You read that right. I saw it on a bumper sticker. The actual words were "If you cannot stand behind our troops, then stand in front of them". I just extrapolated the real meaning.
I was pretty dismayed, to say the least. There are a multitude of reasons why someone might choose to stand away from our troops, instead of behind them (or in front of them for that matter). For me, it is my Quaker convictions about peace. In real life--that is to say beyond the realm of the deeply-thought world of religious hypothetical events--a tragedy helped me see the fallout from violence. My neighbor died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound. It was a sad, cruel end. And the rest of us were left to pick up the pieces, as is often said. As someone who played a very minor role in his life, I was struck by the grief I experienced. I thought I would never recover. I was an acquaintance. What about his family? How much worse has it been for them?
What does this have to do with war? Nothing. But violence is violence--whether it is on behalf of the state or due to a fractured mental state. The result is the same--someone dies, and the rest of us are left to make sense of such a cruel end.
No, I cannot stand behind our troops. Yes, it's because I am a Quaker. But it's so much more than that. What about you? On what side are you standing?
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