Published Friday, October 12, 2007 in the Peninsula Daily News    

When I returned from my one-year of military duty in Vietnam in 1971, war protests had become very vogue.  The air at home had acquired a similar tension and teargas aroma to the air in Vietnam.  Part of me was glad to be home; part of me was not.

When that war concluded, I had very mixed emotions.  Of course I was glad – but I worried deeply about what would follow.  For the Americans, the war was over; for the Vietnamese, it was not.  Because the general American public was so adamant about ending the war, few people paid attention to the aftermath in Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia.  

Historical statistics vary, but as many as three million Cambodians were murdered by Cambodian dictator Pol Pot after the American withdrawal from Vietnam.  For Americans to have noticed that genocide would have meant keeping our attention fixed to a spot on the globe that we had decided to no longer fixate.  We were done.                  

These thoughts returned to me the other day while driving down 8th Street in Port Angeles and noticing a group of war protesters.  Amongst them I noticed a sign with a picture of President Bush that labeled him as a terrorist.  I winced.  To be honest, I didn’t like the attitude that the sign expressed.    

Please do not misunderstand me.  I do not casually condone war, but again, I do not condone the behavior or situations that often make war essential.  Determining the lesser of two evils can be a very problematic – personally, politically, socially, and globally.  But because of my Vietnam experience, I am asking myself if history will repeat itself as it often does.  If this country does bring our troops home now, what will be the consequences for everyone involved?  I am not sure, but I must ask myself that question.

Regardless of my war opinions, I feel personally and biblically obligated to respect and pray for our president and others who are in leadership.  I must also pray for those who will be in leadership when the chain of command changes regardless of their political persuasion.  This can be very challenging.  

Paul exhorted his young protégé, Timothy, to pray for everyone.  Paul then adds that Timothy should pray for those who are in high positions of authority “so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).  

We are blessed to live in a country where some forms of protest and civil disobedience are allowed.  We have the right, and sometimes the obligation, to speak our conscience and to protest actions that violate it.  But I do not believe we have the right to be nasty.  Inflammatory, derogatory, undignified attitudes and comments are not helpful.    

There was a day (mid-1800s) when the whit and wisdom of Mark Twain delighted and challenged people of all political and religious persuasions.  There was a clever dignity to his barbs that is sorely lacking today.  In his autobiography he stated, “In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.”

I admit that I don’t have the slightest idea to the value of a brass farthing, but I agree with Mr. Twain that we should examine closely our beliefs and convictions.  God cares about our attitudes.  And while God is undoubtedly capable of adjusting our attitudes without our help, I believe He is more pleased by our willingness to engage His help in the process of attitude adjustments.       

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he told the Christians there that their new life should reflect new attitudes that are aligned with God’s nature (4:23-24).  And to the Philippians, Paul said that they should not have demanding and egocentric attitudes, but that they should have humble, servant-like attitudes that were exemplified by Jesus (2:5-8).

May each of us examine our attitudes and attempt to express them passionately, yet with humility and dignity.  And whenever our troops return, let us make every effort to fill the air they breath with gratitude.