Proverbs 26:17, Wisdom versus American Foreign Policy

"Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears."

The Bible isn't a manual on the various activities of human life. It is a manual of our redemption in Jesus Christ. However, when it touches on science, history, economics, or politics, then its guidance is profound. This verse is a good example.

I have written before, in an actual political context, of my opposition to the imperialist foreign policy our country has pursued since World War I. The context was the Russian invasion of Georgia (i.e., the republic, not the state) in 2008. Our political leadership had pulled the ears of Mad Dog Putin of Russia, and he bit Georgia.

But consider what this verse says about American intervention in both World Wars, two breakouts of the historic rivalry between France and Germany, or in Afghanistan and Iraq in our own time. The swarms of mad dogs from those two running sores may not be exhausted in my life time.

The wisdom of God speaks to politicians: don't meddle in foreign conflicts, or you will turn them into domestic disputes.