In the October 2017 issue of The Atlantic, there is an article titled "How Americans Lost Faith in the Presidency" by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Burns and Novick are co-directors of the 10-part PBS documentary series The Vietnam War. They begin this article with the following quotation:
"More than 58,000 Americans and as many as 3 million Vietnamese had died in the conflict. America's illusions of invincibility had been shattered [temporarily], its moral confidence shaken. The war undermined the country's faith in its most respected institutions, particularly the military and the presidency. The military eventually recovered. The presidency never has."
Three presidents were involved---Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. All three had deep doubts about the war, but continued on anyway. Two quotations from President Johnson:
In 1964, Johnson said, "I don't think it's worth fighting for and I don't think we can get our." Johnson again: "It's damned easy to get in a war, but it's going to be awfully hard to ever extricate yourself if you get in."
Burns and Novick comment:
"Johnson's doubts about whether the war was winnable persisted throughout his presidency. But he could not countenance being seen as the first commander-in-chief to lose a war." Presidential pride came before American soldiers' lives.
Burns and Novick end their article in this way:
"The duty of citizens in a democracy is to be skeptical---not to worship our leaders, who have always been fallible, but to question their decisions, challenge their policies, and hold them accountable for their failures." Should they have added: "refuse to pay taxes for excessive military spending and unwise wars?"
I would like to revisit their statement about 3,000,000 Vietnamese deaths, which is six times more than the tragic 500,000 that have died in the Syrian civil war. For most Americans the 3,000,000 Vietnamese deaths were a good thing---the evil enemy was dying. It really doesn't matter that all 3,000,000 Vietnamese were created in the image of God---just like all Americans are.
The American military is an incredibly effective killing machine; American presidents seem compelled to use it every so often to prove a point---that they, Americans, are tough and strong, not that they are wise and caring. Investing in community development around the world would be a much better use of the military billions.
I would like to recommend a book that is much better than the PBS series on the Vietnam war. The book is The Wars of America; Christian Views edited by Ronald Wells. Eight professional Christian historians wrote the book, each an expert on a specific war. This book is truly a masterpiece; every reader will learn much that is new to them.
Who wrote the chapters in the book? Mostly Protestants who believe in the just war theory---that under certain condition, war can be just; there was one historian that was a pacifist. They were honest historians who let the facts speak for themselves. If Protestants have any bias, it is pro-patriotic---that our founding fathers were Christian, an America first attitude. So for these eight professional Christian historians to essentially conclude that the majority of America's wars were unjustified is remarkable. Especially if you conclude, as George Marsden did, that the sacred American Revolution was unjustified, that British tyranny was not bad enough to justify a violent revolution.
Why are most Americans stingy when it comes to spending on social programs, but unquestionably generous on military spending, on wars?
A suggestion for American parents: demand proof beyond a shadow of a doubt before sending your son or daughter off to war. If a mistake is made, don't pay taxes to support an unjust war.
Back to the Vietnam war; a question? Were Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon murders of 58,000 Americans and 3,000,000 Vietnamese since the war was unnecessary and unjust. To me, needless deaths are the equivalent to murder.
For Christians does blind patriotism take precedence over biblical principles such as love and justice?
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