What Would Jesus Do?

As I tried to properly observe Memorial Day it occurred to me what a very fine line there is between honoring those who have given their lives in battle and glorifying war. It is the same razor-thin distinction between supporting the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan without condoning the wars they have been ordered to fight. The single most supportive thing that could be done for them right now is to admit that the U.S. invasion and occupation was a terrible mistake and bring them home immediately. The neoconservatives, however, have done a masterful job of twisting such a pro-troop, anti-war sentiment into one that is supposedly unpatriotic. I can’t help but wonder how the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld saber rattling would change should someone have the power to order the three of them to the front lines tomorrow.

I am increasingly offended by the contention that violence in any form can be justified as the “Christian” thing to do. How incredibly hypocritical it is of those who claim to take the Bible literally to contort Jesus’ life and teachings into any sort of justification for war. Oh, I know, the Church has been doing this since the time of Constantine, but that still doesn’t make it right. My opinion that the Bush Administration is immoral has been challenged, but I can only respond that the proof is no farther away than the Christian Right’s precious Bibles. Even the King James Version isn’t going to supply an “attack thy enemy” answer to the proverbial question, “What would Jesus do?”