for some of us the world is not quite so black and white. it must be nice to live in a place where the lines are delineated so clearly between love or fear or evil or good. but i like to think that truth lies somewhere in between. i always wondered how people could treat our troops poorly, but i suppose it falls in line with this kind of rigid view of the world.
i'm not christian, but this is a pretty good one.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus
"peace is not the absence of war" - baruch spinoza
"an appeasaer is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." winston churchill
i think these are guys who know what they're talking about.
recently i saw a photo on this site of a float that had a "make love not war" sign on it. i thought it was kind of sad.
it's sad because it was the kind of simplistic statement that makes judgement without thought or compassion.
it implies that if you are engaged in war, you somehow are in opposition of a loving act. or that the two are exclusive of each other.
it's sad because it is in itself an act of conflict instead of positive action which is always a negative drain on the world and humanity. it's the kind of sactimonious approach that i hope leaves this earth with the self-absorbed generation that spawned it.
to suggest that love is not equated with defense of life or that it is merely equated with your version of "peace" is simply not accurate.
the nazis lived in peace with each other and with their neighbors who didn't fight them. the jews, homosexuals, gypsies and disabled people they murdered might argue with you that this was not a "peaceful" existence for them. but perspective requires compassion.
to suggest that people deny their biological drive to survive is not peaceful. to suggest that if they defend themselves they are living in fear, is inaccurate.
it takes a tremendous amount of courage to truly be there for your fellow human beings and to even love them so much as to sacrifice your own life to protect them or defend them. it is a truly cowardly act to do nothing in the world but comment or criticize. i would otherwise say nothing unless i had done something to support our troops, their families and the victims of war.
those who simply engage in spouting slogans are not bringing peace into the world but are living fearfully in their own little cocoons where they do not allow any disagreement or dissention or take the time to reach out in positive action.
make care packages not posters.