War is Hell

As I listened to NPR this morning, I once again became terrified by the effects that War can have on humanity. The reporters related a story of some army drinking buddies doing what soldiers do when they get home (having a drink with their buddies), when one suddenly shoots the other five times with virtually no hesitation. The report further stated that the shooter had a myspace page dominated by his tattoos that said things like "born to kill" and he also apparently had a Waffen-SS tattoo. Forgive me, but I can't help but see this as another negative aspect of exposing God's creatures to a sin they should have never experienced. Its as though once humanity got a taste of killing their own kind, they have never stopped developing it as some sick art form. War...must be one of the most difficult things for the human intellect and emotion to endure. People go, defend themselves and their country, are exposed to traumatic amounts of violence, and then go home and people expect them to just be okay. Aside from this instance, I recently was reenlightened about the sad state of many of our veterans in the care of our government. I did not know of the Walter Reed incident where many wounded and disabled veterans experienced a new "hell" when they came home. Some had to literally army crawl to the bathroom, and apparently there was even one soldier who had not been given a change of clothes or a chance to go to the bathroom for three days. This is unexcusable. We say that we support the soldiers, concepts like freedom and liberty, and then the very men and women who provide this blanket of protection, we basically just forget about. Once again, this just shows you how quickly Americans forget the freedoms that we have, just like most things in life, are bought with a price. I really look forward to the days when wars are over and the soldiers can return to a state of peace. I have a feeling, and I am not soldier so I don't know for sure, but I think soldiers that have really seen true combat spend the rest of their lives trying to do one of two things: finding peace or re-living the most difficult experience in their lives. I hope in God that one day all of this War will cease. Psalm 46:9-10 states that "He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Let us not forget that War is a terrible thing that should never happen. Sadly because of sin, however, sometimes people have to fight for what is right.