In Harm's Way

We hear a lot these days about our troops defending our freedoms or protecting us from terrorism. In churches we pray for those "in harm's way." We argue about Iraq being a just war, an imperialist war, a war for oil, a war for freedom, a war to expand democracy, and so forth.
All this is fine, noble and intellectually stimulating. But all this talk covers up the true reality of military action. The raw truth is that we have sent our young men and women to kill, and to kill in our name. War is killing. It is not some abstract concept to be discussed dispassionately (or passionately for that matter). I pray that in the future, when we are considering military action, we first discuss whether the cause is worth asking our soldiers to kill or to be killed. This is the major question.