May 26, 2008
-
Memorial Day – Is there “a Time for War”?
Here is POD’s anti-war song on Jay Leno last week…
A famous passage from Ecclesiastes 3:8 reads:
“[There is] a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”This song raises some good questions on Memorial Day, which honors U.S. men and women who died while in military service to our country. I think we can all agree that these people should be honored and commemorated for sacrificing their lives for our benefit. But at the same time we mourn their loss and are perplexed at the horrors and tragedies that are found within war.
Is war ever a good decision? Is there “a time for war”?
Comments (10)
Great post, Pete.
I hadn’t heard that song yet. Thanks for posting it.
I’m glad we are asking these questions.
I agree on honoring those who have served.
Have a good one, bro.
Memorial Day makes me both sad and angry.
Like you, I honor those who have served and given their lives, and I think of them often.
However, I do not honor those who decide that our young people and the civilian populations of other countries are relatively expendable.
Life is precious, and I believe war should be an absolutely last, last, last resort, undertaken only after every single other option has been fully explored and after every diplomatic effort has been expended and exhausted.
Right now we need leaders who understand that in the depths of their souls.
(Don’t forget to vote!)
Thanks for listening.
@allthingsbarbara - Agreed. I can’t imagine why war should ever be at the top of any country’s “to-do” list.
im actually pro-draft cause if every person had a part in it we would never be in the situation we’re in now. instead its the poor and minorities, the people the powers to be view as expendable who make up the majority of our armed forces and to them their just statistics even to your average american their statistics -but if we all had a part in it, if we were all loosing friends and family, everything would be different. war is supposed to be put to vote, screw these “police actions” its unconstitutional and if their was a draft I think people would be outraged enough to get things changed.
You are absolutely right. If there were a draft, the anti-war movement would have momentum, as it did during the Vietnam War. We’d probably still be in Vietnam if not for the fact that the draft brought it home to everyone regardless of income, race, education, etc. (except of course George W). We finally ended the Vietnam War because everyone was paying in some tangible way for it and everyone had had enough. We all knew someone who had died. Pardon my rant. . . I protested in DC in Nov. ’69. It can be done.
(Don’t forget to vote!)
evil is powerless if the good are unafraid. -r.r.
It’s all too easy, I think, to blame one person, in this case George W Bush, or one party, right now the Republicans, for all our troubles. The job of President of any country, and especially of the United States of America, is the toughest job there is – by far.
Our responsibility before God is to PRAY “for all in authority” regularly and earnestly as we are commanded in the Bible. If we are not praying fervently and regularly for our leaders, then we surely have no right to be blaming them for the utterly impossible situation in which our nation finds itself.
And if we are praying fervently and frequently for those in authority over us, I really doubt that we will be wasting time blaming them!
Respectfully
David
I dont know if u can ever say that war has a right time. Personally, I see war as the ultimate last option that should be considered in critical times. I dont like war, but I do support all those people who choose to put their lives on the line for their country and honor. It’s a good thing to be proud of where you come from and wanting to defend it….it’s another when u try to gloat that ur country is better than others when u should just keep ur mouth shut.
@runique - Excellent points here
My grandfather was in the Marines, and he served in the Korean War. My father was in the Navy, right after Vietnam. My cousin was in the army and went to Iraq, as did a friend of mine. They all enlisted of their free will.
I’m confused as to how re-instating the draft would benefit the anti-war movement and make peoples lives less expendable… People would be taken without choice. Doesn’t that make people more angry, and therefore opposed? People are always fighting for their rights and a choice, or for someone else’s. Why do we protest war? We don’t want people to die. The draft doesn’t give people a choice to risk their lives. We tried the draft, and there are many reasons why we don’t have it anymore.
I’m pretty sure everyone agrees war should be the last resource. The difficulty lies within realizing and deciding as a leader when that exactly is. Of course, the President is not the sole decider of this. Not at all.
There is a time for war. There always has been, and there will always be. There is also a time for peace. However, as long as we are human, there will always be war.