I was a teen and in college when the VietNam war was raging. One of my brothers failed the physical, or he would have been drafted. He has very bad eyes from birth.
The draft meant that all young men had to be considered for war duty between the ages of 18-25. This post is not on the value or reasons for that war. The present generations do not understand all the evils and this is not the place to discuss those.
I want to prepare Catholic parents for the possibility of seeing their young men sent off to wars which are not our wars.
Some wars are "our wars". If we are attacked, as at Pearl Habour, that was a war which demanded our involvement. The take over of Europe in WWII was "our war", but not WWI. One can make distinctions.
However, the problem is not the wars but whether your children are prepared for their possible involvement.
Have you trained your children in the virtues?
Are they courageous, strong minded and truthful?
Are they clear on how to make moral judgements?
Do your children love the Church and Christ enough to die for Her, Him?
Some soldiers who are sent abroad will be killed not because they represent the West, but because they represent Christianity.
The Church has also had a small, but real strain of passive resistance when dealing with unjust wars.
Do your children understand the difference between unjust and just wars?
Do they understand the real Crusades and not modern, revisionist history?
Passive resistance is not merely something which applies to one war. It is a way of life, as in the Amish communities. If one pursues that route, one must be brutally honest about one's self. One cannot be hypocritical about passive resistance.
Would one defend his or her family against aggression?
And so on
Also prepare your children by studying the great minds of the Church on war. St. Thomas Aquinas is the best. Sadly, we are woefully lacking in moral theologians in our time. Woefully.
Think, pray, reflect, act.
I was against the Iraq War even before it started. I almost lost a job in a Catholic institution for this stand. I was called on to defend my position in front of members of the administration. They could not argue with Aquinas on preemptive strikes, although we continued to agree to disagree. I have been against all involvement in the Middle East unless we are directly attacked.
In my old blog, I wrote that preemptive wars are unjust, not merited, morally wrong.
America getting involved in other people's civil wars, or tribal wars, or sectarian wars, is unjust.
The West needs to face gross hypocrisy concerning involvement in the Middle East. There can be only one reason why the administration feels a need to get involved.
I am also pro-Israel, but only a just war supporter.
BTW, I predicted in 2009 that this current president would call a draft for some reason. He is pro-draft.
Make sure you and your children are not knee-jerk supporters of policies. Make sure they think like Catholics.
