Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen 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 soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt 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."
BCF : ā¦North Korea was once the only country whose persecution index was ranked in the āsevereā category. In recent years it has been joined by others including Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Yemen, and Iran. Nigeria, infamous for the kidnappings of Christian girls, saw 3,700 Christians martyred in 2018, but doesnāt even reach the top ten on this yearās index.
Gender-specific persecution is receiving new attention. Persecution of men tends to be āfocused, severe and visibleā and that of women is ācomplex, violent and hiddenā. Men are more likely to face detention without trial, or summary execution; whereas the persecution of women more typically involves sexual violence, rape or forced marriage.
There is something profoundly human about our deepest beliefs, those which define us, shaping our lives and our communities. Denial of a personās human rights on account of their belief (or lack thereof) cuts deeply into their humanity. Intriguingly however, many of the victims of the current worldwide epidemic of persecution targeted at Christians see this in slightly different terms.
When asked why they donāt just deny their faith, learn to fit in, and enjoy a quiet life, they rarely reply in terms of displaying a desire to hold onto the dignity of their own humanity, or to assert their human rights. Baraz M. who suffered terribly for his Christian faith in Central Asia, speaks for countless others, when he says:
āTell them if I had to go through it all again, I would, because Jesus is worth it.ā Whatās more, I believe he is right. His resilience comes from valuing Christ more than himself. Of course, the fact that I can write openly about the glory of Christ in a national newspaper makes me one of a privileged minority in world Christianity.
