Well Col, (my step mothers name is colleen) obviously I read the other e-mail first, here though you are asking some rather pointed questions. There is a certain naïveté which comes with being young and idealistic. I was there, I lived it. Does it mean in general terms that you are wrong to be that way, to fight for some of those causes, not at all. There is though a balance which must be struck. There is though a practicality and a sense of realism which must be introduced into the discussion. (makes sense)
There is not enough money on earth to fix all that is wrong, given the reality of life today.(probably true but have we tried, and there is certainly enough to get us half way there) Give all the money you want to “fix” all the ills which exist in the underdeveloped nations of this world and unfortunately, too much of what you give is “stolen” by the local government or those organized to manage the aid process. (true) Does that mean we don’t give? No, this means you learn to be selective as to where your assistance, in whatever form it might take, has the greatest impact. (weapons?)This applies whether you are an individual or the greatest nation on earth.
War is a terrible thing. Terrorism, one might argue is even more evil because its’ aim is to create the greatest amount of damage possible, on innocent people in order to undermine their will to resist. (not always true especially accordin to our standards of who terrorists are, by our standards the founding fathers were terrorists...) There are many acts of terrorism we have witnessed as a society during the last couple decades. Most of these acts of terrorism have been enacted in the name of God because of the religious intolerance which exists in so many places on this earth. (or by us in the name of money or "freedom")Arabs and Jews kill each other in the name of God, the Irish kill each other in the name of God, Muslims and Catholics kill each other in the name of God, Hindus and Muslims kill each other in the name of God.
I guess when the world was smaller and the risk of nuclear holocaust lied only with the Soviet Union and the United States, you could count on the balance of power to work. (right....so then those duck and cover videos were for?) You could count on those with the power to end life on earth to understand the futility of that course. Now religion enters into it, and the quickest way to become one with God is to die on the battlefield while maiming “your enemy”. There is no regard for life. Let’s complicate things a little further, give each of these terrorist regimes access to nuclear weaponry and give each of them the capacity to kill millions, hundreds of millions, maybe, even destroy the world. (has any of that even come close? and when we were supplying saddam with the weapons did we think he wasnt going to use them, rather just keep them in the refridgerator?)
So this is our brave new world. Do we stay on the sidelines hoping to negotiate a settlement, hoping they see the futility of their actions, hoping their hatred of mankind turns to love? (no) Do we placate as the world once did with the likes of Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini or the Emperor of Japan? (this is that question of if u had a gun to a young adolf hitlers head would you pull the trigger, i always answer no, but thats doesnt mean sit by and watch. there are plenty of routes to take that were not taken. same with saddam this time) Whether we like it or not, our role in today’s world will not allow us to risk the safety of our citizens, nor that of all of mankind’s by becoming an isolationist (true). Force is the only thing that will be understood. (false) Force is the only thing which can interdict this obvious terrorist inevitability. (false) Who knows, if done properly, this might even lead to the start of something new in the Middle East, though I doubt that.(so hes saying force will stop it but then saying he doubts that force will stop it) Given what I have seen and experienced in my life, military action is the right course of action, much to my chagrin. (the right course for whom? he just said it wouldnt help..and if it helps us now but doesnt stabalize the region then doesnt that bring 50,000 more terrorists to our doors in the future?)
anyway this is not the letter i will be writing back to my step mother, that will be more literate logical and i will have some proof as well as maybe some ideas that might help her see a different side, also i think i will post a sermon my mom wrote a few weeks ago. so sorry but it is interesting.
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