Please, Stop Referring to Every Moral Debate as a War. Most of Us Have No Idea What War Truly Is.

I must say, I'm rather fed up with how casually Americans and Christians in America so casually employ the language of war in reference to just about every social and moral issue that comes our way. The SCOTUS ruling on gay marriage has once again reinvigorated the war on traditional Christianity meme. It's also seen as a war on marriage itself. Of course, the left is not to be outdone in sounding their own war alarms. I've heard those on the left refer to conservative Christians who oppose gay marriage as waging war upon the gay and lesbian community. In reference to those who oppose abortion and oppose employers having to pay for contraception for conscience' sake, the left starts screaming about the war on women. And let's not forget that every December we fight the war on Christmas. Then there's the war on poverty. I'm sure there are other wars we are fighting in America. It's hard to remember since there are so many of them.

It has occurred to me that Americans and Christians in America so casually employ the language of war because most of us have not experienced the horror and the ravages of real war, you know the kind of war that brings violence, bloodshed, and death, and other terrible things. Thus, having no idea what war really is, we employ such language to make those oppose our views the enemy to be silenced at all cost. I suspect that our veterans, who have actually been in combat, know the language of war since they have truly experienced it. I am sure they can enlighten us on this subject.

So, for those who are certain that so much "war" is being fought on American soil, here are some places that are truly experiencing war with real violence:

Afghanistan
Algeria
Angola
Bangladesh
Chad
Cameroon
Columbia
Egypt
Ethiopia
Gaza
Georgia
India
Iraq
Israel
Lebanon
Libya
Mexico
Nigeria
Pakistan
Rwanda
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Thailand
Ukraine

The list is even longer, and can be found here. The point I am making is that when we so casually employ the language of war we not only do a great disservice to those who have fought in real wars, we trivialize the suffering of so many in the world are being affected this very moment by the horrendous violence and sorrow of the actual thing.

By all means, feel free to hold to your convictions strongly and argue your views with passion, but let's forget about using the "war" word. No one is dropping bombs on your head or kidnapping your children and holding them for ransom nor gang-raping our wives and sisters and daughters.

A little less of the dramatic in our moral debates is a good thing.