<originally posted as a reply in this forum thread at Volconvo. com regarding a Marine accused of killing a puppy. I thought the preceding comment, which mentioned trained killers and innocent civilians, was inconsistent in my experience.>
In defense of those of us who have served in the military, I feel a need to object to this bit of hyperbole.
Yes, soldiers are trained to kill. They are also taught how to injure without killing and how to disengage from a situation without injury to anyone. They’re also taught first aid skills so they can tend to those who are injured, even if they’re the enemy.
Soldiers are taught how to recognize the enemy and to only direct fire at them, but when insurgents disguise themselves as citizens and use children and other innocent civilians as defensive shields, they increase the risk that our soldiers will kill innocents. Is that the soldiers fault or are the insurgents to blame? Soldiers in the field are never taught or lead to think that killing civilians is approved. It happens all too frequently in this current conflict, but in the vast majority of cases where it does I have no doubt that it was both accidental and deeply regretted by the soldiers responsible. Collateral damage is to be avoided whenever possible, and minimized when it isn’t. Anyone who enjoys killing others is an anomaly, whether civilian or military. They are malformed humans. They contribute nothing to the advancement of our species.
Now this guy sounds like one of those guys. And those guys are a threat to their own species. It’s not uncommon among animals for a small percentage to “loose it”, to turn on their pack mates without apparent regard. It’s perhaps the ultimate betrayal of trust in a group, the greatest threat another can face, the threat of death.
It’s the pleasure taken in the killing of anything that offends me. It also offends me that the military appears more upset over the publicity than the actual offense.
Perhaps if our perception of death were different our reaction to those who enjoy killing their own would also be other than it is. But that’s not the case. In general our species fears death; it’s the great unknown, the trip everyone makes and no one (we personally know in the flesh, which in the end is all that really counts) ever returns from, an absolute change from what we know and are comfortable with to another state, be it nothingness, judgment or virgins. At the very heart of the matter is that death means the end of this personality I’ve come to know so very well (if I’m delusional I still would think that I know myself well, though subjectively and oblivious to the persona I project to others). I know of no religion, new age group or stoned guru who suggests that after death life just picks right back up and we carry on as if nothing happened. Everyone agrees that the thing I’ve been calling [I]me [/I]for my whole life will in large part or its entirety cease to exist. I’ll either be something or someone else with no memory of this life, or I’ll be nothing. Either way, I won’t be the me I am at this moment.
And there’s no escaping it.
You can’t hide from it, you can’t elude it, you can’t buy it off, you can’t impress it with your talents and you can’t ignore it.
It’s slightly worse for non-believers. Death sucks. If what I strongly suspect happens after death is proven out, this ride will be over. I got my quarter’s worth. No second rides. Get off now, let the other kids have a chance. I happen to be a selfish little bastard. I think I deserve a few rides. Too bad. Wish all you want. Make up stories to make yourself feel better about it. None of it matters. You’re still going to die. Your cells will decide when and from what. Blindly, according to natural laws they aren’t even aware of. Your cells don’t care what happens to you or me. They’ll go on.
Anyway, people who glorify death, celebrate death, cause death with pleasure scare atheists. They threaten the only life I get.
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