Posted on 09/17/2001 3:16:52 PM PDT by maxwell
Okay, my first question is-- WHO DO THEY THINK THEY'RE KIDDING?! Let me put this into context: this is the text of a flyer that's being posted around the campus where I attend graduate school:
WAR IS TERRORISM
Contact your Congressmen and speak out against unneeded and violent retaliation. The lives of foreign peoples [sic] and US soldiers will not bring back those lost in the recent tragedy in New York.
For more information about US foreign policy and the events that have taken place in the US and abroad, refer to the following websites:
www.indymedia.org
www.zmag.org
www.wtowatch.org
www.globalexchange.org
www.wto.org
www.protest.net
www.slashdot.org
Throughout the 20th Century violence and military might has been used to curb international terrorism. It hasn't worked. We need a new solution for a new century. Let's show that America has learned something from Vietnam, from Libya, from Iraq, from Israel, and Afghanistan.
Above all, don't listen to CNN and the major news networks. They say we are at war. They say that this is the new Pearl Harbor. Inform yourself. Terrorism is not new. Learn from the mistakes of the past.
Keep yourself informed and inform Congress in turn. The only way we can prevent needless violence is through active protest.
[emphasis mine]
I won't even address the appalling sentence structure and composition (and this is one of the better schools... sheesh...)-- that last line gets me. What, d'ya think suicidal religious fanatics are going to pay attention to a few flyers and some nude picketing?! The sheer assininity of kids these days floors me... Didn't bother to check out the links, but I speculate it's more of the same...
So my question to the rest of y'all is, how much anti-war rhetoric have you come across so far?
On the other hand, I've heard a couple of Bush-bashing, putrid pacifist comments, but they were from known socialists, one of whom lives off the government. Of course I told them right off.
President Bush is not going to go by the polls. He's going to go by what is right.
I witnessed the 1993 bombing. My wife and my two brothers witnessed this attack. My son survived ground zero. My son and I were back at the scene the next day, in the pit, digging with our hands. We went with my wife's blessing even though surrounding buildings were still considered too shaky to stand. The number of Irish, Italian and Puerto Rican in the NYFD and NYPD make up the overwhelming percentages of these services. They made up the bulk of the over 300 dead from these services. When we were working in the wreckage the majority of the VOLUNTEERS with us were from the construction trades. Most of these are also Catholic. My parish lost six members. Italian Catholics were the most represented ethnic group in service in WW2.
Catholic Americans have always and will always hold up our end and more in whatever our country asks of us. To go out of your way to focus on the forgiving words of a nun and a few un-named others betrays your own prejudice. A prejudice based on religion....sound familiar?
The Amish? The Mennonites? The Quakers? Dorothy Day? And what about the tradition of pacifism in the Christian churches over the centuries? A very good case can be made that the early Christians (before Constantine) were pacifists. Objection to violence on New Testament grounds is not the same thing as the smug posturing in the initial post, not even close.
(Chuckle) I'll agree to Hollywood - but the New Yorkers have spunk. Their toughness during very painful, difficult times has impressed me...so I guess I'd stand by them. Even if they did elect the hildebeast.
These nuns are sowing confusion and sorrow, IMHO.
You're absolutely correct. Not only that, they are trying to bring the church down from within with their push for gay rights and other garbage that they spew. I've been writing letters and trying to alert my congregation and diocese of these people. They need to be removed from their positions within the church. Now is the time for reform, and for rooting these people out.
Hint - It is good to hate evil and war against it.
I was so upset by this that I began crying after Communion. All those innocent people murdered and my church wants me/us to do nothing? I expected my priest to say something about how war is hell, some more innocent people may die but that is the price to be paid by the aggressors in this tragedy, but we must seek justice....instead it was all this mumbo jumbo pacifist stuff. And this is a conservative church in Scottsdale, Arizona, not exactly a hotbed of liberalism.
Well, I'm sorry, for once I do not agree with the position my church has (seemingly) taken on this. In my opinion, if we had followed this advice after Pearl Harbor, we'd all be speaking German or Japanese today!
I am truly sorry for my insensitive comments. Many of us are finding our way back to the church and are simply seeking answers to difficult questions. I understand the nun's merciful forgiveness and commend her faith and courage, and know that Jesus commands us to do just this. Hence, my frustration and questions.
Thank you for being there on the front lines, and please accept my apologies. I have a deep respect for the Catholic church and spoke with a sincere desire to understand, not criticise.
Anger is a desire for revenge. "To desire vengeance in order to do evil to someone who should be punished is illicit," but it is praiseworthy to impose restitution "to correct vices and maintain justice." [St. Thomas Aquinas, ST II-II q158, a1 ad3]
The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:
- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
- there must be serious prospects of success;
- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war" doctrine. The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.
All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed." [Cf. Vatican II, Guadium et spes 79, 4]
I think this is a good time to push for major reform within our Church. People like you and I should not sit idly by and let these liberal CINO'S speak on our behalf. We need to challenge them and spread the truth regarding justice and the protection of the innocent. Pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit.
I worked with a guy from Alberta, Alabama in the pit at ground zero. He went under the rubble to look for bodies. He drove 1400 miles to help. What did you do when America was attacked?
btw did you know that the old Irish used fitz in front of a name to show the lack of a marriage between the parents?
We hear a lot of this type of rhetoric but not much in the way of details. I suspect the solution they have in mind is to have lots of protests and let people know they are opposed to terrorism. Yup, that oughta do it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.