I’m Sick of War
October 25th, 2009 by Sonja

And mostly I’m sick of guns!!

I have a 12 yo son.  Lately (as in for the past year) it seems as though the only game he and his friends can play is war of some form or another.  They play it on video games.  They play it with nerf guns.  They play it with air soft guns.  He plays it in his head all by himself.  He and his dad watch WWII movies or Vietnam movies.  They talk battle tactics.

I’m sick of living in a culture that is permeated with war and news of war.  Of living in a society where bomb blasts and mourning top the daily headlines.  And soldiering (killing) is glorified.

Literally … it’s making me sick.

I understand why it’s happening … I’m just sick of it.

UPDATE – I had to put my beloved dog of 8 years to sleep very unexpectedly this afternoon.  The comment thread is now closed.


16 Responses  
  • K.W. Leslie writes:
    October 25th, 20096:04 pmat

    It’s the misdirected hunter/gatherer instinct. Fine if he’s stalking game, wrong if he’s stalking people, and parents wrongly respond by either encouraging the “glory” of war, or banning it altogether.

           
  • Mike writes:
    October 26th, 20094:23 amat

    Sonja – I feel for you as I am also tired of it. I hope though that your son never has to experience it first hand in order to get it out of his system.

           
  • Rick writes:
    October 26th, 20096:10 pmat

    Could consider an alternative.

           
  • Morgan K Freeberg writes:
    October 27th, 200910:50 amat

    I can think of another alternative. We could put a world dictator in power, and see to it that all who would oppose him are crushed overwhelmingly and without remorse, any time any one among them has the temerity to speak out. Sort of a Roman Emperor type guy.

    Of course, Rome eventually decayed and fell…into a post-Rome world of…well, lots of war. Come to think of it, people who want to get rid of war forever don’t seem to use the “F” word very much. You know. “Freedom.”

           
  • Sonja writes:
    October 27th, 200911:55 amat

    Alright … I’ve had enough.

    I’ve tried over and over and over again to be polite. I’ve tried ignoring the snark. But I’ve discovered that what I’m doing is censoring myself in order to avoid it. I’m not going to do that anymore. So I’m leaving comments 3 and 4 in place at this time. But they are the last comments of that type which will appear on this blog.

    From now on, all comments will be moderated.

    I will delete out of hand any comments which do not make logical sense to me.

    For instance, both 3 and 4 would be deleted. #3 would be deleted because being sick of war does not equal tolerating trans-gender homecoming queens (although I do), but the two things do not have anything to do with one another. #4 would be deleted because Morgan either can’t read or chooses not to and he missed the line: “I understand why it’s happening … I’m just sick of it.” Morgan, if you want to rant about world dictators and the like, you may do your fear-mongering in your own space. My blog is a fear free zone and I will not condone that behavior in my presence.

    So, I’m done. I’m going to write and post as I see fit. If you want to comment, you’re going to have to abide by some rules. The first one is that there is no fear allowed … Jesus rules here.

           
  • Morgan K Freeberg writes:
    October 28th, 20097:55 amat

    “I will delete out of hand any comments which do not make logical sense to me.”

    Let’s see if I can walk this narrow, narrow line:

    God bless you, your son who is exactly the same age as mine, and all the men in your life you love. May you all live long, happy, healthy lives and may none of you ever have to make some of the terrible, awful choices some other folks have had to make while they were armed.

    But if it DOES come to pass, I hope your son is ready, willing and able to bring down a terrible destructive force to protect you, or anybody else who is important to you. In short, if it ever comes down to a choice between you and some scumbag who wants do (or is indifferent to doing) your family harm, I hope the scumbag loses and you win.

    Because watching good people like you lose, and bad guys win, makes people a little sick after awhile too.

    Hope that makes the cut, Sonja.

           
  • Morgan K Freeberg writes:
    October 28th, 20098:40 amat

    Oh, and I request a favor…to me and to you as well…maybe you could consider it to be a challenge.

    If Post #6 is to face the unkind blade of the axe-of-happy-thought-doom — just before execution is to be carried out why don’t you pop on over to my place, then read top to bottom…especially the last couple of paragraphs. Then chop away if you think it still makes sense to do so.

           
  • Sonja writes:
    October 28th, 20098:44 amat

    You’ve made some assumptions, Morgan about my family that do not stand up.

    My husband served in the Army for 20 years. My father-in-law served in Vietnam and came home celebrated as the only commander in the field to have not lost a man in combat. Both of us can trace our family trees back to the Revolutionary War and have service men in every single war this country fought in. So please do not preach to me about making hard choices … you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about or who you’re talking to.

    So … it would not make the cut, because you’ve made assumptions … knee-jerk assumptions … that anyone who writes like this about war can’t possibly know what it’s like or know someone who has served in the armed forces.

    It wouldn’t make the cut because you refer to someone as a “scumbag,” and while our country has enemies, they are also still human beings. They are still (whether you want to admit or not) children of God. I won’t tolerate that sort of language here. You must treat other humans with the grace and dignity that our Lord afforded them or I will delete your comments. It’s just that simple.

           
  • Dan writes:
    October 28th, 200910:19 amat

    You might just as well say “I’m sick of gravity.” This is something that is in boys and men, and I’m mighty glad for it. There often comes a time when you need those men to take up arms.

    For that matter, I know quite a few women who enjoy the shooting sports very much.

           
  • Shifty1 writes:
    October 28th, 200912:02 pmat

    Sonja,
    Perhaps you might want to read ANYTHING by John Etheredge; I would suggest starting with “Wild at Heart”. You just might discover that, rather than a “misdirected hunter/gatherer instinct”, both your son and husband are acting out an integral part of the way God made men! Just a suggestion.
    And….hoping this survives the censorial axe….why in the world would you ever want to limit your exposure to differing points of view? Like it or not, the rules you have imposed on comment here, while entirely within your rights as blog owner, limit your idea pool to that which is in lock-step with your own!

           
  • Sonja writes:
    October 28th, 200912:30 pmat

    @Dan … I do get sick of gravity sometimes, have you seen it’s effects on women? Or on men? But I’ll spare you that rant.

    @Shifty1 … I’ve read it. Several years ago. See Kent Leslie’s blog for a good beginning to his review process. He has several other parts to that review; all of which I heartily endorse. Basically, Eldredge is full of secular crap which he thinly veneered with some Bible verses … they are see through and not well done. The stuff he spews creates an unhealthy family dynamic which is NOT Biblical. I have no doubt that Eldredge’s heart is in the right place and his desire is to follow Jesus. However, this book is not a good starting place. But I’m not going to say anymore about it.

    Secondly, I’m not limiting people from differing with me. I am, however, deciding that people who do not read what I write and make foolish and unwarranted assumptions about me will have their comments/pingbacks deleted. The first part of your comment would likely make it … you are not making foolish or unwarranted assumptions, you are being gracious and dignified. The second part … not so much, because you leapt to an unwarranted conclusion. I’ve made it fairly clear that my objection is not to being differed with, but to how people go about it that is the problem.

           
  • chuck aka xtnyoda writes:
    October 28th, 20091:18 pmat

    Often life does force difficult choices, and war is no exception. Sometimes we make difficult decisions based more on how those decisions will affect our descendants than how those decisions affect our lives… and sometimes those decisions make our lives much more difficult. It’s called generational thinking… not often understood these days, but certainly in biblical days.

    Abraham lived in tents, as Hebrews says, because of what God had promised him concerning his descendants and their benefit.

    This “war on terrorism” is actually a major clash of cultures in the classic sense.

    The outcome will shape the world that our great and great-great grandchildren will be born into.

    This is our day.

           
  • Andy writes:
    October 28th, 20091:21 pmat

    You know, Sonja, deleting all those “knee-jerk” and “unwarranted assumptions” without making an effort to bring about a little understanding is basically just going to war on your commenters. Playing war with your blog. You can run around with Nerf guns and war movies, or you can run around with a thin skin and a delete key. I’ll leave it to you to work out which is nobler.

    I know that you “understand why it’s happening,” But to proclaim this sickness of it implies that you have an alternative.

    We’re all a good deal sick of war, But many,many of us are even more sick of hearing “It’s my job to hate war, but it’s somebody else’s job to figure out what to do about it.”

           
  • Morgan K Freeberg writes:
    October 28th, 20093:27 pmat

    My husband served in the Army for 20 years. My father-in-law served in Vietnam and came home celebrated as the only commander in the field to have not lost a man in combat. Both of us can trace our family trees back to the Revolutionary War and have service men in every single war this country fought in. So please do not preach to me about making hard choices … you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about or who you’re talking to.

    Please point me to something I said that stands in contradiction to any of this — and I will do my best to make amends.

    But you must find something to point to, first.

           
  • Shifty1 writes:
    October 28th, 20094:26 pmat

    Sonja,
    Mayhap you should moderate your own comments for disrespectful and/or disdainful treatment of the views of Mr. Elderedge!?! “Crap”?!?
    I’m curious what exactly you find so unhealthy about a family dynamic that says that men and women are created differently, have differing needs, different longings and differing roles?
    I would also point out that, far from being totally baseless, the assumption I made was instead built upon the fact that you expressed your intention to delete any comment which “did not make logical sense” to you. The only comments that will fit that bill are those which basically agree with your point of view!

           
  • Sonja writes:
    October 28th, 20095:29 pmat

    I had to put my beloved dog of 8 years to sleep very unexpectedly this afternoon. This comment thread is now closed.

           


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