten the noose around the necks of the innocent rather than their intended targets, the artificially created uprisings, the military operations… These actions stir a deep conflict within me.
The irony of singing “Silent Night” while knowing there’s no silence in many parts of the world because of decisions made in distant capitals, including Washington, D.C., weighs upon my spirit.
That Jesus said there would be “wars and rumors of wars” is no excuse to champion these wars or keep a blind eye to those suffering as a consequence of them.
If Christmas is to mean something deeper than just a sentimental pause before we return to the status quo, then it must challenge us to confront the injustices we tolerate. The Incarnation – God entering our world in vulnerability and humility – should stir within us a longing to end the cycles of violence and restore human dignity. It should awaken a resolve to speak truth to power, to refuse complicity in policies that perpetuate conflict, and to stand in solidarity with those who suffer.
In the Christmas devotional I crafted, I tried to instill in the devotee a sense of carrying the true spirit of Christmas beyond the tinsel and the carols and have it beckon one to embody its values all year long. Why confine such noble sentiments as hope, peace, joy, and love to a few short weeks in December?
Why not strive to root out hypocrisy and practice the hard work of peacemaking every day?
If Christians truly believe in the message that resounds throughout this season – that love has come among us, that peace is not a dream but a divine summons, that Christ not only lived historically but lives spiritually now within our hearts and will return to be with us again for the Day of Judgement – then let us carry that conviction forward.
To be sure, there are currently prominent Christian leaders and organizations that (other controversies aside) emphasize the need for diplomacy and the importance of protecting civilians. To name just a few of the major players, leaders like Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, as well as organizations like Pax Christi International and Mennonite Central Committee, are working to address current conflicts through advocacy, humanitarian aid, and promoting dialogue between conflicting parties–embodying the Christian principles of peacemaking and nonviolence.
And therein is seen the flicker of hope amidst such darkness, not unlike the star that guided the wise men. Such hope is found in the smallest acts of kindness wherever we may be, in humanitarian efforts that cross borders and ideologies, and in our personal resolve to learn how others might suffer because of our actions and to speak out and support those who work tirelessly for peace. Christmas, at its core, is about light overcoming darkness, about the arrival of truth, about Jesus pitching his tent to be with us, and love prevailing over hate.
Of course, I fully realize I am as much talking to myself as I might be with anybody else. It is to myself I preach and not to you. But if you have given little consideration to the global violence for which your own government is, at least in part, responsible, I pray that you may find it in your heart to reconsider, looking in truth at both sides of an issue and judging accordingly what you can do to help extend the hand of peace.
As I switch off lights, leaving only the glimmering of a few candles, I’m reminded of both the grace of God in the promise of salvation and that there is no peace other than that which begins with each one of us, beginning in our hearts and following through our actions.
My commitment this year is not only to deeply embrace the joy of the season but to extend it even more so beyond my doorstep… through supporting initiatives that bring aid to those in conflict zones, through educating myself and others about the complexities of these issues, as well as through prayer for a world where peace is a commitment, not just a seasonal wish.
We do not single-handedly create conflicts, neither do we single-handedly end them; it’s a weaving together of disparate personalities and elements. But we would be wise to contribute what we can toward peace. We would, indeed, be wise to contribute to a hopeful tapestry of global peace one heart-thread at a time.
We all desire what is essentially a “warm hearth and a peaceful home.” Dear God, may it be so.
So let us keep the vision and message of the manger to guide us through the entire year. Let it truly inspire us to never give up on building a world that more honestly reflects the joy we sing about at Christmas.
Merry Christmas…and “God bless us every one!” (Tiny Tim – Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol).
“God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9 NLT).
Citations:
1. https://acleddata.com/conflict-index/index-july-2024/
2 . https://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2024/02
3. https://www.prio.org/news/3532
4. https://www.visionofhumanity.org/rise-in-military-spending-adds-to-economic-impact-of-violence/
5. https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/analyses/navigating-crisis-why-us-fuelling-global-violence
6. https://publications.armywarcollege.edu/News/Display/Article/3849597/2024-annual-estimate-of-the-strategic-security-environment/
7. https://www.cato.org/commentary/understanding-failure-us-foreign-policy-albright-doctrine