Woe Is the Therapeutic Culture.

• Author: Bresler, Robert J.
• Position: STATE OF THE NATION

A READING OF THE BIBLE or of history gives a repetitive story of man's triumph and tragedy following from century to century. So it is in our time. World War II ended with a triumph over fascism and Nazism. The celebrations hardly had finished when another struggle began. The Cold War gave us a frightening nuclear arms race and vicious wars in Korea and Vietnam. The American victory in that struggle and the attendant collapse of the Soviet Union promised an era of peace and democratic government. In the 1990s, the American media celebrated by obsessing over the unsavory behavior of Pres. Bill Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky. We were taking a vacation from history that can never last. The events of 9/11 ended that foolish escape.

Radical Islam raised its ugly head with its random and callous use of terror against innocent civilians for the simple crime of just being there. To make matters worse, nuclear weapons spread to a religiously fanatical regime in Iran and a pathological child-ruler in North Korea. In the face of these harsh realities, many behave as if we still are on that vacation from history. We seem unable to shake a culture more permissive than previous generations could have imagined or tolerated.

World War II, Korea, and Vietnam were fought by a conscripted Army and a civilian population dealing with either rationing, price controls, or tax increases. Millions of families were involved and the casualties were in the six figures. Today, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are fought by a volunteer professional military and a small percentage of American families are involved directly. Few people, it is safe to say, follow these wars with any interest. During World War II and Korea, battlefield maps appeared in the newspapers with great regularity. Children prayed in school on D-Day knowing full well where their fathers, brothers, or older cousins were going.

It is doubtful that schoolchildren today could tell you much about where our troops are fighting, as it barely touches their lives. This is not to blame the children, but rather the adults and teachers who are shamefully oblivious to sacrifices others are making. In past wars, presidents made periodic speeches to a national audience on radio or television about the course of the conflicts, but Pres. Barack Obama's messages, as well as those of Pres. Donald Trump, have been perfunctory: Obama to announce an increase of forces in Afghanistan, along with a date for their...