Ok, I'm going to put it this way. Several members of our site are soldiers. We all know that. That's their choice of occupation. Mine is to be a Web Developer for a major University. Others here are working retail. There are good and bad aspects to every job in the world.  Those in the military may be doing a job you do not like. Personally, I don't like what certain other people do for a living. The military though, is not one of them. These people give up time with their families and potentially their lives for something they believe in. I can give up time with my family and be a web developer, but I'll never give up my life for that.

There isn't really a difference between a job in the military or a job with the police. In both cases, you are trying to protect people, at least... that's what you sign up for. Both jobs however are driven by politics and neither the policeman or soldier have a say in that matter. The only difference between a policeman and a soldier really is where they serve and with what power they serve with. Both have the authority to take life and to save it.

In the days of the early church, the soldier was the policeman. Although, Augustus Caesar did create some form of police brigade, it wasn't large enough to cover the entire Roman Empire. In fact, by the time of the middle ages, there wasn't a police force. You only had a citizen's watch and soldiers. The police as we know them, is a fairly recent development (since the colonization of America).

What's the point? If you can't respect a soldier, you can't respect a police man.

Give our soldiers the respect they are due. If you have a problem with accepting their decisions to serve, that's fine, but don't shove it in their faces... publicly or privately. These are personal attacks and against the rules.

Now... military people, you are in a very awkward position here. You need our support; mostly prayer, but gift boxes would be nice too. That's fine. We want to do that. However, please always remember the no politics rule here and the involvement of Christians in the military is both a political and spiritual one. Every post you make of this nature telling people they need to respect you could be interpreted as breaking that rule. It doesn't matter to some what the conflict is, as long as there is a military, they won't like it. Tread carefully on these topics. Asking for prayer is fine. Asking for goodies is fine. Asking for respect or demanding... that might be crossing the line. Remember, you are also fighting for their right to disrespect you and what you believe in. I know it's not easy, but it is the life you have chosen.

Just know that you will always have my support.