Posted on 08/02/2005 8:39:52 AM PDT by jstassis
AT LEAST God told Moses the truth. Before laying on him the requirements of a monotheistic faith that would immediately cause violent conflict with idol-worshipers, God said, ''It is a terrible thing that I will do with you." And so it was.
The statement comes in the very verses of Exodus that define the covenant God makes with Moses and his harried people. ''I shall do marvels," God promises. But it is the certainty of ''the terrible thing" that defines this relationship going forward. The terrible thing, first, of permanent war against the Amorites, the Canaanites, and their eternal successors. The terrible thing, existentially, of living without idols. The terrible thing of the Law, which all inevitably violate. The terrible thing of being forced to face the truth, a mandate God gives by example with this stark declaration at the outset.
In the United States of America, a terrible thing shapes our relationship to the world, but we do not admit it, not even on its unhappy anniversary. Sixty years ago this week, American B-29s named Enola Gay and Bock's Car dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities. The men responsible insisted, in the face of shocking devastation, that the bombs were not so terrible.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Boston Globe - says it all, from the land of Kennedy and Kerry. The lame irrelevance and twisted thinking of left, just continues to spray all over us.
The Japanese learned their lesson. Maybe Tancredo was onto something.
"The men responsible insisted, in the face of shocking devastation, that the bombs were not so terrible."
The bombs _were_ terrible - that was the whole point. It ended the most devastating conflict in human history. Try to tell me something good didn't come from it.
I'm here typing this because we dropped the bombs on Japan. My father was a Marine who barely survived the battle of Okinawa and was in the process of training for the invasion of Tokyo Bay when the war ended. US military planners assumed 100% casualties for the first wave, which happened to be my dad's wave.
What is bizarre is how he got there. There is a big black hole in the whole premise of his article.
"I guess Pearl Harbor was our fault too."
To play the DUmmie here I would have to say that Japans attack was a response to our sanctions that were strangling them. Now somebody else will have to explain why the Japanese slaughter of the Chinese was our fault.
1945 was the bloodiest year in human history. Hundreds of thousands were dying each month in Asia due to the Japanese occupation. Dropping the bombs saved millions of Asian lives, including untold numbers of Japanese.
And then they get inscensed when we question their patriotism. Neat trick, huh?
Interesting how Japan and Iraq were both peaceful little countries, doing no harm, until the US decided to attack out of the blue.
What about the thousands and thousands of civilians being killed and otherwise suffering every month that the Japanese (in WWII) and Saddam Hussein (remember the liberal rallying cry - "the sanctions are causing starvation?") stayed in power? if the focus is on civilian casualties look at both sides of the ledger.
There's a good article in the current Weekly Standard on why Truman dropped the bomb. Basically it says that the Japanese were NOT ready to surrender, they were undertaking a massive buildup just where the Americans were to land in Operation Olympic, and the military's awareness of this was causing second thoughts about going ahead with the invasion.
What had to be done, had to be done.
And Bush IS trying to deal with proliferation.
the writer is a boob.
64 years ago Japan started a terrible thing that killed 25,000,000 people....
Well then, it was okay for them to attack us.
Glad you're here!
God bless your Dad.
I already posted my views on the article.
I was just playing the role of DUmmie I don't really believe it.
He is an angry ex-priest who despises all religion, especially the one in which he was raised.
I'll point out, of course, that Carroll is misusing the word "terrible" in an embarassingly amateurish way.
The Hebrew word in Ex 34:10 which is translated by the KJV as "terrible" is nora' - which really means "awe-provoking."
For example, the Jewish holiday season between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the Yamim Nora'im - commonly translated as "The Days of Awe", not "The Days of Terribleness."
God is telling Moses that he is doing something unfathomable - intervening in history to benefit the people of Israel by giving them their land.
You too? My dad flew fighter escorts for the bombers and he was on Okinawa too, expecting to die in the first attacks.
This is not an unhappy anniversary, today is the celebration of breaking the back of the Japanese bid for world domination.
I will now definitely celebrate this tonight. I might decorate my house. F**k the Globe.
my father in law was on a boat, headed for the invasion of japan, when the bombs were dropped, ending the war. He was a lieutenant, and was to be in the first wave. he was basically told he was "cannon fodder" and "expendible". he was not expected to survive. If not for the bomb, my wife would not have been born, and neither would my children. The bomb saved millions of american lives, and tens of millions of japanese lives.
I'll second that. Dad's proudest achievement, next to his children, was his Marine Corps service. Interestingly, he was also a lifelong liberal Democrat. Go figure!
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