Japan on Tuesday scrapped a ban on lethal weapons exports, a major change in its postwar pacifist policy as the country seeks to build up its arms industry amid worries over Chinese and North Korean aggression.

The approval by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet of the new guideline clears a final set of hurdles for many arms sales, including of Japanese-developed warships, combat drones and other weapons.

It has been largely welcomed by Japanese defense partners like Australia and attracted interest from Southeast Asia and Europe. U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass on X called the move a “historic step” that will help enhance the defense capabilities between the allies.

I grew up in a well-known, mainstream Protestant church. The main difference between this church and other Protestant denominations was its belief in the predestination of all human beings. I learned of this central teaching at an early age.

We were generally taught to believe that our entire lives had been laid out in advance by God. Supposedly, this all happened before we were born. But I was later forced to question whether the Bible says this.

This was the church of my mother’s youth. My father grew up in a different denomination. Though my parents required me, my brother, and my sister to attend, neither parent accompanied us very often. When I was about 13 or 14, I decided to ask my mother why. Her answer was direct and revealing.