On Football
Across cultures and time, four major institutions have formed young men: family, religion, work and war. By demanding effort and sacrifice, each of these molded boys into men. Parents raised sons to be husbands and fathers. Scriptures demanded grappling with human nature, sin and salvation. Work looked at needs, and forged character and grit. War—or more broadly, the obligation to protect your community—harnessed strength as service.
Today, war and work have faded. Thankfully, violence has been pushed to the periphery of most societies to a degree ancient and medieval people never conceived possible. The world is still dangerous and humanity still capable of unspeakable evil, but most neighborhoods bear little resemblance to lawless frontiers of old. Our continental nation is blessed with good neighbors and big oceans, and most violence is constrained through ordered liberty.
This isn’t cheap: The men and women who defend us pay a steep price. There’s always the risk of imagining peace is the natural, autopilot order of things, rather than a stunning achievement that requires ongoing vigilance. But it’s a blessing that less than 1% of the population serves in America’s all-volunteer military.
