2005-07-05

The 4th of July is So Confusing

When I watch the celebrations on the 4^th I feel so conflicted. It is the celebration of our country’s independence and also it seems a celebration of War. I watched some of the specials on the networks last night. A gentleman began to sing a song about how a little boy learns his dad is in the armed services and then is called to War and dies. Now I understand this is reality for many families in this country, however I end up feeling so emotionally manipulated.

Should we normalize War and even attempt to use our children’s naïveté to convince ourselves that War is OK? We do have to remember that for every child in this country that feels the loss of a dad there are 100’s of children feeling the same loss in the country that we carry the War to.

One may believe that I am un-American for these words. I do believe in this country and want this country to stand for real moral values. It is that I believe the most moral of all values is the respect for ALL life. In this country it seems to me that we are quick to fight and slow to Peace. I want OUR country to first rage the battle of PEACE through non-violent actions. That I think we could all be proud of.

Peace and Love

Joe