Where is the outrage?

Can somebody please explain this?

I’ll speak to my war supporting Christian brothers and sisters. I hear lot’s of “support our troops” from Christian organizations, and pulpits and the rest. Rarely do I hear a straight-forward acknowledgement of the fact that what we are “supporting” them in is often the killing of other human beings in the act of war.

That being said, I think there is also a proper and necessary place for a support of justice in regard to murderous abuses like the ones we know about here. Tell me please what your response is.

6 thoughts on “Where is the outrage?”

  1. Ariah, I’m not really a “war supporting Christian brother” so to speak, but I’m really bothered by this so here’s my two cents anyway. I agree with you that this is atrocious, and the United States should have done more to punish those guilty for this crime. I’ve talked to several people who say that the reason the US should not support the ICC or be under its jurisdiction is because we don’t want our soldiers tried there for stuff like this. But really, isn’t it a joke if all we give out is two to three months in prison? Two to three months for torturing another human being to the point of death? How can we claim to stand for justice if we invade one guy’s country because of the torture and abuse he put his citizens through, but when we are the culprits, all we give out is a slap on the wrist? I think they should have been dishonorably discharged and sentenced to some serious jail time. And there should be (perhaps there has been) an inquiry into how high up the authorization for this torture went. There needs to be someone keeping the US accountable because it would appear that we aren’t really doing a good job.

  2. Ariah, I think you raise 2 completely separate issues, so as a Christian and an active duty military member, I’ll give you some brief thoughts on both.

    1)”Rarely do I hear a straight-forward acknowledgement of the fact that what we are “supporting” them in is often the killing of other human beings in the act of war.”

    Yes, that is the nature of the military. I wish it didn’t have to be that way, but it does. I firmly believe that if there was another way to remove Saddam from power and to reduce the threat against the US, we would have done it rather than go to war. In fact, we put up with a lot more stuff that I think we should have (hindering arms inspections, etc). As for Christians supporting this effort, I can cite many many examples of God Himself condoning and even aiding in war (David vs the Philistines, Gideon vs the Mideonites, etc, etc). Murder is wrong (as it was in the Old Testament), but there are times when the best course of action requires killing another human.

    2)Regarding, the punishments handed down to those involved with torturing Iraqis, I can’t say that I agree, but I do understand. Likewise, I can’t condone what they did to the Iraqis, but I can certainly sympathize with them and understand. If you really can’t fathom why anyone would do such a thing, and you have a strong stomach, check out the videos (“Know your enemy” section) on Michael Savage’s website. If you can watch even one and not want to torture them yourselves, you are a better man/woman than I am. Again, IT IS WRONG TO TORTURE, but our soldiers have to put up with unbelievable things on a daily basis and that has to take a toll. And the court-martial members understand this as well – think of it as mitigating circumstances in a normal case. Does that make the light sentencing ok? No, not really. Does it make it understandable? It does for me.

    God Bless…

  3. Dear Brian,

    Regarding #1 on your response…didn’t Jesus himself die rather than annihalate His “enemies”? And I was wondering what response you have to Jesus Christ’s teachings about treatment of enemies and those who persecute you….and what about Paul too? I never see Jesus killing anyone, and if you are really a “little Christ” as “Christians” call themselves, how do you justify killing? I don’t see how you can see the congruency of your belief-system and your actions??

    Peacably and with a little confusion,
    Mindy

  4. Mindy,
    So your argument would be that if Jesus’ country (I know He didn’t have a “country” per se) was attacked, He would have stood idly by?

    I justify killing by following the principles outlined in the Word of God. As I discussed above, God clearly allows for killing in the OT. Neither you nor anyone else on this site has disputed that. So what changed? Jesus didn’t say anything about it.

    I also believe that I am ultimately saving lives by going to war. If someone directly threatened the lives of your family could you kill them? I assume you would say yes. Then why not indirectly?

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