The realities of war

Each week I get an email newsletter from Christianity Today. It's a monthly magazine targeted towards evangelical Christians. Traditionaly it has held to a right-wing conservative editorial stance but over the years has become more centrist in its stance (in my opinion). This week I was reading an article about Christians in war and the toll that killing someone in battle has upon soldiers. The writer of the article, Patrick Stone, is himself a war veteran having served in Vietnam. I wanted to share the following with you ...

On the home front, most non-combatants do not wish to confront the emotions
these TV images engender. They rarely make the connection of their own personal
involvement in these moments. The soldier is only the tip of the spear. The
voters and taxpayers do not see their participation as meaningful, yet without
them, young soldiers would not be in deadly positions that require killing.

The truth of this statement I believe is self evident. As a Canadian it is not often that my country goes to war. It may be a case of semantics but most often we are involved in Peace Keeping duties around the world. When Canada does go to war I believe that I can honestly say that it was the right thing to do. That is why I'm glad that we are not involved in the present war in Iraq. When a person is willing to put their life on the line for their country we as citizens should do all that we can to ensure that we never put them in harm's way needlessly. If that means that we have to conserve energy to cut our dependance on foreign oil then so be it. A little self sacrifice on our parts, as citizens, can help to ensure that others won't have to make the greatest self sacrifice as a soldier.