Jesus, in words often cited in ceremonies such as the one which will take place this afternoon, said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). So it is entirely right that we honor this kind of bravery and self-sacrifice, which is surely an imitation of the Lord of Lord and King of Kings. However, Jesus’ act of self-sacrifice would ultimately have been meaningless - yes, meaningless - if he had not inflicted a mortal wound on the enemy while giving up his own life.
There are few things more I find more thoroughly selfless and awe-inspiring than someone who would face almost certain death in order to save another human being. Such an act goes against every imaginable human instinct. Self-preservation, being basic to each and every human’s continued existence, is not an instinct that is easily or blithely ignored…and yet SSGT Salvatore Giunta did exactly that on a terrible night in Afghanistan in 2007. For his surpassing bravery, Giunta was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, which, due to the nature of bravery being honored, is generally awarded posthumously.
It’s difficult to imagine a circumstance under which any reasonable person could find something about SSGT Giunta’s heroism to complain about…yet that’s exactly what Bryan Fischer has seen fit to do. Fischer (“Director of Issues Analysis”), a bright light (or dim bulb, depending on your point of view) in the American Family Association, is decrying Giunta’s Medal of Honor. Why? Because, to Fischer’s myopic, hyper-Christian way of thinking, the Congressional Medal of Honor has been “feminized”. Yes, “feminized”. How can this be? Apparently because Giunta didn’t kill enough of the enemy and didn’t die himself.
Fischer’s take? “So the question is this: when are we going to start awarding the Medal of Honor once again for soldiers who kill people and break things so our families can sleep safely at night?”
“We have feminized the Medal of Honor,” Fischer wrote. He also quoted General Patton: “Gen. George Patton once famously said, ‘The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.’” (Actually, Patton doesn’t say anything about the other guy: “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.”)
Fischer, of course, sits in his well-appointed office and passes judgment on matters he neither understands nor cares to explore. He’s not an ordained minister, nor does his position carry any ecclesiastical weight. What he does do exceedingly well is kibbitz, hate and spread hatred in the name of his God, who must be a thoroughly angry and mean-spirited bastard. There’s simply no other explanation for a man who combines the judgmental hyper-Christian Conservative myopia of Tom DeLay with the joyless, frothing-at-the-mouth madness of Glenn Beck.
Fischer is arguing that the CMoH is being awarded for avoiding casualties instead of inflicting them, which only demonstrates how little he knows about the honor. Wanting to make certain that I could speak to the meaning and purpose of the CMoH, I went to the CMoH’s official website. I wanted to learn how and why the honor is bestowed…something Fischer clearly couldn’t be bothered to do. The history of the CMoH is fascinating, and the purpose of the award is really very simple and straightforward:
The Medal of Honor was born in 1862, but it was the act of 9 July 1918 that defined the future of the award, while further eliminated the Certificate of Merit while establishing the new “Pyramid of Honor” providing for lesser awards (The Distinguished Service Cross, The Distinguished Service Medal, and the Silver Star). A key difference between the levels of awards was spelled out, “That the President is authorized to present, in the name of the Congress, a medal of honor only to each person who, while an officer or enlisted man of the Army, shall hereafter, in action involving actual conflict with an enemy, distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”
If Fischer could have been bothered to do a little bit of online reading about the history of the CMoH, he might have learned a thing or two. If he could have been bothered to read about SSGT Giunta’s bravery, he might have learned of the significant and very real hazards that Giunta overcame. There’s a reason that the CMoH is generally awarded posthumously. The nature of the actions undertaken almost uniformly result in death- valiant, selfless, and beyond brave, but death nonetheless.
Then again, Fischer fires his shots from behind a keyboard in an office of a “Christian” organization that traffics in hatred far more than than the teachings of Jesus Christ. The biggest risks he faces on a daily basis is getting stuck in traffic or burning his tongue from a cup of hot coffee. He risks little, and so he gains little…but he supports the American Family Association’s mission, which, simply put means hating those they consider insufficiently Jesus-y. Fischer and his fellow haters clearly consider themselves to be the ultimate authority on all things God-centric.
Bryan Fischer will never understand simple concepts like bravery, honor, or sacrifice. Of course, he doesn’t have to, because the God he worships is a mean-spirited, judgmental SOB with serious anger-management issues. He’s a coward of the worst sort, and if there’s any justice, he’ll get his comeuppance when he meets his Maker.
If Bryan Fischer is a Christian, then I’m the Queen of England….
