Hatred is a Four Letter Word

My heart is heavy tonight as I write this. All politics aside, no matter which side of the aisle you stand on, our military community was dealt two devastating blows today.

First, a bus load of our  unarmed servicemen was attacked by a Muslim terrorist in Frankfurt Germany. They were being shipped out to a combat zone and were gunned down by a madman who shouted "God is Great" in Arabic. Two men killed, two critically wounded before our uniformed men wrestled him down. How they showed the restraint to not beat the terrorist to death I will never know.

Upon hearing the story, my first thought was My God, there is no front-line in this war. Our soldiers and citizens are being attacked and killed all over the world, not just in Afghanistan and Iraq. There is no clear cut line that you can "fall back" to and know that you will be safe. My heart aches for the families who lost their soldier today. I can only imagine the devastation of sending my husband off on deployment just to have him unsuspectingly murdered by a terrorist before he even enters a combat zone.

The second blow was dealt by the Supreme Court. They ruled in favor of Westboro Baptist Church. For those of you unfamiliar with the name of that group, they are the psychos who protest military funerals. I understand the ruling, and the desire to protect all of our first amendment rights. It is indeed a slippery slope. But the fact that families of dead servicemen and women are not protected by their own nation, for which their soldier served and sacrificed their life, to bury their dead in peace and dignity is an utter travesty. While the news was showing clips of the WBC "congregation" and clips of our country's soldiers, my 4 year old asked me, Mommy, do those people on the tv hate Daddy? It's amazing how much he understands and how quickly he processes it. How do I answer that? How to I explain to my son that these people are using soldier's, their families, and the all consuming grief of loss to further their own platform of hatred? So I just said, "No honey, they just aren't very happy people." There is so much hate, ignorance, and misunderstanding in the world. Whats more, is the ignorant, and the misguided have no desire to learn about or attempt to understand their "enemy".

After dinner was over I took my baby girl upstairs to put her to bed. I gently changed her, fed her, and cuddled her until she slept peacefully in my arms. She knows nothing of hate, prejudice, or violence. Her peace, trust, and love overwhelmed me. I sat holding my baby daughter and wept. I shed tears for our dead. I cried for the torture military families must continue to endure at the hands the Westboro Baptist Church. I closed my eyes and prayed in His words, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34.


People who are not members of the military community sometimes do not understand that that when a family loses their soldier, their pain is our pain. Their loss is our loss. We all feel it because it could be us.

I put my baby in her crib, dried my eyes and went downstairs to rejoin my husband. Tonight I will put it away. I will enjoy my time with my family. Our favorite show is on, so tonight we are going to forget the pain, and forget the hate. Tonight we are going to laugh.