In the United States today is Veterans Day. It is a day to honor our living Veterans. I think this is a good and gracious thing to do. It's not about whether or not one supported the war in which said Veterans fought, but about honoring human courage, honor, and sacrifice.

Each and every one of us, no matter how indoctrinated we may have become by modern and post-modern pseudo-ethics come from ancestral lines which included warriors: men and women who --often out of brutal necessity--chose to take up arms to defend their families, their villages, their people, their nations. they chose to engage and to try to make their world a better, safer place for the rest of us. We are here because our ancestors had the courage to make those hard choices. They waded through terror, pain, shit, and blood so that we could have a chance for something better. They did their duty, as they understood it. How many of you reading this can say that today?

Warrior medicine is one of the many things which has become corrupted in our contemporary world. Not only is this no longer viewed as something which should be respected and honored, but we've lost even an understanding of what it is or why it's important. it is NOT synonymous with conquest. Those who carry this gift, this 'medicine' protect their people, their traditions, their children and ensure that there is a future. They are the ones who do the work no one else wants to touch. They are the ones who make sometimes horrific sacrifices so no one else has to. they are the ones who do these things and rarely if ever ask for anything in return. they do it because it needs to be done. they do it so others won't have to.

So regardless of what you think of our armed forces today (and I, the daughter and granddaughter of a soldier, and one who carries warrior medicine herself find them despairingly un-warrior-like), if you know a veteran honor him or her. When you see older men in uniform, men who fought in WWII or Korea, or maybe Vietnam, go up and shake their hand and let them know that you recognize the worth of their sacrifices.

In the meantime consider this: why is it that our government is allowing or encouraging the rabid Christianization of our armed forces? There have been numerous stories, some of which I have posted here, of fundamentalist Christian proselytizing and harassment within the American Armed Forces in a way that has made a very hostile atmosphere for non-Christians. Consider why this is?

I do not believe this is an accident. As a student of history, I believe we should be watching this situation very carefully and doing every single thing we can to block it's progress. Why? Because if I wanted to effect a fundamentalist Christian take-over of this country, if i wanted to try to create a theocracy by force (and they do, make no mistake), i'd first want a strong, indoctrinated military to be the muscle behind my mania. Paranoid? maybe. But possible? Absolutely.

i strongly suggest going here: http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/. These people are doing good work in the face of tremendous opposition. They are protecting our men and women in uniform --something the government seems unable or unwilling to do.