War

It was never meant to be entered into lightly, but only when the country was in agreement.  The Founders knew that it would take time to vote to go to War, and therefore War would be entered into only if there was a large consensus.  While it’s true that no Founder envisioned attack by air, suitcase radiation bombs, etc., it’s also true that there was a procedure put into place that was supposed to be followed.

War has costs.  War should be avoided.  War seems to be absurd.  And yet we seem to find ourselves embroiled in multiple wars on multiple fronts, and those commitments aren’t something that we can get out of.  When you’ve broken it, you’ve bought it.

War has been around since the time of Cain and Able.  If you take literally the saying that these patriarchs were the heads of houses, this was the first conflict where blood was shed.

Since then, situations either escalate or defuse.  It all depends on how badly what is wanted is desired.  Most wars throughout history did multiple things to people:

1. Killed them (either innocent or involved in combat)
2. Enslaved them (taken away as prisoners, married into families, etc.)
3. Raped/Maimed them (abused because they were the enemy)

And the seeds of this style of conflict rage in everyone today.  We have people that defend their point of view by hurting other’s property.  We have people that hurt animals and livestock.  In the Vietnam era we had bombings with protests.

All of this was as bad as those that fight the bigger wars with planes, boats, and tanks—it’s the same heart attitude.

We need to call these things what they are.  We need to have the government call it for what it is.  It is a conflict.  It is a war.

It’s a war, even when Americans are not dying.

I’m not saying there is not a time for war, a time for fighting for what you believe in.  I’m not saying anything about the current conflicts.  I understand the nature of man, and man will continue to fight and have conflict.

I’m just saying that we should be honest about we’re doing and follow appropriate processes.  Laws are there to protect us, and they cannot do that function as long as we can change the terms and get around them.