Catholic man says prayers for soldiers should end

Caller-Times ^ | July 14, 2003 | Venessa Santos-Garza

[Old Phone Man]

I wonder what Garcia thiks of lifers who are Catholic. I was in the Army for six years and during that time I was commited to go anywhere and do the best I could as a soldier for myself and my country...During the time I was in I went to Mass and did my duty as a Catholic... There are many career Military who are Catholics and serve their country proudly... Garcia is full of shid!

[Salman]

In the Torah, it states "Thou shall not MURDER" not "Kill" as the Christian bible states.

I am under the impression that historically "Thou shalt not kill" was understood the Jewish way by most Christians (despite the ambiguous translation). Some pacifist sects were an exception, and liberal Christians are beoming an exception.

I am Jewish, BTW.

[Arpege92]

If the Catholic Church told Catholics all over this world not to pray for our troops, I WOULD PRAY!

[Arpege92]

"What does this asshole think 9/11 was?"

A date on the calendar....nothing more, nothing less!

[kellynla]

Some people just don't get it. Is Iraq safer now than it was last year? Is the Middle East safer now that we are there than it was last year? Is America safer now that we are in Iraq than last year? And is the world a safer place without Saddass in power? Now if you answered yes to all those questions you get it. If you missed any one of them I suggest you fly over to Syria and get off the plane and see how long you last. It's not rocket science folks. Every forty or fifty years you have to take out the trash. And when it absolutely, positively has to be done ASAP they always dial 1-800-MARINES! Semper Fi

[Dazedcat]

"I wonder if he supported the war against Hitler. I mean, after Pearl Harbor, we declared war on Germany as well, even though they didn't pose any kind of immediate attack on us."

I don't believe we did declare war on Nazi Germany. Hitler declared war against the United States immediately after war was declared on Japan.

If I'm wrong I apologize, but I don't think I am.

[steplock]

He understands the idea that the United States is supposed to be saving the people of Iraq from an unjust leader and corrupt government, but he doesn't recall anyone asking us to be there. "But then this isn't politics," he said. "We are talking about religion."

Contact Venessa Santos-Garza at 886-3752 or santosv@caller.com

Let the REPORTER know how you feel about her attempt to demean our nation and our troops.

TIME to FIGHT BACK for our Country!

[GovernmentShrinker]

West Point should not be recruiting cadets for their football playing ability.

[Texas_Dawg]

Actually, any Christian Bible that is properly translated from Hebrew uses the term “murder.”

Yep. The NIV is easily the most collaborated upon Bible in existence and it says "murder".

[VRWC_minion]

Then pray that the soldiers won't have to kill.

[Tom Bombadil]

"So far, no one has been able to tell me that this is a just war....

Maybe a trip to northern or southern Iraq would change your mind.

What exactly is required to make this a just war? Mass graves? (found) Terrorist training camps? (found). Using civiians as human sheilds? (happened). And that just begins to describe the stink left behind by Saddam and his Baath party.

[Squat]

Another Catholic who would march Jews into the ovens. What and idiot.

[My2Cents]

Well-said. Hadn't thought of that, but you're right.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

11 December 1941

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

He's a whiny idealist with an anti-war axe to grind under the cover of Christian principle. ~~ Maybe OPie would like to dissect this one. He's probably FR's resident Just War expert.

OP hardly has to be a "Just War expert" to recognize that the statement:

"man says prayers for (insert anyone here) should end"

...Is blatantly anti-Biblical on its face.

That said, I'm not exactly thrilled with the way things are going in Iraq. As far as I am concerned, the justification for War against Saddam wasn't the WMD, wasn't the internal atrocities -- we can find both of those the world over, if we really want some extra Wars to fight. The "Just War" casus belli was always the "How to take over a Boeing with Boxcutters" terrorist-training camp at Salman Pak, and (IMHO) shoulda been the Primary Justification for War (as I said even before the hostilities began; not Monday-morning quarterbacking here).

Bush WMD Debacle Prompted by Salman Pak Blunder

Granted, we don't necessarily have absolutely definitive proof that the 9/11 hijackers specifically trained at Salman Pak (wish the Bush Admin had not put it on the back burner; I think that this would be a PR coup for them), but Saddam had Motive, Means, Opportunity, and Salman Pak is (was) the only dedicated "Boxcutter-vs-Boeing" terrorist camp in the world, as far as I know. As they say -- close enough for Government work.

But what now? When one (justly) shoots a murdering burglar, one does not then acquire a moral obligation to provide for his impoverished household who are now orphaned. I suppose it might be the "charitable" thing to do; but Constitutionally I can't find the justification for spending $5 Billion a month on works of Charity, and Pragmatically I am pessimistic about the prospects of reforming Iraq into a Constitutional Republic with liberty and justice for all. What's the "exit strategy"? Is there an "exit strategy"?

No-one but no-one should stop saying prayers for our troops. That does not mean that we could not just as easily pray for them if they were stationed in North Carolina (or along the southern border? I can dream...).

Bring 'em back alive -- and soon, I say.

[George W. Bush]

Granted, we don't necessarily have absolutely definitive proof that the 9/11 hijackers specifically trained at Salman Pak (wish the Bush Admin had not put it on the back burner; I think that this would be a PR coup for them), but Saddam had Motive, Means, Opportunity, and Salman Pak is (was) the only dedicated "Boxcutter-vs-Boeing" terrorist camp in the world, as far as I know. As they say -- close enough for Government work.

We may not have proof on the 19 men from 9/11 but records are coming to light that Saddam's regime trained around 120,000 men in terrorist (not military) tactics. Plenty of justification there.

[George W. Bush]

What's the "exit strategy"? Is there an "exit strategy"?

Neither Bosnia nor Korea offers much hope for any early exit. Especially since we will eventually end up in partnership with the one-worlders in the EU and the U.N. Same thing applies to our new African involvement.

[AnAmericanMother]

Sadly I don't read Hebrew (never got further than my aleph-beis), but I do read Greek.

When Jesus quotes the Commandments to the rich man in Mark 10:19, the text uses the Greek word foneuw, which means "to commit murder".

The confusion arose around the meaning of the word "kill" in King James's time. It's been about 400 years, and meanings of words change. (By the way, it's the KJV, not the more modern translations, that started this confusion.)