On Sunday, August 6, the following piece was published in "The Dispatch" newspaper of the Quad-Cities. It was written by a person in Moline for the "Letter to the Editor" section. They wanted to submit their favorite sayings regarding the way the United States has taken on the terrorists around the world.
Here is their list - read them slowly and listen carefully to what is being said.
1. America, love it or leave it.
2. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.
3. If you can read, thank a teacher. If you can read English, thank our military.
4. America, home of the free because of the brave.
5. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of anyone who threatens it.
6. Do draft dodgers have reunions? If so, what do they talk about?
7. For those who fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.
8. Marines die, so you don't have to.
9. Except for ending slavery, fascism, Nazism and communism - war has never solved anything.
10. If you can't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!
I am not even going to comment right now - these popular statements just need to sink in a little. I just would like to ask the audience - what do you hear in these statements? What might a Christian response be?
3 comments:
Thanks for making me think again.
BD,
I really think you should have posted a response from Jesus own words. I think the paper would have done it. It might not even be too late. I've se a bunch of these myself. In fact, I got all pissed at Kohl's when we were shopping for school shoes & underwear 4 the kids & myself (after your previous posts I now feel compelled to simplify my shopping- but i'm not buying my shoes & underwear from goodwill!) Interestingly, the dude had his thank a teacher, thank a soldier sticker right next to a couple grateful dead stickers! talk a bout a dichotomy! Not sure how Jerry Garcia would have felt about being linked to the military that closely, but as a teacher (and former weekend-soldier)- don't thank me- try making this country a better place- more literate, more equitable, peaceful, & less harmful to the Earth and I'll consider that a lot better than some asinine bumper sticker.
jefe
PS- someting tells me Jerry G & Jesus would both agree (my friend Billy M might make a joke about them smoking together, but for the sake of younger readers, that's just ridiculous)
like most sayings...most of these seem to have some truth, but the important thing is how we use "truth". to communicate the freedoms we have is important. to unilaterally support an idea like war because of the freedoms we have...may not be the best use of "truth".
i personally don't know where i stand on war. i know that Jesus said turn the other cheek, and love your enemies, but i've never studied the doctrine of just war, or studied whether what jesus said was personal or corporate...
gregg hampton
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