Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Pressure from the local community is forcing the hands of the Bethlehem
municipality to take down a large Christmas billboard sign that has
Jesus on it. "In the birthplace of Christianity, we have seen over the years that
the Christmas holiday has been reduced to snowmen and bells,said
Pastor Steven Khoury of Holy Land Missions; the ministry behind putting
the 1200 square foot sign up. He added, "The essential message of the
holiday season has been taken away for fear of what the dominant factors in Bethlehem would say." Vandals had cut the electric cable surrounding the sign to ensure that
it would not be lit up during the night. Barraged with phone calls from the local community, the municipality informed Pastor Khoury that many are campaigning asking us to take down the sign. ...The billboard sign is located at Manger Square with the slogan "Jesus born to die and rose again. Invite him into your heart so you might live - Merry Christmas"has caused some people to come out of their cars and take pictures. Out of fear of repercussions, no one is willing to sell electricity access to the billboard.
So Pastor Khoury has been going out with a portable generator and
several high beam spotlights and lighting the sign up himself.
Anticipating that the sign might be coming down any time, Khoury quickly
did one last film next to the billboard sign.
How did every single reporter in Bethlehem miss a story about a pastor
who was trying to put up a billboard with a Christian message? It has an attractive protagonist, who speaks English well. It is an
underdog story. It is about freedom of religion. It has the irony of
Jesus being absent from Bethlehem. This story is made for TV and print
media.
There must be a reason why the reporters ignored this story. Perhaps
because of the types of people who are against the sign? Pastor Khoury
doesn't identify them, so it is unclear who they are. All we know is
that they are dominant in Bethlehem (so they can't be Christians), that
they are from the local community (so they can't be Jews) that they are
threatening those who support the message with violence (so they can't
be Quakers,) and that reporters are reluctant to report when these
people are acting against freedom of religion and freedom of expression. This is a tough one. Hat tip: Elder of Ziyon
