We've had a lot of talk about traitors and free speech lately. Bill O'Reilly said that people who actively root for the insurgents should be treated as traitors to the United States. A professor from the University of Chicago argued that you can root for the enemy and be patriotic if your country is clearly in the wrong and likely to be defeated. He gave a compelling example of being an Italian in WWII. Their county had been hijacked by a demonic despot who was sending his soldiers off to a war he knew he could not win. Therefore a patriotic Italian would've been wise to hope for a quick and decisive defeat as quickly as possible. You'd be hard pressed to find someone to disagree with the logic.
But we've never gone to war based on the mad ravings of a demonic dictator (not literally, anyway). And we've never been placed in a situation where victory was out of the question. But here's a quote from an American that not only seems to root for the enemy, but claims God is rooting for him too:
"And don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, "You are too arrogant. If you don't change your ways I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I'm God."
I know we have free speech in this country but I bet a quote like this raises a few eyebrows. I mean, aren't these the sentiments of Bin Ladin? This raises some questions for me:
1. Is it responsible to be saying something like this in war time, even if it's true?
2. Could you see yourself supporting such a statement or the person who made it?
3. Can a statement like this be made without sacrificing one's love for one's country and faith in God?
4. As a liberal or a Christian, would it be wrong to take offense to a comment like this?
I'm not answering one way or another, but I have to admit hearing it took me back. Like it or not, I have to think it took a lot of guts to say such a thing. Now I just want to know what you think about it.