simply, Christian

the day the Just War tradition died

generations of ethical thought overthrown with a single tweet

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Traditionally, the United States has followed (or at least aimed to follow) the principles of the Just War tradition. We have used these guiding principles to bring focus and restraint to our warfighting through the years. Of course, there are specific instances of when we have failed to follow them--firebombing German cities, dropping . . .

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January 07, 2020

on holy innocents: King Herod and Uncle Sam

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Today the church remembers and honors the Holy Innocents: the male toddlers slaughtered by King Herod in his attempt to kill Jesus, the newborn king who threatened Herod politically (or so he thought) by his mere existence.

As recorded by St. Matthew:

Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, . . .

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December 28, 2017

Evangelicals, transgender, war, and sin

we're barking up the wrong tree

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Today the President tweeted that "the United States Government will not accept or allow… Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.” As expected, response from Evangelical Christians has been swift and overwhelmingly supportive. Our fixation with sexual sins continues to take the forefront of almost . . .

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July 26, 2017

the war prayer

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NOTE: Being asked to give the invocation for our wing’s 100th anniversary later this summer and thinking about the dissonance between many Christian chaplains’ prayers and the teachings of Scripture led me back to this classic by Mr. Twain. It is pointed, sarcastic, and wonderfully still as relevant today as when it was penned.

. . .

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June 01, 2017

on chaplains and their prayers

what are we praying for and why?

Silvrback blog image One of the most memorable scenes in the move Patton is when General Patton summons his chaplain, Fr. James O'Neill, and orders him to write a prayer for good weather just before the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge. Chaplain O'Neill wrote the following, now-famous, words:

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly . . .

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April 28, 2017

why nude Marines shouldn't shock us

offensive and immoral? yes. surprising? no.

While many people were shocked last week at the revelation of a widely-popular nude photo sharing Facebook group run by Marines, I can't say that this news surprised me even a little bit. General Neller, Commandant of the Marine Corps, is rightly upset. I have no doubt there will be investigations performed and punishment doled out, but . . .

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March 14, 2017

Just War is dead

on the untimely demise of ethics in American warfare

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Yesterday, shortly after the announcement that President Obama was going to commute the sentence of PFC Manning, Senator and retired Air Force Judge Advocate Lindsey Graham tweeted the following quote:

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https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/821492635965816832

About the same time, Senator and former . . .

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Posted in: ethicswar

January 18, 2017

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