Tritagonist - II. Treachery Of Defeat Lyrics

An ethic taught for what is just
For collective and individual souls
Drill instructors goad the will of God
Take your rifle and sword; the enemy
Nears to destroy by the horde
By the hoary hosts of this kingdom
I stepped from the vessel into shots fired
Men retired across blood-drenched shells
Nemeses declared this fight for man
And God and law
Calling the same Providence
To strengthen their aim and deeds
Death: where is your sting
When the only sounds are bullets and bombs
My God, was this the will promised to your children
As a babe, I was told how Jesus loves
Because the Bible told me so
But in youth
They taught to condemn with grenades, verbiage
And tone, rebuke all transgressors, chastize with curses
And warnings of the nigh end
Yet here I am, comrades engulfed by the grave
Enemies praying tongues with mere varied hues on
Cross-stitch uniforms, slightly differing insignia
All claiming adornment in the exact same regalia while
Entrails litter a shore of fractured bones and barbequed skin
My Lord, can I be a good man if continuing the fight for survival
Superiors scream, "Sound the retreat!" the blind leading the blind
Generals firing pistols behind
Shredding the honor of fellow men
Through two-fronts of siege with innumerable casualties
From sovereign nations, I dash to the boats, sand shards as shrapnel
This they don't teach in the Lord's army nor seminaries: the cost of failure
The sting of betrayal, the treachery of defeat
My God! Did we ever know the Cross' cost
When believing our country an ever-expanding
Growth of your Kingdom
I roll onto my boat, breathless
While leaders' pupils burn with hate
Saying, We live to fight another day
But did we ever know that flesh
And blood was never our war
That peace was in turning our cheeks
Waves crash while artillery fires past the hull
In his true Kingdom, does our ethic make us unjust