War - What it is good for

I found this quote by John Stuart Mill in the Daily Universe in response to all of the "pacifism displayed" by BYU students writing in to the newspaper:

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

There will never be world peace. Our civilization has been fighting since the beginning of time; the concept of war is as old as Cain and Able. I do not believe that violence is the answer to our problems, but there are people in the world who seek to harm and destroy. How do we fight them and keep our dignity? While it may seem that we are "lowering ourselves" to their level, there are some who do not understand any language other than violence. War is even in scripture, where it is used for the building of God's Kingdom and the freedom of His children. Look at Captain Moroni and his Title of Liberty, Ammon and the king's servants, or Moses. Anything can be accomplished when our hearts are pure and our faith in the Supreme Creator is strong.

God does not want His children to fight each other, especially when some claim to do it in His name when they are really fighting for their own personal causes. Sometimes, we must not fight back. Sometimes, we must. I believe that the war in Iraq is out of hand, but I fully support the soldiers who have given their lives to the service of this country. We are the United States of America. We stand for freedom and strength and wish to help others find this as well. We are one nation of many people and cultures. We accept ways of life that a person would be killed for in other countries.

I am proud of what we are doing in that we are trying to reach out and help other nations. Even though we face so much here on our own land, if we do not try to spread democracy and freedom where we can, we have failed as a people. We fight many wars within our states and communities to maintain order, dignity, and peaceful freedom. But what are we if we do not fight for what we believe is right? George Washington did this as he led our armies against Britain. Joseph Smith did this as he led the saints out West. We will not sit down and we certainly will not lay down to have "talks" with nations that are only looking for ways to infiltrate and destroy what we have spent hundreds of years building. We celebrate the 4th of July - the birth of our country - for a reason.

War is ugly, destructive and painful, yes. But there are worse things. Are we not saving lives? Are we not using our resources for good? We could have watched Saddam Hussein as he tyrannically killed whoever he pleased as if he was Hitler reincarnated. We could watch as the next generation is plagued by same-sex marriages and abortion. No successful entity - person, business corporation, or country - has risen without challenges and conflict. No, not even God could create the world and send us to it without opposition. We must fight for what is right. Debate is essential and differing opinions and thoughts are important to the survival and furthering of humankind; these should be used in ways that make us grow and develop. We are blessed to be in America the Beautiful, where we can be our own free-agent, and should do everything we possibly can to make sure that it is preserved and protected. Our forefathers did not go through what they did so our generation could waste and squander.

While I mourn the losses we have had, these men died for a cause they felt was worthy. I respect their lives and will remember their deaths.