The real thinking behind Rethink Afghanistan.
With the report from USA Today that the group Rethink Afghanistan was quick to jump on this. But I think that it should be noted that reasoning behind the group Rethink Afghanistan has nothing to do with Afghanistan.
It should be interesting to know that is from a conversation that started almost two years ago with Derrick Crowe.
U.S. Military Learning to Get Soldiers to Kill on Reflex, Drop Moral Reasoning
Sounds like something recently published. But here is the the money shot.
I reject one of your premises here: that firing a weapon could ever be a “right choice,” for any reason.
But then it goes deep into religion and ideals. But this is a case of ideals conflicting with reality. Which in this case the field of play being Afghanistan.
If you want to dispute the idea that Christians should be willing to die rather than kill an insurgent, I feel you have to do one of the following:
1) Challenge my interpretation of the Good Friday narrative and of the Gospel stories in general and what they tell us about Jesus. If you’re not going to do that, I think you’ll have to
2a) Challenge whether Jesus intended his followers to base their ethics on his teachings and example, or
2b) Assert that Jesus was wrong, and that Christians in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be following his teachings or example. (Maybe this is your intent?)
But it really comes down to the fact that this conflict of ideals will not allow for a military option to be viewed as successful , regardless of if it is or not. That is the purpose of Rethink Afghanistan.
Category: Antiwar crowd, Terror War
Making sure Soldiers do their Job on reflex is kind of the POINT of training. But lets ask for instance what happens when America has no trigger pullers. Who, pray tell, will take out the garbage? Because China’s track record on human rights is abysmal, as was the Soviet Union, and Europe is a bit of a joke on that scene. so the question to pose to these yahoos is if not us, who?
I like how he wraps himself in the christian faith while totally misunderstanding it. We arn’t suposed to live our lives the same way as Jesus, because we arn’t Jesus. He was divine, the perfect person and he was betrayed and put to death by people that feared his message of freedom.
Doc Bailey,
“On reflex” means something different from the point you’re making. There is a drive to eradicate the moral reasoning all men and women are born with, and turn them into serial murderers. Murder without remorse, murder as the first choice. It’s what’s behind the drive to get rid of chaplains and any moral underpinning soldiers possess.
Yes we train to react reflexively – but also to know that the blur beyond the front sight post is a combatant and not a little girl holding her dolly.
Yep, I had a similar conversation with him on his personal blog. Despite that fact that I strongly disagree with most things he has said, he is a good guy overall.
I felt that this post was needed because like the conversation about the reflective fire training that it is not a simple issue of just leaving Afghanistan. It is a issue is ideals and what happens when theory meets real life application.
Sporkmaster,
Part of the issue I’m having with this post is the assumption that Xt is some how nothing but sweetness and light. That the Xt has been taken out of context to support a very narrow interpretation of Him, His ethics, His ways. This narrow interpretation gives solace to the man or woman who refuse arms as a matter of choice.
Xt is a fair bit larger than this narrow, self-serving interpretation. His order for his apostles to sell their garments to buy swords for their protection tends to blow away the concept of uber-ever-meekness. The Book of Revelation would be a revelation. There are still other aspects in the New Testament that don’t find fault with soldiers and military service.
Hey Warren:
Without getting pulled too far into a theological debate which you may or may not be interested in, just want to make a couple of points:
Rethink Afghanistan’s positions aren’t determined by my understanding of Christian theology. The campaign was launched before I came to work for them, and I played no role in the production of the documentary around which the project is organized. I came to work for them because I felt doing so was a good use of my time given my beliefs and my background on the issue due to previous employment, but the position and general outlook of the campaign was set before I came along.
Hope all is well with you and your family.