Need I point out that this phrase is an utter irrelevancy? Nevertheless it has been uttered.
The discussion, which apparently triggered your response, was an admonition to avoid supporting a group which had apparently aligned itself with terrorists.
Whatever your personal investment in the issue, or the group in question, I am sure that you will agree that the innocent have a right to be unharmed.
So the actions of the British are not pertinent, nicht wahr?
Justifying violent action against innocent people is the behavior of terrorists, and supporting that action by any means, including adopting stirring music to cheer them on, is indefensible to a gentle thinking civilized person.
Moreover, bringing up past actions as a reason to do knowingly wrong things locks you into an inescapable cycle of revenge strike for revenge strike. We need to move beyond that.
Like the mythical Vulcans, we need to surrender, and sunder, our emotions to the logic of cooperative Enterprise and mutual benefit.
The formulation is starkly simple: Either you are with us, or you are with the Terrorists.
We may disagree, and no doubt we should. But let us disagree agreeably.
It's the civilized thing to do.
While the perspective of the IRA by many is of a young man with a cute accent who had suffered some horrible wrong the reality is that they are a communist group who are dedicated to spreading that philosophy through out the world by terror.
One of their trainee's blew up the free clinic where my mom worked. I doubt anyone in that neighborhood could have told you a single thing the IRA stood for or against. The closest thing we had to British were the teabags. But simply by being there we were providing people with hope, care and a chance of a better life. And that made them less likely to embrace communism. So we had to go.
To assume the IRA is about Ireland is the same as assuming that Hamas is about the West Bank. It is a label they slap on to try to sell their actions to the credulous. Bottom line is that their goal is the take over of the world by their respective philosophies.
That was great post, Bob!!
I'm too involved to act civilised towards IRA supporters!
Well stated ol pal!!