40!!!!!!!!

Today I am 40 years old.

I don't care, because most people guess I am 30.

Muahahahahaha!!!!!!!!

God Bless the U.S.A. and Happy 4th!

Tomorrow is July 4th. For we Americans, that day holds special meaning. It is a celebration of our declaration of independence, an independence brought about by war.

Throughout history, war has shaped the world, for better and for worse. I tend to believe, as many do, that it has ultimately been for the better.

Some Christians struggle with the idea of War. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus was not a pacifist, and God certainly is no pacifist. War is mentioned over 350 times in the old testament.

In the New Testament, Jesus said "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law---a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household’" (Matthew 10:34-36). "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it" (Matthew 11:12).

While war is rarely a desire, it is sometimes a necessity. Pacifists will argue there is a never a reason for war, but I beg to differ, and would ask them to read on. To those who think you may only fight a "just war", see below.

Is there such thing as a "just war"? I believe there is.

Now the big question; Is the war in Iraq a "just war"? I think, biblically speaking, it is.

(1)We have a "just cause"...freeing an oppressed people, protecting ourselves and/or others from continued or future harm;

(2)We have the "right intention", our motive was stated before - freedom from oppression, and for protection...you silly gooses who think it's for oil, go to your local gas station.(DUH);

(3)We have "Proper authority and/or declaration", our authority came in more than one way, but I will address only one...the U.N. and Husseins refusal to abide by his agreement(s), and yes, we gave fair warning, and made a declaration of our intent (just keeping this simple);

(4)"War as a last resort"; "Do what you agreed" "No" "Do what you agreed" "No" "Do what you agreed, we mean it." "No" "Do what you agreed, or else" "No" "do what you agreed or else we will make you" "make me" "Ok."
'Nuff said.

(5) "Proportionality, or proportionate means" Hmmm, we have enough nukes to blow Iraq off the face of the Earth, yet we didn't. We take great pains to try to target only military/combatant targets, sometimes to our detriment.

(6) "Noncombatant immunity" Hmmm, again. Not only do we NOT target noncombatants, but we feed them, fix their houses, schools, electricity, supplies, government buildings, train their military, et cetera. et cetera. et cetera. (Thank you Yule.)

Is the war in Iraq a "just war"? Abso-tootin-lootly.

Next thing on my agenda today; if you are reading this, don't thank Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Bill Gates, or Al Gore (you know he invented the internet, right?) Thank a Sailor, a Soldier, an Airman, a Marine. Thank them all. And one more thing....GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!

"Thus may the 4th of July, that glorious and ever memorable day, be celebrated through America by the sons of freedom, from age to age, till time shall be no more. Amen and Amen." Virginia Gazette, July 18th, 1777
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"It is common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own." -- Benjamin Franklin
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"Place me not with those who are weak of mind and willingly give up the rights of others, for these poor ignorant souls know not that the rights they give up are their own!" -- Warren Friton
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"In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me."-- The statement was written by the Rev. Martin Niemoeller, a German Lutheran pastor who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1938. He was sent to the concentration camp at Dachau, where he remained until he was freed by the Allied forces in 1945. (who did speak up for him; Note added by ME.)
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"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." -- Albert Einstein
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"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a time of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." -- Dante, The Inferno
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"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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"People who fight may lose. People who do not fight have already lost." -- Bertold Brecht
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"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
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"A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one!" -- Alexander Hamilton
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"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -- John Stuart Mill
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"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." -- Theodore Roosevelt
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"The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -- Teddy Roosevelt
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Behind every scheme to make the world over, lies the question, What kind of world do you want? The ideals of the past for men have been drawn from war, as those for women have been drawn from motherhood. For all our prophecies, I doubt if we are ready to give up our inheritance. Who is there who would not like to be thought a gentleman? Yet what has that name been built on but the soldier's choice of honor rather than life? To be a soldier or descended from soldiers, in time of peace to be ready to give one's life rather than suffer disgrace, that is what the word has meant; and if we try to claim it at less cost than a splendid carelessness for life, we are trying to steal the good will without the responsibilities of the place.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr - May 30, 1895
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IT IS THE SOLDIER

It is the Soldier, not the minister,
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier
Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Charles M. Provence -1970