Posted on 09/16/2001 8:36:45 PM PDT by Rightwing Canuck
I thought I would inject some words of wisdom from an author renowned for wit, G.K. Chesterton, with his thoughts on war. This is in response to those who believe that war is completely anathema to Christian principles (Chesterton was a devout Catholic):
"I cannot see how we can literally end War unless we can end Will. I cannot think that war will ever be utterly impossible; and I say so not because I am what these people call a militarist, but rather because I am a revolutionist. Absolutely to forbid fighting is to forbid what our fathers called "the sacred right of insurrection." Against some decisions no self-respecting men can be prevented from appealing to fortune and to death"
"War, like weather, cannot in itself be either criminal or saintly; and war as an action undertaken by certain persons may be either one or the other. Only in a state of fallen intelligence akin to fetish-worship could (we) ever have dropped into the habit of talking about the wickedness of war"
"That all war is physically frightful is obvious; but if that were a moral verdict, there would be no difference between a torturer and a surgeon. There are certain intellectuals who are too bright to be content with merely praising peace but who are infuriated by anybody praising war. If no war is possible, all criminality has its chance."
"Those who, like myself, doubt whether war can ever be impossible unless liberty is impossible, will not easily accept the prospect of battle becoming more bestial every time it is renewed. They will think this view as dangerous as it is false; and count it a curious instance of how all intellectual perception, including that of peace, work out in practice to the wickedness of modern tasks."
I hope this is informative to any Chesterton fans. I think, if one were to look back at the first quote:
"Against some decisions no self-respecting men can be prevented from appealing to fortune and to death"
that the decision was the terrorists' declaration of war, and that we must therefore appeal to fortune and to death.
General George S. Patton
If we stick to the rules ... despite the rationale of some that we're entitled to sink to the level of militant atheists operating under cover of Islam ... we may actually have some hope of rebuking the evil perpetrators of this act.
I don't think for a minute Just War is at all precluded by Christianity. In fact, along with other extremely effective co-opting of Islam and Christianity, much of the leninist deception strategy has concentrated on diluting the Word and softening our wills to remain vigilant and resolute. We've made the mistake of assuming a Coke and A Smile conquers all.
The Western Energy that Dethrones Tyrants. (Chesterton)
BTTT
"The passion for inflicting harm, the cruel thirst for vengeance, an unpacific and relentless spirit, the fever of revolt, the lust of power, and such like things, all these are rightly condemned in war."
The problem I see is the current state of modern warfare - especially in terms of a struggle with a nation like Afghanistan.
What I mean is, the terrorists we would be attacking won't be soldiers in uniform. They will be amongst the civilians, much like in Vietnam. Should innocents be killed unintentionally or necessarily for the safety of the troops I think it would fit into the Just War clause because it would not have been done with malicious intent.
What would be most beneficial and indeed advantageous to the U.S. in the long term is to drive the terrorists using troops out away from the population centers, then bomb them into submission. At the same time, target military bases in Kabul to destabilize the Taliban government.
This way, we can, as Psalm 81:4 states: "Rescue the poor: and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner"
We could dually punish the terrorists and install a democratic government in one fell swoop with minimum losses.
However, I do caution that any beliefs of some sort of 'sanitized' war, whereby no civilians are killed, are frivilous. Even with all the West's military precision, mistakes will happen, people will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, shrapnel/debris will hit civilians, etc. Again, I don't think this is contrary to Just War because we would not be purposefully and with full conviction be out to wreak death and destruction on innocents. They will be, and I absolutely hate to use the phrase, casualties of war.
We were sucker-punched in Viet Nam as well. It's all of a piece, really, when you examine the profiles, the players and the covert support which make communist repression and terror possible ... under cover of Islam or what have you.
As for the debt, what I meant was that living in Canada, as I do, one is completely surrounded by liberalism and socialism (but I repeat myself...)
Parents, friends, schools, etc. Espousing any contrary view is anathema to them all. I remember having a conversation/argument with my aunt and uncle on the issue of gun control and seeing how out of step with cold hard reality they were and how out of place I was. They preferred 'community' safety and trusting the polic/govt over an individual's right to defend life and property.
In fact, on Tuesday, right after the attacks, I had a media class (I'm at what's called a CEGEP - in between high school and university. It's unique to Quebec I believe).
There were actually people in that class saying the U.S. brought this on themselves! The whole class was against our Southern neighbours. At this absolute foolishness I could hold back no longer. I had already shown myself to be the lone conservative/libertarian voice in the class in an earlier session, so I let them have it. Everybody shut up real fast when I explained just how much the U.S. has meant to liberty in this world and how much everyone is its ally when it suits them but the minute they're on stable ground they attack it.
Even the teacher, a liberal (I'm in the film production program - Lord help me), said that at least there was one voice sticking up for the Yanks. Damn right.
As does the thought those who perpetrated this act aren't COUNTING on the response we seem poised to deliver.
A class of Canadian 19 year olds were all "saying the U.S. brought this on themselves?"
Wow...that is one of the most depressing pieces of news I've heard this week.
Unfortunately it can pretty much be traced to our horrible education system. The youth of today (indeed, even the last generation) barely know anything about our own country's history, let alone that of the U.S.A. Having been a victim of the public education system here, I have firsthand knowledge of just how horrible it is.
Thank God I realized just how much education I missed out. I've spent the last two or three years trying to make up for over 10 years of miseducation through that seldom-used commodity of the modern world - books. Ah, sweet treasures that they are.
Since I do plan on going into film, though, I will most likely move to the States, and so I've taken a keen interest in American politics, much more so than Canadian politics.
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