Book Review: Lone Survivor

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book that gives some great insight into the life of a SEAL and a into a recon mission that went terribly wrong. Several things I liked about the book. It reminded me that mental toughness and deep love for those around you will push you further than you thought you could go. Frankly, many of us are very week mentally. We complain about the slightest thing. Reading about the SEALs should cure that. It made me want to stop whining about traffic and long lines at the grocery store and people who agitate me with their quirks. I also found it interesting that one of the key factors in making decisions is what the US and Taliban media will do with the SEALs should they make the wrong choice. Also I enjoyed the insight into the relationship between the Taliban and the villagers who protected the SEAL.

There were some things I did not like, such as the machismo and at times he seemed too self deprecating almost like he was trying too hard to sound humble. But the book is worth the read if only to remind you that you could be a lot tougher than you are.



View all my reviews

Book Review: With the Old Breed

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great read. Straight forward, not overly sentimental or harsh. Just a man who survived two of the worst battles in the Pacific telling us what happened. As I read it two things struck me. First, the invasion of Japan would have been the most costly battle in the history of mankind. There are problems with dropping the atomic bomb. After Nagasaki and Hiroshima the world was never the same. And as a Christian I am adamantly opposed to civilian deaths. But reading this book one begins to realize that the Japanese had no intention of surrending. The toll on American soldiers, Japanese soldiers and Japanese civilians would have been astronomic if America had been forced to invade. So all the armchair generals who think we messed up by dropping the A-Bomb need to read this book and remember that it took more than 80 days and over 110,000 dead Japanese to get a six mile island named Okinawa. Second, I realized that if our generation (I am thirty-three)was called upon to do what these men had to do there is little doubt we would fail. As a culture we do not have the backbone or courage to fight like these men did.

View all my reviews

A Better Crop

Here are some of my thoughts on Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, and politics.

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are both good candidates, but I do not think either will beat Romney for the nomination. Call me a pessimist.

We should be grateful these two men have gotten as many votes as they have. Paul has opened doors for future fiscal conservatives. Hopefully, they will have they will have the courage to walk through them. Santorum has said things that no recent legitimate GOP candidate has had the courage to say.  They both have their faults, but we certainly have a better crop to choose from than 2008.

I would vote for either man without a second's hesitation. Santorum and Paul are light years ahead of McCain. I will not vote for Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich.

The blatant disregard for Ron Paul in the mainstream conservative media is appalling and revealing. I am thinking particularly of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Conservative media is just as biased as liberal media.

Abortion, despite its age, is still the defining issue for Christians in politics. Not because other types of killing are okay (such as civilian casualties in war) but because abortion is willful, blatant, and prevalent.  Abortion is the sacrifice America makes to the god of pleasure.

The declining interest in abortion among young conservative voters comes, at least partly, from the distracted age we live in. A generation raised on blogs, sitcoms and thirty second commercials is going to have a hard time fighting a battle that will probably take generations to win. 

If we are going to be consistent about sexual ethics then adultery must be brought into the conversation. If we give the pornography industry or a conservative who has a questionable sexual history a pass, but hammer the sodomites we are being hypocrites.

Our fiscal policy and our sexual ethics are linked. That is why abortion, homosexuality, our wars, and over taxation belong in the same conversation. Ron Paul supporters are correct to point out Rick Santorum's poor financial policy.  Isn't love of money behind both abortion and the wars we fight?

I don't think libertarianism or big government will fix our problems. We are only as good as the men who lead us. Ron Paul's idea of giving power back to the states is Constitutional and a good idea. However, does anyone really think that California or New York would be more godly just because the state legislatures were in charge? At this point the federal government might be holding them back. Our goal should not be a Constitutional country, but a godly country. Therefore, we need godly leaders. Men who live their life and  make laws based upon God's Word.  Therefore the key is to raise godly sons.  Only when we have godly fathers and husbands can we expect to have godly civil servants.  If conservatives Christians want long term change then they should put more time into loving their wives and raising a host of godly sons and daughters than into who will win the nomination.