Tonight, Mary and I saw the musical Miss Saigon at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater in Lancaster, PA. The meal was good, the company was enjoyable, and the performance was great. It was an evening well spent.

The story of Miss Saigon is about a young American soldier who falls in love with an innocent young Vietnamese girl that he meets in a brothel on her first night at work. Their love became something real they could hold on to amidst the unreality of war. However, the clash of cultures and the unreality of wartime meant there dreams would not come to fruition as they had hoped.

You who are older remember the event when the last helicopters left the roof of the American embassy in Saigon in 1975. Many Vietnamese who wanted to leave were left behind. It was a terrible time for Americans as well as for the Vietnamese. There were also many children left behind who were fathered by American soldiers. These mixed-race orphans were abandoned by the Americans and at the same time, they were not wanted by the Vietnamese.

Those men and women who had worked for the American military and for the embassy were arrested and put in prison camps. Many of them were shot. I remember a Vietnamese student at Millersville University who told me of his experience in escaping from one of those prison camps. He said that many of the young men admitted they had worked for the Americans. They were shot. He said to me, "They were stupid. I lied and they let me go." Many Vietnamese civilians tried to escape in leaky boats. Some were rescued and came to America, but many drowned. They were known as the boat people.

In the production of Miss Saigon, all of this was woven into a story told in song, dance, music and sound effects. It was an American opera, in the tradition of the classic tragedy. I will not reveal the end of the story, but I kept trying to figure out how the story would end. The ending took me by complete surprise, although it shouldn't have. It was the only way the story could end.

Throughout the production, I kept thinking of the young people fighting in Iraq today. Their lives as well as the lives of the Iraqi people are being screwed up just as were those in Vietnam. There was a young couple seated at our table, who had both served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Neither of them had served in Iraq, but the young man said to me, "Iraq will end just like Vietnam." I think he is right. It is a war fought on false pretenses just like Vietnam. We went there thinking the people would welcome us with open arms. The Vietnamese didn't and neither have the Iraqi's. Just as we were driven out of Vietnam in shame, so will we be driven out of Iraq. All that death and suffering will be for naught. What a shame. When will man learn that armed conflict only breeds more violence.

It is time that we take Jesus of Nazareth seriously when he said, "Love your enemies, pray for them that despitefully use you." Man has tried war for thousands of years. It has never worked. Each war only set up the next one. It is time we break the cycle of violence. How can we invoke the name of Jesus in support of killing other human beings? It is time for peace-loving people everywhere to stand up and be counted. As for me and my house, we will support the causes of peace and justice. Rather than using bombs and bullets, we need to give peace a chance. Love will not destroy the lives of so many people, and it just might bring the Kingdom of God to fruition.