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Terminal Lance #313 “God Loves Marines”

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So much violence in the realm of Terminal Lance as of late.

In any case, God loves you.

Okay, not really. Or maybe? I don’t know. I’m not particularly religious. Even if I were, it’s really not my place to tell you what God does or doesn’t do. With that said, this wasn’t really meant to come off as being a secular joke, it’s really more of just a joke. If you’re not sure about what Abe is talking about, I would kindly point you toward even something as renown as the Stanley Kubrick classic, Full Metal Jacket.

God has a hard-on for Marines.

But really, religion–specifically Christianity–is very deeply tied into Marine Corps culture. This is natural, and entirely to be expected with such a strong conservative presence typically found in the military as a whole. I would not be so bold as to proclaim that there is anything inherently wrong with this, I don’t think that’s the correct way to look at it anyway. People have their beliefs and they should be respected regardless. You will find that Christian imagery has a very strong presence amongst the Marine Corps, as is to be expected, in the form of internet memes and the like if you browse any of the plethoric military Facebook pages.

When I got into the Marine Corps, I asked that my dog tags have “NO PREFERENCE” embossed in their steely surface. Boot camp was quite possibly the only time I engaged in any kind of religious activity, as is the case with many Marines, but it wasn’t a passionate rediscovering of my faith. No, it was attending the Jewish service on Friday nights. I suppose, growing up, I never really identified with any particular religion, but I knew my family background was Jewish. My grandfather was a practicing Jew, but he died when my mom was very young, long before I was ever even a sperm in my daddy’s balls. As a result, there was simply no religious presence whatsoever in my household. It wasn’t like there was any disdain for it, it just wasn’t something we did. We celebrated Christmas, but on the basis of it being an American pastime rather than the celebration of Christ.

Back to boot camp, when the drill instructors, in that ever-memorable first week, came to the front of the squad bay and asked “Which one of you motherfuckers is Jewish?” I responded reluctantly, not really sure what to expect. Having no real idea what was happening, we were escorted to a small room across the parade deck at MCRD San Diego. It wasn’t until I was instructed to put on a yarmulke that I had any idea what I had gotten myself into. We sat down amongst a few civilians, sang songs and had a good time. The Friday Jewish services, it turned out, were actually really awesome, and I’m very happy I went.

The best part was that on Sunday, when 90% of the squad bay was at church, the Drill Instructors would let the Jewish recruits just chill out.

I would read the Sunday comics in the newspaper, without the faintest clue I would be starting my own comic strip in years to come…

In other news, I’ve been in full production mode over the last couple of weeks and have barely slept. Producing what? The White Donkey of course! A lot of you have asked me what’s going on with the book, and I’m here to tell you today to expect some news in the very near future.

In the meantime, have a great weekend and go to church on Sunday. Or synagogue on Friday night. Or whatever it is you do I already know it’s getting really drunk and playing PlayStation. Also, follow me on Twitter. I need the attention.

Maximilian
Infantry Marine turned Combat Artist turned animator turned bestselling author turned dad.

Terminal Lance #312 “NJP”

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