For What It's Worth

By Judith

"There's something happening here,
What it is ain't exactly clear."

It seemed clear back then. The young were right, the old were wrong. War was bad, peace was good. Conservatives had no feelings and liberals felt everyone's pain. For some of us it's not so much that we've sold out, but that we're buying a different line. For others, well, you'll be going to see Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young this weekend.

In an interview in Sunday's (7/9/06) Star Tribune, Stephen Stills is singing the same old tune. Literally. Along with "For What It's Worth" the group will also be playing all their old protest songs, whether or not the cause is relevant any more. ("Ohio" - about the shooting of four Kent State students.)

And yet, Stills, the self-titled "political centrist" of the group has some valid points. Regarding the war he says, "Putting on a uniform and serving your country is noble, but it is ignoble to throw [soldiers] away the same way as the last four years of Vietnam." Right on, brother. But for Stills and company the solution is to bring all the troops home and never fight a war again. Would that this were possible. The problem with Vietnam and with Korea and the first and second Gulf Wars, and whatever other mess we find ourselves in is that we have lost the drive for victory. It is a waste of human life on all sides if we approach a war without the will to win. Think how it might have been different if George Washington and his men hadn't given their all for six long, grueling years to win our freedom. Sort of makes CSN&Y's "Freedom of Speech '06" tour ignoble.

Stills has another point to ponder. As for the administration, he says, "It's the same kind of disconnect today. In the face of all reason, they're just spouting this blather. And our blather is a lot more accurate, I think. But it's still blather." Amen again. Where I disagree is that his (liberal and/or Democrat) blather is any better than any other blather. There is so little difference between political parties these days; both want to spend your money at an alarming rate, it's just that what they want to spend it on might differ. The Republicans can't even be counted on to support a pro-life agenda.

What the "aging children" don't realize is that nothing will ever change because of the protest songs they write or the picket signs they carry. The only thing that will change the world is our own conversion of heart and our affect on the people around us, one by one. Don't pick up a protest sign, pick up the Cross daily and follow Jesus Christ.