When the number of US military casualties hit 2,000, I posted the number above my desk, somehow believing that by force of will, I could keep the number from growing, And this week, when the number hit 3,000, I felt even more grief-stricken. This entire situation our country has gotten into seems endless and hopeless. We interfered in a culture rife with hate and violence, bringing our 21st century weapons into a land of 14th century mentality. We had completely forgotten that JFK had said that we couldn’t possibly police the entire world.
Now I read and hear that the President is going to give us a speech about sacrifice. Sacrifice? Have we not sacrificed enough? How many more deaths of promising young Americans must it take? And what is especially offensive is the fact that sacrifice is a word full of religious connotations – the offering up of something precious to God. And yet, the term “human sacrifice” conjures up entirely different images.
But here we are, about to be told, in veiled language, that we should continue to make human sacrifices – how much different does that make us from those who preach the sanctity of “martyrdom?”
I do not believe in a Supreme Being that sanctifies any of this. I believe in a civilization that can follow the one commandment so logical, so understandable, that it was never written down. I am sure that God, or Allah, or Buddha expected us to hear this commandment in our hearts:
“Thou shalt not commit war in my name.”
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