There are a few reasons for this post. The first is to simply publish my new name for the economic mess we are in. I am calling it: The Decline of '09.
There. Now, if anyone uses that phrase who has not published it before this blog hits the ether will owe homage and allegiance to me. OK, so maybe not allegiance, but at least homage. And royalties. 10% sounds about right. Call my lawyer.
Something completely different that has been on my mind is this whole "God Bless Our Troops" thing. Bumperstickers abound that contain some version of this sentiment. I saw one today that said "God Bless Our Troops. Especially Our Snipers." When I saw that I thought, "What a wierd thing to wish for." And then I started thinking about how it was meant. The obvious and ugliest meaning is the "Bless them that they can kill a lot of our enemies from far away without being noticed so they can come back home safe." To me, that doesn't seem like something God would be particularly fond of, since the poor sap at the business end of the .50 is one of His children, too.
Another meaning I thought of was "Bless them so that they will be safe, since my son is a sniper and I don't want him to die." This version seems to be more allong the lines of what God might be interested in, since it is about saving life, rather than taking it. However, the sniper in question is at war, and is out to kill other people, so in a larger sense, him getting killed is (while tragic) only fair. You can hardly be a soldier who does his job and expect the soldiers on the other side to not do theirs, now can you?
The last meaning I thought of was this one, but I doubt highly that this is what the author of the bumper sticker meant: "Bless our snipers so that they won't be able to find any enemies to kill from any kind of distance, since all of the enemy soldiers will have laid their weapons down and made peace so that we don't have to kill anyone anymore so everyone can go home to their families and live happy, peaceful, productive lives." Now that is a sentiment I think God would be completely on board with.
I would like to think that is what the bumper sticker really meant option 3, but I doubt it. It makes me sad to think that people feel so self-righteous in their own causes as to think that God is only on their side as to be opposed to His children on the other side (like when BYU fans pray for a win over Notre Dame or U of U). Any one who knows anything about God surely must admit that He has a vested interest in the happiness and prosperity of all of his children. Our wars, our fights, our inability to live peacefully with each other, can be nothing more than sources of heartache and sorrow for Him.
If God were to miraculously intervene in the lives of the soldiers of the world, I think He would do so by making them all unneccessary. The world would be at peace, the only side to take would be His, and hurting anyone for any reason would be seen as treason against one's self.
Sadly, we aren't there. Not even close. So we need our snipers to keep ourselves safe, and there are people in the world who have avowed to never stop killing Americans. I do hope that our boys get home safe. And if I am completely honest, I hope they kill a lot of Taliban and Al'Qaida fighters from a long distance and get home safely. But that is not my godly side. That is quite definitely my worldly side. It try to make sure I know the difference between the two.
5 comments:
Believe or not, your rant seems as though I've read it before, in my own mind. You are a genious
Anticlimactically, it's an advertising campaign for LaRue Tactical, a manufacturer of sniper equipment. http://www.laruetactical.com/
i just saw that bumper sticker and had the exact same thoughts.
I am a huge fan of LaRue Tactical. However, I think this is what it means:
God bless our snipers, because unlike many of our men on the frontlines, the see the face of who they are shooting. Sure, a Marine who busts down a door and defends himself against a few Jihadists may see their faces as well, but he is defending himself against them in this case; It is his life or theirs.
However, our snipers may not be in immediate danger, hundreds up to a few thousand of yards away, may be completely safe. However, by orders or by intention, they may make the decision to terminate one's life from a distance; Someone's life who is not directly a threat to them. And right before doing so, they may or may not see their face closely.
I think the bumper sticker refers to blessing those snipers and comforting those snipers. Although God is a loving and just God, even in the Old Testament he took the Jews through war after war. There was bloodshed, there is bloodshed, and will be bloodshed until he who shed his blood returns.
I think the bumper sticker simply specifies that the snipers may have more on their concious than someone who kills while defending himself or others. While it is debatable as whether it is a just or unjust killing, the sniper's soul has a lot to go through.
This is why *I* say "God bless our troops, ESPECIALLY our snipers" or just "God bless our snipers":
When I was deployed, they were our long range eyes. Snipers aren't just about reaching out and killing from afar; they also are forward observers. And when we got into engagements, they were the guys that watched our backs. MY focus was on the enemy in front of me. I couldn't see the guy on top of the building to my left, but I saw him drop. I would have a hard time entering an area that didn't have sniper coverage.
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