Yesterday was a very symbolic day

[OctOct1]

Yesterday was a very symbolic day
Two things happen. Margaret Hassan was murdered and one of our own murdered another human through the act of war.
Margaret Hassan represented all that is good. Love, peace, compassion, goodwill and giving in times of need. She was everything God asks us to be. She was a humanitarian who saw every human as a precious gift and worthy of dignity and compassion.
Next we have a marine who (because of war) had every ounce of goodness ripped from his soul. War is an ugly game. I find absolutely no blame on this unfortunate soul. If you give a man a gun and train him to kill. Guess what? He will. He did what he needed to do under these inhuman circumstances. If he was to go to court, I would stand and defend his actions. He was only human, and in a difficult situation.
Yesterday was symbolic in the death of absolute goodness and rise of absolute inhumanity. Things happen for a reason. Together these two events, so ironic, so symbolic, sing loudly in my soul.
I know that everyone hates God right now. He has been jammed recklessly down our throats. But, try to listen........ Everything happen for a reason. There is a message for us in the symbolic events of yesterday.
The message is to be interpreted by us in our heart.
You will not hear on TV--- That yesterday a Mother Teresa was murdered and evil runs rapid in the souls of men----all because of ****.
Or --In his hands, (***) responsibility lies for the worst acts of all humanity.
My heart weeps for both victims of ****.
My heart weeps for the world

[liberalmuse]

1. Many soldiers...

do not kill like that Marine did. What this man did is unacceptable, even in war. War crimes should be punished. By his senseless action, that Marine has endangered all of our troops. That Marine has further endangered all Americans.

Military leadership is to blame as well. Where was this Marine's CO? THEY are the ones who are responsible for drawing the line when it starts to blur for the troops.

Ultimately, the White House and Pentagon are to blame. They have blurred the lines by attempting to justify torture and the killing of civilians, and have set the tone that 'anything goes' in this war.

[OctOct1]

2. I agree that

an ugly tone has been set.
I still have a hard time putting blame on this guy.
It is like blaming one pimple for chicken pox.
He was but a symptom of a bad desease.

[ElectroPrincess]

5. This moderate sort of muse tends to agree

Yesterday I responded to someone who was hyping the "gung-ho" nature of boot camp. Yes, we're (the military mindset) are trained to KILL but "the vast majority" of active duty military do not lose their humanity and innate sense of right and wrong. Even the most morally mature soldier, may in the confusion, accidentally kill civilians.

This soldier will not be convicted because the wounded man may have been hiding a grenade. However, and this is a big HOWEVER, only this man knows whether he was acting in a moment of shock and confusion OR he was acting with malice and a sense of revenge. The rest of us cannot discern that fact. Because I can't get inside this Marine's head, NO way do I wish to guess his intentions.

As a former DOD counselor to a Battalion of Infantry troops in the country of Panama, I can say with some veracity that even the young combat soldier (under 25 y.o.) know the difference between killing as their duty to deny the enemy and an act of outright revenge and cruelty.

My Bottom line: In this case, only *the individual* taking the lethal action (and his higher power) knows the absolute truth.

[Stuckinthebush]

3. When discussing God and Bush's reelection...

My minister father said,

"I need to rethink my theology."

And he is a damn good theologian. I told him to come to the Unitarian Universalist Church, he'd fit right in!

There is no good reason for what is happening today.

[OctOct1]

4. Don't keep us guessing

What possible reason could there be???
I understand that many have been awakened, Me for one.
I have been awakened to politics. I never gave a hoot before.
I feel I was much happier not knowing politics.
Life was simple. Now I live with daily horror.