Monday, May 29, 2006

Memorial Day

We have a controversy at our house over war. It's funny in a way because Chris has always known where I stand so I don't know why he seems surprised by my feelings against it. Maybe I'm just more vocal about it lately. Anyway, Chris thinks war is a necessary evil at times. I think there's always another option and we should be investing our time and money in discovering them. My hero is Gandhi. I don't know who Chris's hero is--maybe he'll share. I do support our troops and I do honor those that have died in war. I just think it is sad that they are put in that position. How many lives we honor today...maybe if nonviolent methods like boycotting, fasting, sit ins, etc were used then we wouldn't be mourning them now. I'm not saying turn the other cheek and get run over. We should all stand up for what we believe in. It's just I don't think people need to get killed to do it. I'm interested what other people think, although I might be in the minority on my views since this is Chris' blog. I'm taking a risk!
Anyway, it's been a fun weekend. We bought a grill finally so, Chris will tell you, he feels secure in his manhood again! We had steaks last night (Thanks Dad! We've been saving them for our first grill food.) and they were fabulous. I painted Nolan's room. He's going to have a Star Wars theme. He had a mural in his room that Chris and I did 4 years ago and it took 4 coats of paint to hide it. It's a butter yellow now, his pick. And of course lots of baseball games to go to. Friday night was really wet on the field and Thomas was a mud monster by the time it was over. Only 6 games left. Chris has to work today and it's raining so I have to figure out how to keep the kids busy. Hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day. Maybe you can have controversy over war in your house today too!

EDITOR'S NOTE: The "controversy" evolved from a discussion about the Revolutionary War, not Iraq.

5 comments:

Roon said...

Well the first person to leap to mind would be my dad. But I think Kris is talking about historical figures. That's a tough one. I'll have to give it more thought.

joevideo said...

"the truman doctrine" was that people had to die via atom bomb so that even more people wouldn't die. my opinion is that no human being should ever make a decision to kill another no matter what. but then again, the reason i'm sitting here in air conditioned comfort is because we won that war. i guess there's what's nice "in theory" vs. what really works. i'm against war but i guess we have to defend ourselves. the pre-emptive war in iraq is an entirely different animal. (then again, maybe you could argue that the revolutionary war was something we started too)

Aaron Hull said...

Ok…I originally posted a comment to your blog last night, but I deleted it this morning after sleeping on it and thinking more about what you are trying to say. I have to hand it to you; it takes guts writing beliefs like that on a conservative blog.

Now as far as war is concerned, I agree with you...We should be using alternative peaceful methods towards solving problems and war should be used only as a last resort. I believe 95% of the world problems can be solved without wars. However, when we are attacked like we were on 9/11 we need to defend ourselves and go after killers like Osama and the Talliban in Afgan.

I don’t really think I have to bring up the Iraq War because I think you already know my view on it. I will say this: we are not fighting it for the same reasons (freedom) that the president is saying we are fighting it for and all the problems could have been solved without 2,464 service men and women dying.

Anonymous said...

I would like to point out the "forgotten" heroes, those who did not die on the battlefield but are now maimed, whose numbers are in excess of 18,000. Medical advances have made this “conflict” like no other before. Injuries obtained today in Iraq would have been fatal in Viet Nam, injuries that had 50% dieing are mostly non-fatal now. If we had the same survival number from Viet Nam for Iraq there would be close to 10,000 dead. But instead they live and for what? An administration and controlling party that takes away their benefits! Thanks for making us rich, sorry about the missing hands.
[I have been in a VA hospital; it is not like another hospital]

Now, living in a colonial house whose owner answered the alarm to gather in Lexington, has given me an interesting insight into what was going on back then. It was not an easy thing to do and no one really wanted armed conflict. However, people felt that they had no choice but to make a stand for what they believed in and turn their guns on their family, friends, and neighbors. This was a very personal war – most people did not die from musket fire, but rather from the bayonet at the musket (which means you are three feet away when you kill them). So, yes there are things that you have to fight for, and then there are those that you don’t (especially when lied to and preached to from their high alter).

Why is it that the three countries that formed the “axis-of-evil,” two now have or will have true weapons of mass destruction? Stay the course to making my handlers richer and you poorer in more ways than one.

Marc

Anonymous said...

When did Viet Nam become 2 words?

Post a Comment