November 11, 2005

Wake up, America... stop believing in the illusion

Americans blindly move through the fog, running from themselves, believing in saviors who will pull them above the fray just before they go over the edge. We don't face anything head-on. When the going gets tough, Americans go drinking. We have Prozac, Zyprexa, Ambien, Xanax - and a world of chemicals to thicken the fog. There's the building on the hill where we gather to pray for forgiveness from our sins and wait for the man to come and save us. We believe that man died so long ago to forgive our sins. NO, he did not. He died because of them. The story became one of glorification to hide our own weaknesses and justify our avoidance of the truth.

America spends a fortune on our military. We sing songs to honor them, raise the flag in their name, and lower it to honor their death. We build walls to remember them by - crazy - walls built up to remember those who died under the pretense of making us free.

Wake up, America. Stop believing in the illusion. Our soldiers are not protecting our freedoms by dying - not the freedoms we profess.

Men and women are imprisoned every day for speaking their mind in this land of the free. Soldiers died for that?

Children are abused and murdered every day for actions of parents who assert that they are free to raise their children as they choose. Soldiers died for that?

Elderly parents and grandparents are lost in the system of nursing homes and assisted living facilities with care givers who just don't care, while sons and daughters remember their birthdays in cards mailed from around the corner, to avoid facing the guilt from not visiting sooner. Soldiers died for that?

Americans waste more lives than we dare to realize. Rather than do the work to live by a higher standard, we make laws that justify our right to "freedoms." Freedom from what?

Responsibility.

It's not about blind obedience to laws designed to justify our weaknesses. It is being strong enough to question laws that deny human rights and protect a lie. It is about taking a stand, and recognizing that an evil act is an evil act, regardless of how it is justified. If someone's life is at risk by the action, then the action is wrong - laws can't cover the truth.

The greatest test of a man's morality is not if he is willing to kill a perceived enemy to prevent an attack, but if he is willing to use moral courage to recognize his own weaknesses as the reason for his fear, to strengthen those weaknesses and thus disarm his enemy.

Veterans served to defend the constitution and the freedoms it gives; to make the right choice, and when it is a crime against humanity, to take a stand and recognize that it is the wrong choice, to walk away as a conscientious objector and be honored for taking the higher ground. Don't kid yourselves. America has not repaid these veterans for their service - Americans pile on the honors, medals, speeches, a street in a veteran's name. America, it's an illusion. The honor you give is empty when your actions do not back up your words. Veterans put their lives on the line to defend the right to humanity, not so Americans could shirk their responsibility to humanity.

Veterans should be respected and honored, because they stood for what they believed. They faced the demons, and dared to stand for the ideal of freedom - even while Americans were taking their sacrifice for granted. Veterans do not need another medal. They need Americans facing their weaknesses and accepting responsibility for what this country has become.

Veterans are fighting to save themselves. America you do not deserve the sacrifice you claim they have made in your name. You most assuredly do not deserve to look a veteran in the eye and thank him with words void of any meaning, and medals to honor his bravery. Empty words and hollow symbols that merely hide your weakness at not daring to defend yourselves mean nothing to a veteran who has walked through fire for what he believes.

Wake up America - no one is going to save you - except you. As long as you believe in illusions this country will never heal. Take a stand for your beliefs, and act to save yourselves. One more Veterans' Day has arrived. Will you rise to the occasion, honor the high standards our veterans have set in defending our constitution, or will you make another empty promise to believe in an empty cause? It is only a coward who hides in a building and waits in prayer for a savior to come.

Sgt. Kevin Benderman is a prisoner of conscience serving a 15 month sentence for filing a Conscientious Objector application and refusing to participate in this war. Please visit his websites at www.BendermanTimeline.com and www.BendermanDefense.org .

Monica Benderman may be reached at mdawnb@coastalnow.net .