Madonna, the 57-year old queen of pop, made a tearful reference to the recent Paris attacks at her concert the other night in Stockholm, Sweden. She said, “There are people who have no respect for human life and there are people that do atrocious, degrading, and unforgivable things to other human beings. But we will never, ever, ever change this world we live in if we do not change ourselves.”

She continued, “The way we change the world is not to elect another president, not to kill a hundred more people. The way we change the world is we change the way we treat one another on a daily basis, in the simplest of ways. We must start treating every human being with dignity and respect.”

Now I have nothing against Madonna. I really don’t. And, of course, no person with a Christian worldview would argue against more acts of kindness. The problem is that this statement is incredibly naïve.

The idea that simply by telling people to play nice they will is utterly absurd and greatly at odds with reality in 2015. In other words, it does not appear ISIS has gotten Madonna’s memo.

Yet what Madonna’s sentiment, as well-meaning as it is, also does not reflect is the general recognition that the world has changed.

Today’s adults may have had the idea of living in a kind of world where your greatest challenges were self-imposed, from within and not from without. But that world has transitioned to one of increasing fear of terrorism, war, radical theology, and murder.

Our children do not have the luxury of the Mayberry RFD dream we had. They will grow up knowing who ISIS is and being under threat of their attack. And there is a certain sadness about that loss of Americana.

To be sure, we are in for a long-term battle. Call it a war if you’d like, as that’s what it is.

Unfortunately, there are many who would prefer to pretend this is not a war. They may firmly believe that all we have to do is express to other people that they should be good, and they will change their ideology and approach to humankind. That is absolutely ludicrous, has never been the case, and it isn’t the case now.

There are these silly bumper stickers on cars that have the word “coexist” made out of different religious symbols. Like Madonna’s sentiment, that’s a nice thought, but it simply doesn’t work. And the reason it doesn’t is because there exist fundamental conflicts between the world views of some of those religions. We have seen that play out in the past few decades in horrendous ways.

A radical Muslim takes literally the commandment in the Quran that infidels (unbelievers) should be killed. His allegiance to Islam forbids him to even make friends with Christians or Jews. “Coexist” is such a nice-sounding word until you add that reality to the mix.

And yet what we have found is that simply recognizing this difference is not enough when your enemy wants to kill you. Unfortunately, we must fight them in order to stop them. Sen. John McCain warned that if we pulled out of Iraq when we did, we would leave a vacuum for something like ISIS to develop. He was right. Compounding the problem, once ISIS grew, we underestimated its power.

And what that means is this: Our military is going to be continually involved in a war with radical Islam for at least the next decade and probably beyond.

While I have always appreciated the service a young man or woman gives to this country, that service is becoming more and more important to our safety. Miltary service can be sacrificial in many ways. I never want what happened on 9/11 or in Paris to occur ever again. I want my children to be free. And I know that someone needs to pay for that.

So, Madonna, here is what I am going to do. I am going to take you up on your idea. Every time I see a military serviceman or servicewoman, if I have the opportunity to thank them in some tangible way (verbally, buying their lunch, etc.) for their service, I am going to do so. And I will perform that act of kindness not because I believe somehow that act will change our enemies. But rather, because I want that person to know that I sincerely appreciate them as a hero worthy of honoring.

I pledge that every Thanksgiving from here on out, I will make certain that my family prays for and thanks those people in the military. By God, they will keep us safe. Yes, by God.

Let us thank God for them.