I took a drive to Washington to the National Cathedral on Sunday. Big mistake. All except one of the entrances were closed due to security concerns. . . A small statue of a kneeling Lincoln, who sent thousands into battle to eradicate slavery, was in the corner. A plaque of quotations from Churchill, about the need for sacrifice in war, was on the wall. So I was feeling somewhat good again — until I heard the pious sermon on “shock and awe.” In pompous tones the minister was deprecating the war effort, calling down calumnies upon the administration, and alleging the immoral nature of our nation at war.
Such a strange man at such a strange time, I thought. His entire congregation, by its own admission, is in danger from foreign terrorists (why else bar the gates?). His church is itself a monument to the utility of force for moral purposes. His own existence as a free-speaking, freely worshiping man of God is possible only thanks to the United States military — whose present mission he was openly deriding at the country’s national shrine.
This is just a small part of the piece Hanson writes about the human disconnect from the reality of war. This part interested me, because too many people live in their own vacuums. Freedom of religion to this vicar was purchased at no cost and it has always existed because we're a peaceful people. If his church is attacked, then the administration hasn't done enough. If the administration prosecutes a war to end Islamic terrorism, then Bush is doing the devil's work. It's as if this guy is more than willing to hold church services in a lockdown hoping that the redeemer returns before the next terrorist attack. Maybe we can't expect the average hippy on the streets to understand the doctrine of just war, they haven't grasped the principles of bathing yet. But a man who can rise to a position that he sermonizes in the National Cathedral should understand a little about his country's history. If a war for the survival of the American way of life isn't a just war, then this country has been immoral since 1776.
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