Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

August 14, 2009

Although humans are fallen, we do not naturally kill each other without provocation. War requires the suppression of an individual?s natural inhibition against killing.

A military occupation, such as those underway in Iraq and Afghanistan, involves a 360-degree battlefield. To a soldier placed in such circumstances, any stranger is a potential enemy, and any situation a potential ambush. Repeatedly placing young men in such an environment will have consequences, as we are just beginning to learn.

According to a study published by the RAND Corporation, ?Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan ? 300,000 in all ? report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression?; many of them are sent back into combat without treatment. Those remaining at home sometimes suffer breakdowns leading to lethal violence.

John Adams warned, ?Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.? To that we may add: Greater still are the lasting social consequences.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.