We may owe more to our veterans than we think
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. .. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:11-17 (NASB)
By Bobby R. Henry
Last week Senator Bob Dole went before Congress to offer his support of The United Nations Treaty on Disabilities. The agreement epitomizes the American’s With Disabilities Act, which is a law agreed upon between both Parties signed into legislation by President George H.W. Bush. After a show of tomfoolery by 38 heartless manikins posing themselves as concerned humans of the Republican Party, this treaty was rejected.
I never thought that I would see again or read about discrimination in our Armed Forces, after all it was only imposed upon Blacks and other minorities-not the handicapped.
What would make a group of legislators vote to do away with laws that would give some form of equality to the handicapped of whom a large number became handicapped while serving to protect this country in the military?
A lot of things went into President Barack Obama being reelected, and I for one believe that it was heavily influenced by our own veterans; those in and out of the Armed Forces.
I believe this to be for a number of reasons, but the number one underlining raison d’être is they all wanted to come back to America alive!
One looks at life extremely different when they have been under gunfire to be killed for protecting their country and the enemy was a common foe to all.
Most war veterans understand that there is no skin color, handicap barrier or divide that will prevent one from seeking solace and protection when their life, the lives of their families and countrymen/women are threatened by a common enemy.
What is so difficult to understand though, is how is it that two different people by all means, can be in a foxhole under attack by the enemy with bombs and mortars and yet when they survive they appear to can’t stand each other?
This was so evident after the 9/11 attacks. That moment when we were all under fire, we were all Americans and as soon as the dust settled we were like lions and hyenas-natural born enemies.
I’m not naive enough to believe that our President was elected solely on the Black, women, elderly or the Latino vote. I do believe that our veterans of the Armed Forces played a major role in his reelection.
In an all out open war, when your life is at stake, you don’t care who sees you fighting to save your life or the life of another soldier.
Unfortunately, we do not see voting like an open war. Yes, there are parallels and even though the fallout may be similar, we would rather succumb to peer pressure than to rise in unity for the common good.
Our veterans, our heroes and sheroes, those who would give up their lives and those who gave of their lives and those who have become permanently scarred and handicapped for what they felt was right and just for their country to include ALL of its citizens, have now become based on the cowardice and racism of 38 wimps-soldiers of misfortune.
To all of those who have served this great country by offering their lives for the peace of others, I pray that you are able to rise above peer pressure and allow God’s pressure to mold and shape you into the precious stones that He wants you to be for the sake of His kingdom.
“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;” Psalm 144:1 (ESV)
