Cain and Abel Revisited

Ever since Cain slew Abel, men have been at war with each other. Cain, whose name means something akin to "Here he is," was brought forth with such promise. Adam and Eve looked upon him as the much hoped for deliverer, promised by God. The first baby born on earth grew up to be, not the deliverer, but a destroyer. Humankind didn't get past the first born of Adam and Eve before angry thoughts were translated into deadly action.

Support for the war in Iraq seems to wane, mainstream media and the entertainment industry swirl around in a constant Bush/war bashing mode, President Bush's approval ratings drop, and the Bush haters circle like sharks smelling blood in the water. Despite what you think of the president's handling of the war, the fact is the people who wanted us dead on September 11, 2001, haven't called a truce. They are still at war with us. And many of "us" don't seem to think our future hangs in the balance.

My husband and I have family members who want the U.S. out of Iraq yesterday. They think wars are awful and should not be fought for any reason. Oh, that it were that simple. Of course wars are awful! But the absence of war isn't always peace. It's often tyranny or oppression.

Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, recently wrote a good article comparing the worldview of many Americans with the Muslims who wish us dead. In part, he stated, "Postmodern Americans and Europeans may believe wars of conquest are obsolete, a discarded relic of the distant past. They may even see war itself as an aberration, an unnatural disruption of what they have convinced themselves is the “normal” state of peaceful coexistence. But our enemies view the world differently. Their perspective is of an older vintage.

"'The ordinary theme and argument of all history is war,' observed Sir Walter Raleigh in the early 17th century. Wishing that were no longer true does not make it so. We infidels pretend otherwise at our peril."

To read the entire article, go here. Then pray. Pray for our country. Our leaders. Our soldiers. Our children.