{"id":75113,"date":"2021-08-28T05:56:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T09:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?p=75113"},"modified":"2021-08-27T17:56:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T21:56:50","slug":"here-i-am-send-me-in-american-military-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2021\/08\/here-i-am-send-me-in-american-military-history\/","title":{"rendered":"“Here I am, send me” in American Military History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In the nearly twenty years since a U.S.-led coalition invaded Afghanistan, over two thousand American troops and over a hundred thousand Afghans have died. There\u2019s little that doesn\u2019t feel tragic about that war as it crashes to an end, but it was particularly sad to add dozens more to that death toll on Thursday, when <\/span>ISIS suicide bombers<\/span><\/a> attacked Kabul airport in the midst of American forces withdrawing and some Afghans fleeing the return of the Taliban.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Airborne troops helping American and Afghan civilians to evacuate Kabul \u2013 U.S. Central Command\/Wikimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So even as <\/span>he accepted responsibility<\/span><\/a> \u201cfor, fundamentally, all that\u2019s happened of late\u201d in the last, chaotic days of the American war in Afghanistan, Joe Biden also took on the presidential role of mourner-in-chief. Paying tribute to the thirteen American service members who died on Thursday, our second Catholic president quoted the Old Testament:<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who have served through the ages have drawn inspiration from the Book of Isaiah, when the Lord says, \u201cWhom shall I send\u2026who shall go for us?\u201d\u00a0 And the American military has been answering for a long time: \u201cHere am I, Lord.\u00a0 Send me.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cHere I am.\u00a0 Send me.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No one disagreed that \u201cthese women and men of our armed forces are the heirs of that tradition of sacrifice of volunteering to go into harm\u2019s way,\u201d but many criticized his use of Scripture in that way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fair is fair. If I saw this coming out of Trump's mouth I'd call it #ChristianNationalism<\/a>. Connecting military service & sacrifice with serving God is pretty textbook. I'm grateful to those who serve, but these sorts of statements pridefully imply they're God's representatives. https:\/\/t.co\/UPclSTZ2kL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Samuel Perry (@profsamperry) August 26, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n