Have I forgotten?
I’m in the airport shuttle somewhere in Washington State between SeaTac and Evergreen. I haven’t seen this many rusted out cars in the front yards of trailers since I was in the Carolinas.
The shuttle driver has the radio on the country station. (Yes, Hammerhead, I remember. The driver chooses!) It illustrates some pretty profound culture shock that in just a couple hours I’ve gone from a place where they’re playing War Pigs on the radio station to a place where they play clips of GWB in between the songs.
What I find offensive is this song “Have You Forgotten” by some country artist. He starts out singing that “some people” don’t think there’s a reason for us to go to war, and goes on to ask us how we felt on September 11th.
Well, No. I haven’t forgotten. I haven’t forgotten that I’m on my way to the memorial service for a 23 year old woman who died thanks to US foreign policy in the Middle East.
I haven’t forgotten that our nation has abandoned the principles of the United Nations. And I don’t mean that maybe the US has left whatever some claim the UN has mutated into. We’ve acted in direct contradiction to the UN charter, attacking a soveriegn nation without cause.
I’m trying to remember Saint Francis’ words and let go of my anger and rage. It’s hard to do when faced with someone who thinks that tragedy justifies selling the soul of our country.
But Saint Francis did not say “where there is wrong I may kick ass” or “where there is wrong I may go fix it.” He said “where there is wrong I may bring the spirit of forgiveness.” And I, pissed off at this country singer, need to remember that as much as anyone.
Another thing I just heard that rubs me the wrong way: God Bless America. I think we need to follow Abraham Lincoln’s lead and stop praying that God be on our side and instead keep as a given that the Almighty is on the side of right and pray instead that we might be on God’s side. And maybe take actions in accordance with being on the side of right instead of blindly lashing out in anger and asking God to take our side.
Would Jesus bomb Baghdad? Yeah, right.
TCS
