Monday was Memorial Day. The day we remember those who died in war. We would prefer that war itself was only a memory. But between what is happening in Ukraine and Gaza, war is still making memories, even if nightmarish ones.
The Union General Sherman said, “War is hell.” Sherman should know. He raised enough hell when he burned Atlanta, and much of the South. The General was correct. War is hell for those fighting the wars. He failed to add that it is worse than hell for helpless victims of war.
1200 innocent Israelis were killed when Hammas attacked a music festival. An estimated 33,091 Palestinians have died in Israel’s Gaza Strip retaliation. Outside monitors put the number of women and children killed as high as 90%. US college protests are not surprising.
S ince the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 there have been as many as 500,000 casualties. Congress has now appropriated continued financial support for Ukraine defenses. Yet, there is no talk of ending Russia’s aggression, no college protests. More innocents will doubtlessly die.
Sherman was correct, war is hell. What he failed to say would have been too personal for a man like Sherman. “There will be hell to pay for those who start and maintain war.”
Where is God in war? Where God always is. Not with war’s perpetrators but with its victims.
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