Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/07/10
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msmall@roanoke.infi.net (Marc James Small)7/10/0110:52 PM
> moral integrity
Moral integrity is about wholeness of one's self. Not whether one
is for or against going off to war and all of its ramifications.
A wise man said, "It is regrettable that weapons must sometimes
be used, but occasionally, survival demands it. The wise go forth
with weapons only as a last resort. They never rejoice in the
skill of weapons, nor do they glorify war.
When death, pain, and destruction are visited upon what you
hold to be most sacred, the spiritual price is devastating. What
hurts more than one's own suffering is bearing witness to the
suffering of others. The regret of seeing human beings at their
worst and the sheer pain of not being able to help the victims
can never be redeemed. If you go personally to war, you cross the
line yourself. You sacrifice ideals for survival and the fury of
killing. That alters you forever. That is why no one rushes to be
a veteran. Think before you want to change so unalterably. The
stakes are not merely one's life, but one's very humanity."
I say, honor each man for his choices in hard times; those who
went and those didn't. We have no right to judge or shame a man
whom we've not shared some long and serious time with.
George