Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Is serving in the U.S. armed forces honorable?

Is serving in the U.S. Armed Forces an honorable and glorious activity for a human being to engage in? What happens to our soliders who are asked to engage in immoral activities by our U.S. government? Can the soliders themselves, asked to engage in destructive, immoral activities able to live with themselves?

In 2009, 442 U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan while 334 U.S. soldiers committed suicide.

War is not an honorable and glorious thing and the people caught up in this activity cannot live with themselves. Isn't it time that Unitarian Universalism became an enlightened witness in the world and became a peace church? Isn't it time for Unitarian Universalism to offer an alternative vision to a broken and suffering world?

Militarism is not the answer to our world's problems. We UUs, better than anyone else, know this. Let's take a clear stand and position against militarism and what President Dwight D. Eisenhower called the "military-industrial complex."


  1. Those suicide stats are misleading. From Congress.org "Army leaders say they are unable to conclude that the deployments are the main cause of the suicide increase - one-third of active duty soldiers who killed themselves in 2009 have no deployment history according to Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli." Furthermore, the suicide stats for 2006 were at 33,300. Those 33,300 didn't all commit immoral acts. Suicide is more complicated than you make it seem

  2. "Isn't it time for Unitarian Universalism to offer an alternative vision to a broken and suffering world?"

    Perhaps so David but I do not think that the Unitarian*Universalist religious community can do that with integrity, or in any realistic and productive manner, when it abjectly fails and even obstinately refuses to deal responsibly and effectively with U*U brokeness and suffering caused by injustices and abuses perpetrated by U*Us. . .

  3. Dear Bart:

    Thanks for your comment.

    How do you explain the fact that suicide rates in the military are at an all time high?

    Thanks for your consideration,

    David Markham

  4. Studies from 2008 show that the US suicide rate has been rising. The military, as a subset of the US population, would therefore see an increase in suicides as well.

    It's important to recognize that the U.S. military does good things. There's a hospital ship in Haiti, and members of the military distributing food and medicine.