Today is Memorial Day, the day upon which Americans honor the sacrifice and service that has been offered up by countless men and women of the armed forces, or at least, they are supposed to do so. Right now, I see a total lack of respect for the service of our soldiers. Instead of providing support to American heroes, cowards prefer to attack them. They fail to recognize the nature of their sacrifices. Celebrities and politicians sit back in comfort and condemn the acts of violence that soldiers perform, ignoring the difference between a soldier and a criminal. The difference is that soldiers do not fight for themselves. They fight to defend the people they left behind and safeguard the liberty of their nation. The job soldiers have to do might not be nice work, but it is work that has to be done.
The Bible is rife with examples of soldiers. The Old Testament is practically filled with them. Joshua, David, Judas Maccabeus, Gideon, the list goes on and on. These men exemplify the inherent virtue of the soldier. They take upon themselves the greatest sacrifice: killing and being killed, in order to free their people from bondage, to defend their nation from transgressors who defile the law of God. Judas Maccabeus is one of my favorite biblical figures. His story has clear parallels to today's situation. The Bible tells us that the successors of Alexander the Great decided to suppress the people of Israel by forcing them to violate the commandments of God. Many succumb, those few who do not are killed. But the priest Mattathias, along with his family, refuse to bow to sin. When a royal official comes to Mattathias and tries to convince him to partake in blasphemous sin, Mattathias replies:
"Even if all the nations that live under the rule of the king obey him, and have chosen to obey his commandments, every one of them abandoning the religion of their ancestors, I and my sons and my brothers will continue to live by the covenant of our ancestors. Far be it from us to desert the law and the ordinances. We will not obey the king's words by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left." (1 Maccabees 2:19-22)
Mattathias and his sons were soldiers of God. They offered up their lives to serve God and their people, even if the political environment did not favor such behavior, much as it does not today.
Dishonor is being done to our soldiers. They are being left behind by politicians who only want the votes of a majority. Go to any major city and walk the streets. Chances are, you will see a homeless veteran. These men and woman suffer from their sacrifices. Many face the crosses of PTSD or TBI. Suicide rates for returning soldiers continue to rise. If you watched the news in recent months, you will have seen news about the VA scandals: veterans with urgent medical needs were left to die.
We need to honor our soldiers. We need to support them just as they supported this country while putting their lives on the line. We need to respectfully bury the martyrs of freedom and honor their memory. We need to tend for the wounded and the hurting soldiers who return from the battlefield to the home. We need to show a little respect.
Deus Volt!
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