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."
Children
were herded into a cage in Douma, near Damascus, evoking an Islamic
State video, to draw attention to violence in Syria.Credit...Bassam Khabieh/Reuters
BCF : In history classes, we are often taught about atrocious genocides that have occurred all over the world.
The Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust are such examples. A genocide is defined as, “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.” When anyone dares to question the historical legitimacy of a particular genocide, these people are rightfully condemned for their ignorance.
In the Middle East, there is a modern-day genocide of Christians and those who convert out of Islam. Many of these targeted attacks are coordinated by governments, individuals, and extremist groups, representing a collective effort to exterminate Christians from the Middle East.
The Archbishop of Irbil, the
capital of Iraqi Kurdistan (the major church in Iraq), was interviewed
by the BBC in May of 2019. "Christianity in Iraq," he said, "one of the
oldest Churches, if not the oldest Church in the world, is perilously
close to extinction. Those of us who remain must be ready to face
martyrdom.”
The Archbishop continued by condemning the western response
to the continued ignorance of the near extinction of Christians in the
Middle East. “The archbishop went on to accuse Britain's Christian
leaders of 'political correctness' over the issue - he called the
failure to condemn extremism 'a cancer,'” saying they were not speaking
out loudly enough for fear of being accused of"Islamophobia.”
However,
the near-extinction of Christians is not only applicable to the Church
of Iraq. The persecution extends to the rest of the Middle East as well.
The BBC covered a report ordered by the British Foreign Secretary,
Jeremy Hunt. The report “warn[s that Christianity] 'is at risk of
disappearing' in some parts of the world, pointing to figures which
claimed Christians in Palestine represent less than 1.5 percent of the
population, while in Iraq they had fallen from 1.5 million before 2003
to less than 120,000.”
The report continues, “In some regions, the level
and nature of persecution is arguably coming close to meeting the
international definition of genocide, according to that adopted by the
UN." This report makes it clear that Christian persecution in the Middle
East is approaching genocidal levels. The BBC report concludes,
“Whether it is in authoritarian regimes, or bigotry masked in the
mistaken guise of religion, reports like the one launched today remind
us that there are many places in which Christians face appalling levels
of violence, abuse and harassment.”
