First Baptist Church

Not long ago I saw a bumper sticker which read “War is not the way to peace.” It was obviously directed toward our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and, most likely, other conflicts in the present and past. I could not get a good look at the driver of the small, economy car but the individual did appear to be relatively young. It is hard to know what this person’s frame of reference might be, but it is highly likely he/she has been influenced by another person (parent, teacher, professor, etc.) to hold a particular position where war is concerned. I have stated many times that a little knowledge is dangerous. When you see protests on college campuses it stems from young people hearing and processing a slice of the truth, but not taking into account the rest of the pie like their older, generally wiser parents and grandparents. Something to think about this Veteran’s Day!

War is, without a doubt, a terrible thing, no matter who you are. If you have sons or daughters fighting or a spouse or a parent it is utterly terrible, but I believe often necessary. When I saw this particular bumper sticker I did not assume the driver of the car to be a veteran of the armed forces. Most likely this person was, most of all, ignorant of the price of freedom. Unfortunately there is a younger generation today which, by and large, fails to see a real connection between war and the freedoms we enjoy and even take for granted. The WWII generation, for instance understands the dangers of this world. Many of their buddies did not return home with them. Some have struggled all their lives to process the evil they witnessed first hand. My Uncle Wayne, a WWII veteran, wrote to my grandmother just days after the attack at Pearl Harbor relaying in his letter that he had seen that day literally pieces of men scattered around everywhere. To the millennial generation war and violence only exists on a TV or computer screen. It is essentially entertainment. Even beyond that, they have trouble realizing how many rogue nations utterly hate us because of our prosperity, freedom, and Christian foundation. If not for the might of our military, even today, America as we know it would be no more!

Many years ago Merle Haggard had a hit with a song which is quite simple, but powerful at the point of understanding how many take for granted their freedoms and believe no further price ever has to be paid. The song is entitled “The Fightin’ Side of me,” and it goes like this:

I hear people talking bad,
About the way they have to live here in this country,
Harpin’ on the wars we fight,
And gripin’ ’bout the way things ought to be.
And I don’t mind them switching sides,
And standing up for things they believe in.
But when they’re running down our country man,
They’re walking on the fightin’ side of me.

Chorus:

Walking on the fightin’ side of me.
Running down a way of life
Our fightin’ men have died to keep.
If you don’t love it leave it,
Let this song that I’m singing be a warning.
When you’re running down our country Hoss
You’re walking on the fightin side of me!

When I read about some squirrelly guy
Who claims that he just don’t believe in fightin’.
And I wonder just how long
The rest of us can count on being free.
They love our milk and honey,
But they preach about another way of living.
When they’re running down our country man
They’re walking on the fightin’ side of me.

Repeat Chorus

Freedom, just like anything else of value, does not come without a price. People are free to express ideas, talk about how this thing or that thing can be improved and whether or not I agree with them or not is no big issue. What is disconcerting is that in this presidential election cycle, one candidate has talked a lot about getting younger voters registered and taking back this country and letting a new generation have a voice. At the same time we had a decorated war hero running for president, notorious for his bravery and dedication to our nation. Young people are being taught to disregard his bravery, valor, strength of character, experience, and overall service as though it were no big deal. They further are being taught to ridicule this man with incessant jokes about his age, etc. while the other candidate largely received a free ride from an overwhelmingly biased media establishment, most of whom claim atheism, and even the late night comics do not know how to make fun of him while still being politically correct. I for one think it is a testimony of commitment to service when a man in excess of 70 years of age aspires to serve his country by performing the most difficult and thankless job in the world – The U.S. Presidency!

We always get in trouble when we only hear bits and pieces of a story and try and fill in the missing parts ourselves. We have become a culture of “sound bytes.” No lengthy explanation necessary. Before a person puts a bumper sticker on their car which runs down our involvement in war, they better be ready to face the consequences and, almost certainly, giving up their freedom!

In Christ,

Pastor Allen Raynor