That senseless war

Not too long ago my sister and I were managing our fitness center when two elderly people came in to exercise that morning. I was sitting quietly to the side focusing on my book when all of the sudden the war in Iraq came up in their discussion and completely broke my concentration for the rest of the morning. I will call them Chuck and Jane, and this is how their discussion went;

Chuck: All those religious people over there are just fighting each other!

Jane: And all those boys coming back from the war…isn’t it a shame that our soldiers are over there, when we haven’t made any progress! All those countries are fighting each other and we’re getting messed up in it. Cheney and Rumsfeld are just using their power and don’t know what they’re doing.

Chuck: I know- all those politicians are just lawyers who don’t know anything about war. It’s a waste; just like Vietnam and Korea.

Jane: They need to go over there and see what it’s like before they go to war. Terrible.

Chuck: Shame.

We already knew that Jane held pretty strong liberal views and that I would only create an enemy if I were to speak out. So I sat in the background, several emotions stirring in me, and yet keeping my peace. Eventually they left and I let out the torrent on the ears of my sister, but still feeling a mix of anger, sadness, and a pressing need to make a difference in the minds of similar Americans today.

They say they support the troops… they pretend to know the meaning of justice and liberty… they even show up wearing a T-shirt saying “freedom isn’t free”, and I want to yell out that they are missing the whole point. Freedom means we fight; not sit around making peace signs as Islamic extremists obliterate our homes. Justice means we strike; not let convicted murderers and terrorists go free to do more evil. Liberty means we hold fast to the truth, and not let madmen govern our lives, our opinions, or actions.

We must not sit passively to the side, railing against the actions of our leaders, and yet taking no actions ourselves. We must stand up and fight boldly for the truth; for when the truth is taken from this country, it will fall.

Though I knew it wasn’t the right place at the right time to impact the thinking of Chuck and Jane, I must be ready and willing to stand up for our troops and Iraq when they are questioned. May God give me strength, and America ears.

Let freedom ring