a violent species
On May 1, 2003, President Bush swaggered onto an aircraft carrier and announced that major combat operations in Iraq had ended.
Four years and more than 60,000 civilian deaths later, combat operations continue. The U.S. has been involved in this war longer than it was in World War II, and no end is in sight.
What's more, this is just one of many ongoing wars around the world. Other wars may not get the publicity of the Iraq War, but to their victims these wars are no less devastating.
We are a violent species. Is there any hope for the human race?
God of justness and mercy, we pray for an end to terrorism in any form. We pray for wisdom that will bring greater peace in our world. We pray for understanding and compassion that will safeguard the innocent and feed and find home for all refugees and all who suffer. We pray for companionship and strength for all who mourn. We pray in Jesus' love. Amen.
(Prayer source: Prayers for Justice and Peace)
posted by BruceA @ 10:17 PM
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3 Comments:
Amen, my friend. Amen. Well said.
I violent species yes, but more specifically, a violent nation. In fact one of the most violent in history. Land of the gun and hone of the shot.
Agreed. It was inexcusable for Bush to be so unthoughful. Maybe he should have worn a sweater and spoken from behind his desk with a nice fire in the background. But he didn't. And I for one don't want him to. For as Chamberlain so tragically demonstrated such weakness has never been an asset to any nation.
Call it what you want to and see it where you will, but regardless when it comes to fighting and killing and maming, when it comes to war, it's always to long. It's always to long for the men who fight and the families who wait. And the end can never come fast enough. But to give up and walk away because winning is taking to long is a sure fire guaranteed prescription for failure on a massive scale. Consider the battle for South Vietnam was not lost in combat but on the 6 o'clock news. Only when our troops were without any conscience pulled out of Vietnam did the enemy begin to experience battlefield success. Sadly some of the very same people who voted for that failed strategy are again arguing exactly the same strategy for failure. Winning is never easy. But loosing is harder. It would seem we would have learned that lesson by now. Unfortunately it is a lesson every generation has to learn.
The problem is not that violence is universal to the human experience but that we are profoundly deeply flawed by sin that is at once both individual and pervasively social. It penetrates to the very core of our common experience. But are we the most violent society in history? Hardly. One need only consider Victorian London and its East End where crime was rampant. But we are more aware of violence.
Like the crew of the hapless Squallus we may long for rescue as we tap out our plea, "Is there any hope?" If one supposes that hope might come from good hearted people working together for a common good ... then the answer is "No." For no matter how well intentioned the peaceable kingdom of love will never issue from a human construct for we are from the beginning irreversibly flawed by that perversion of divine intent that is sin. But less one dispair, there is hope. If one supposes that hope is the result of men and women who work together for the common good because of a overriding love for the Lord then the answer is "Yes!" Hope is not to be found in the disarming of society. Hope is found in leading lost men and women to a personal relationship with Christ. Anything else is just putting bandaids on broken bones. Sincerely. OOM
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