Re: religious overtones. First, DJ was right when he said we belong to a Judaeo-Greco-Christian culture. The early Christian Church Fathers were heavily influenced by Aristotle and Plato, and there is very little distinction drawn by Christians against Judaeism as a religion and Christianity. It's not seamless, but the three traditions are well-integrated, especially after the Enlightenment, when the ideals of religion were freed from religion and made secular. Whether you belong in the Red Zone and espouse the ideals as part of your morals, or belong in the Blue Zone, and espouse the ideals as part of your ethics, it's the same ideals.
Personal freedom, personal accountability, free will, respect for the freedom of others, tolerance, duty.
Most of the leaders of the US government belong to fundamentalist Christian churches and/or are "born again" Christians and/or are deeply religious.
They are asking the mothers and the fathers of the men and women in the military to accept the fact that their children will be killed in battle defending us. They are asking the men and women in the military to sacrifice their lives for us. So playing on the religious themes taps deep roots in the devout.
I don't know if this is something that Europeans and other Westerners have in common with us, but there is a deeply held belief in the US of a mystical duty to hold the line against the nations of Islam. We don't talk about it in public, it's spread by word of mouth. I have been told, for years, by people that some day we would be called on, just as the French were called on at the Battle of Roncevalles, just as the Austrians and their allies were called on at the Battle of Vienna.
We eat croissants to commemorate the victory in Vienna, but you already knew that.
And don't forget the religious significance of the plains of Armageddon, aka Meggido. The last great war on this planet will be fought in the valley of Jezreel and the plains of Armageddon, according to scripture. |
