Dear God, I have a crisis. This week my friend Debbie invited me to an anti-war rally. At first I was really upset by this because I feel that the anti-war people are denigrating our troops and the fight they are making for freedom. But, on the other hand, I know that in my heart of hearts I don’t support this war and I’m not even sure that it is in the name of freedom. I ask you God for strength to see the difference between politics and morality. When is it right to take a stand? Should I move out of my comfort zone and say: this is not right? Can a political action be the same as a moral one? Oh, please God.Lyn Hutton, ToledoShare:
April 11th, 2008 at 3:11 am
Dear Lyn,
U have to know that a political action may not have moral. War is an in moral action, been in name of freedom (by the way, that´s a big lie) or in name of God. U have to divide the politic from the moral, becose the moral only belongs to the people. But u live in a very different country that have a poor activims in politics, better think before how to make the difference voting other people to rule.
And other thing, the troops that go to the war (actually) they go for the money, not for the freedom, love, peace o anything. I can see this, and i am from Argentina.
Sorry for my poor english.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
hmm… I think he might respond at some point!
April 13th, 2008 at 2:55 am
Dear Lyn,
If I understand you correctly, you’re asking if a political action (such as protesting a war) can be a moral one. My answer is: absolutely! The sad truth is that the majority of the time, governments go to war with at best amoral considerations. Thousands if not millions of lives are destroyed for primarily economic reasons, while the government or governments responsible cite reasons of morality (Saddam gassed “his own” people, Saddam was a brutal dictator) to get public support for their actions. While these things are true, in having a discerning, critical eye and spirit, we have a moral responsibility as a people to become educated on what is truly leading us to action. If a war that has caused the loss of thousands of our troops and, to some reports, millions of Iraqis has been laid on false pretenses of freedom and democracy, we are obligated to take a stand! The sad truth is that many of our leaders, in their own immorality, play upon our own morality to conduct their evil, and yes, it is evil. They will be judged, but we must do our part in this life.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:45 am
Dearest Lyn,
I believe you already have the answers that you seek.
Sometimes we must come to our own conclusions, our own truth about what is going on in the world, rather than following what we are told is the right thing to do or believe.
Sometimes just asking the question opens us up to the answer.
April 15th, 2008 at 4:17 am
Did it ever occur to you that you are supporting the troops by bringing them home from an immoral war? I do not understand why the two views should be in conflict.
April 15th, 2008 at 9:26 am
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April 15th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I agree with Juan. Perhaps it is because I´m south american too. politics and moral are not in the same track… and I´m sorry to disappoint you: it´s got nothing to do with freedom.
I think you have to read more about international history and politics… and as far as I know, “your troops” never did nothing in orther to deffend nobody’s freedom but yours… IF you think you can call it freedom. Because you have your brain soooo carefully formatted that you cannot even think clearly and see others realities.
When you learn that, you´ll find out your moral cannot support that kind of intermissions over other countries and cultures.
Find out more about the last 50 yars of history in Brasil, Argentina, Chile; etc. etc. etc. (Don´t have to go that far like Iraq). Read about Kissinger, Nixon, Roosvelt just to mension a few names… and it’s for sure you´ll find the answer to your question. (I swear I’n not a communist).
Let me tell you tomething: the only way to freedom, is knowledge. Not killing people or being killed….. Come-on!. We´re civilized or what?!
April 15th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Only this to say:Politicians like Bler and Bush are poppets.They are programed mind control marionette without emphathy and morality-just acters.
So,please,go to antiwar protests,cause nobody realy support wars and nobody like that at all.
Wee are manipulated.Mass media do “rationalisation” of evil acts and people dont react too much.
Wake up guys.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:54 am
By the very nature, all political actions are moral ones. They are all acting on what they believe is right or wrong. Sharing the expense of the country? I think its wrong and don’t want to pay taxes, but the government forces me to because they think it’s the right thing to do. What political decision or action isn’t a moral one? There are none. There are only people who make moral decisions without consulting morality. And toward these people, we must make clear our disgust.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I am about to marry a soldier, a good percentage of the town I grew up in and a lot of my best friends are soldiers. I support the troops and I love and care about all of the soldiers that I know. Even though I support our troops, I have been against the war since it started. Dont feel bad for not supporting the war, dot feel bad for thinking that the president is an idiot with a hidden agenda. Just because you dont support the war does not mean that you dont support the great men and women that have given there lives for this country.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
hey lyn
i think everyone has pointed that this war is not in the name of freedom. it really surprises me the level to which you are blinded from reality! its obvious though that you are a good person and perhaps the most important thing you can do for yourself and for others is to ALWAYS TAKE A STAND when you believe something is wrong and if that means that you have to move out of your comfort zone then do it - you make it sound so hard to take a stand… why? i am intrigued by this…
always believe in your own sense of right and wrong and dont let that be dictated to you.
May 17th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
polititions are people to… the reasons they go into the business.. moral or not a beside the point. we all lost track and faith sometimes maybe they have to. who knows what we are fighting for any more. if the troops are pulled out and we realise it bad we will rally for them back in.. in the end it will ballence out. go support a friend if she wants you there
if the rallys over i hope you went
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:20 pm
The problem, as i see it, is that the government has its own hidden (not so hidden GREED) and are relying on a group of dedicated professionals - the troops - to do their dirty work. I, as a parent, cannot stand the thought of losing a child under any circumstances. People who are not fighting may support the actions of their leaders waving the banner of “save the homeland at all costs;” however, the logic behind this illegal invasion in Iraq is all but crumbling as nothing, but loss of life has been gained. I am truly sorry for the 4,000+ soldiers who have perished, but I am outraged at the consequences that this endeavour has brought up to the rest of the world: a very unstable region, neglect to other conflicts such as Darfur, neglect of the US’s needs such as help in case of natural catastrophes like Katrina, flooding in the mid west, fires in No. Cal, etc. All of this for what, more petro-dollars in the pockets of a few mega-conglomerates that will allow their service stations choke consumers with $4+ per gallon when they are making record profits every quarter? And then, to top it all off, vet’s are being denied medical care upon their return, their families are struggling to survive. IMHO this invasion should be stopped and your proclivities will dictate your actions, hopefully sooner than later. VOTE and make a difference.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:43 am
Thou shalt not kill. How hard was that?
August 26th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
If you truly believe that there is an injustice against which your voice is required, go forth in Faith.
But if your struggle is with “morality” in regard to the war in Iraq, please also consider who and what it is we are fighting. These people strap explosives to two down-syndrome girls and remotely detonate them in a Bagdad market, they film beheadings, burn soldiers alive then hang them from a bridge, hysterically scream in unison for death to the West (that includes you) EVERY WEEK, plant IEDs under bloodied elderly people so they explode when our soldiers go to help them, etc, etc, etc. I’m sure it is SO easy for someone like Ricpts to feel smart regurgitating the leftist propaganda he/she has been suckling since birth. That propaganda is easy to come by as it has a near monopoly on Hollywood, print and broadcast “news” and American academia but it is making you all stupid. But hey, it’s really cool and fun to hate President Bush, it’s all the rage and takes no guts at all.
In case you haven’t noticed, the world has constructed an infrastructure that relies on fossil fuels. It has taken well over 200 years to build this and it is still growing fast (i.e. China and India). Only relatively recently we have decided we should replace this energy source for a myriad of reasons but these changes will take time. In the meantime, do you want the world’s supplies to be under the control of maniac dictators? Remember, there were 22 reasons our representatives voted almost unanimously to go into Iraq and get rid of Sadam. Hopefully I don’t have to remind you what a wonderful regime that was but you can always ask their Olympic soccer team about it, oh, wait, Sadam’s son killed them all when they lost. We accomplished that mission in less than a month. In the aftermath, we have been fighting Al Quida In Iraq, Islamic Jihad, Ansar al Islam, Sadr Militia, and other rogue terrorist groups sponsored by Iran and Syria, for the most part they are NOT IRAQIS!
If a stable pro-West democracy can emerge in Iraq, imagine the positive changes that will spread throughout the region. Consider the so-called honor killings, the horrible treatment of women and girls, the Dhimmitude thousands if not millions are forced into, the countless daily threats to any peace anywhere, the genocide, the torture chambers - forcing a man to watch his sons being slaughtered and his wife and daughters being raped. You wanna talk about MORALITY?!?! Should we commit troops in Darfur, probably, yeah. That might be a good short-term remedy. Or we can win in Iraq, encourage the demise of the demented 11th century ideologies of that region and we won’t need to go into Darfur because the sick Islamic militias will collapse and won’t ever be possible again.
Make no mistake about it, this IS about freedom. The jihadists from Iraq to London to Madrid to New York have ONE goal… to “see the Islamic flag flying above every capital city in the world.” It is called a caliphate and they have tried it FOUR before. They are fighting a 1000 year war whether you like it or not. Choosing not to stand against it is not being moral it is being weak and scared. So stop bitching, go back to school, study science and develop a cost-effective alternative to oil. In the meantime, thank GOD every day we have volunteer soldiers willing to fight on your behalf.
btw, Billy, it is Thou shalt not murder.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Most anti-war protestors lately either have friends or family in the military. I have quite a few friends and relatives who have been in combat and my boyfriend has enlisted himself in the Navy. I, like many others, believe this war was not about freedom or protection. I believe it was about money and oil. And the fact that many innocent soldiers were sent away and some killed or injured is why I decided to protest this war.
Even some rebuplicans have said that they do not approve of the war.
It’s hard to take a stand, it was hard for me too. But believe me when you say, I don’t approve of my fellow American dying in vain people will understand and so will God
November 8th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
“The Shock Doctrine–The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” by Naomi Klein explains very well the agenda of the modern corporatist state, and the necessity of war to enable it to exist. It’s one of the most important books I’ve ever read about how the world works. Naomi’s done an excellent job of explaining how war is planned, why it is waged and the inevitable consequences for the invaded and sacked countries. I think after you read this, you will find you have changed; will have learned things you may not want to believe, but will believe anyway because the evidence is too compelling. The soldiers are not dying for our country at all. They are dying for the corporatist state, so new markets can be opened up and the natural resources of Iraq can be exploited–well, stolen actually. The soldiers are the sacrificial lambs of a soulless, hollow, one agenda government that has merged with mega corporations in oil, IT and arms. There really is no conflict in not supporting a war and supporting troops. Troops are largely composed of unwitting innocents–they need all the support they can get.
November 15th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Good luck,
December 6th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
can i just point out, the war in iraq has nothing to do with america’s freedom.
also, the majority of troops in iraq just want to return home to their families and the effects of war are hurting them much more than we can imagine. by protesting against the war, these troops can be returned.