The war in Iraq got me thinking.
One of my old church's members has a blog, and in the blog it featured a YOUTUBE video of images of Middle Eastern kids crying. I don't know if the images are the result of the conflict by American troops, or even Israeli. The images are disturbing, and heart breaking.
Which raises the question of war. Is it ethical?
I believe war is ethical when it comes to self defense. I wish war wasn't a part of the human experience but it is. There's always an enemy out there, but I also don't believe we are a war-mongering country either. As the result of war, there will be innocent casualties...and do I grieve over that? Yes I do.
Most people like to give an ethical basis of war, or conflict, but not many of us would like to be in the position of making such huge decisions. For all the critics of Bush, what would you feel like if YOU WERE PRESIDENT after 9/11? Would you have ordered the attack knowing that the attack demanded a response? Would you order a 9/11 response if you knew kids, husbands, brothers, and fathers would die? Not too many people think that Bush doesn't carry the burden that he ordered alot of people to fight and die and he will carry that the rest of his life.
The president faces daily decisions that he must decide certain actions to PROTECT this country and it's people. If there was a threat, and if he waffles on it, American lives are at stake. THAT IS A POSITION I don't envy and glad I don't have. Being a president is the most thankless job sometimes be you Democratic or Republican.
It didn't have to be like this: God intended Himself to be our King. But it all started in Samuel, when the nation of Israel wanted a leader just like the rest of the world. So they got a king, and a king with flaws. Any leader today other than Jesus will make mistakes. BUT the sad thing is: doesn't matter who is leader, people will judge you even IF YOU ARE GOD.
Israel rejected God, and there's not solution to world peace until Jesus comes back.
For the idealistic, (imagine this world without war)...it'll happen after Jesus comes back to war with the devil.
War, the soldier in us - is part of the human experience. No one sits on the sidelines and just rolls over like a wimp. You battle the bottle. You battle your sin. You battle self-pity. You battle the odds. There's a child/warriro in each of us.