This Memorial Day has got me thinking, about the true nature of warfare, and what all might happen to make someone a casualty.
It is easy to regulate those descriptions to official, military actions, and the men and women in uniform who serve at the front lines. But there are also race wars, drug wars, wars on poverty, jihad (which literally means to struggle against oppression)… and who is fighting those?
There are uncounted numbers of people fighting personal wars right now, on multiple fronts, against views which claim that they are the enemy, because of their bloodlines and appearance, their sexuality or gender, or any number of other hateful reasons. People are fighting every single day for the simple right to exist, in ways that cause no harm but are called wrong or unacceptable in the places where they live.
On this day, we honor the soldiers who were killed in combat. But what do we do to honor the women and men who have been killed by abuse, or rampaging misogyny? How do we honor those who were beaten to death or shot while fighting for racial equality, or the right to retain their own traditions while outsiders insist on changing them, moving them, and teaching their own children to turn against them? Will we have a moment of silence for the transexuals found murdered, because the only way for them to feel comfortable in their own skin is violently unacceptable to some people?
I don’t think it’s possible for most servicemen and women to know what they were getting into when they signed on. It’s a career choice, often the best choice that they can see for themselves. However, they still made the choice, as far as they were able to think it through. These battles that I’m talking about are more like being drafted, or civilians caught in the cross-fire. Gays and trans, abused and persecuted people never had a choice in whether or not to go to war. The war was already there, all around them. They were born into it: the only choice they had was whether to keep fighting, or give in to the punishment of simply being what they were, which waited at every turn. And even if they think it’s wiser to give in than to fight, to protect themselves and their families against the threats of what might happen if they stand their ground, isn’t that in itself a kind of casualty? They may still be alive, but what kind of a life is that, really, when you grudgingly accept a hateful place that your enemy has chosen for you, on the basis that to do otherwise only means more suffering?
So on this Memorial Day, I’m thinking of all the fighters who never wore a uniform, and had to figure out their own strategies and defenses, every step of the way. The ones whose names are not on any list of casualties, because no one wanted to record the fact that there was a war on in the first place.
It is good to honor our troops, and acknowledge what they gave for the cause of something larger than themselves. It is good to honor the sacrifices and pain of all the families with chairs that now stand empty. I simply want to say that there are many unsung, fallen heros who were never in the military, but honorably fought for freedom, justice, and a better way of life, all the same. They deserve to be in our thoughts as well.
My Word 
Amen.