InterAirplay said:
In case you missed it, I still support military action against them. And I'm not trying to be aloof. A terrorist attempts to kill a child, you shoot him. Don't get me wrong. I just don't think that the beliefs they fight for make them evil. The beliefs themselves? sure. but the man himself? would he still do this if he was brought up and educated well?
to re-iterate: by all means, they need to be stopped. But I don't think that their deaths should be made light of any more than our own side's losses. After all, their lives could have been dedicated to something good. That's the reason why i think that losses on both sides are equally ragic. But don't get me wrong, I DO support the war, regardless of the complex and questonable political motivations. Less Taliban = good thing. it's just a shame wen eed to do it with bullets.
Just because I believe that all death is equally tragic does not mean I want to elevate myself above this conflict. I could never take part in it, but I don't act as though that puts me above it. Someone has to do it. I'm not trying to put both sides in the right or rationalise the Taliban's beliefs, I must have been communicating myself very poorly if that's how it came accross because I usually despise those aloof little twats who seperate themselves from humanity for the sake of a bit of self-importance, and had no desire to represent that view.
I need sleep. Tell you what, tomrrow I'll try to clean up my argument till it makes some kind of sense, and then fire it back to you if you're still up for discussing this later on. It's a talk that's worth having.
I get what you're saying, I think. Any human death, for whatever reason, is a waste. This is true, and I'm glad you think that, and I wish other people did too.
And I don't think you need explaining/reasoning to. But I'm going to say this anyway because I had to read your and treblaine's massive walls of text.
It's a shame the taliban have to die, because of what they
could be. It is, however, NOT a shame that we are killing them, because of what they
are. You've said this yourself, in a roundabout way. And you are right, it is a shame we have to do it with bullets, if only we could kill the belief itself.
However.
Have you ever actually seen a belief killed? It would have to be proved utterly and completely wrong, such as the earth being flat. The taliban, like numerous other organizations, have overcome this disadvantage. They've done this by growing their roots down into theology. By doing this they provide their own reasoning, their own truths. And, due to the nature of theology, we can't kill that belief. As the movie character "V" once said, "beneath this mask there is more than just flesh, there is an idea, and idea's are bullet-proof."
Thankfully, the man carrying the idea is not. And that is why the taliban have to die.[footnote]On the bright side, there are reports that radical islamists have a bit of a self destructive theology. No sane person is much willing to blow themselves up, for whatever reason.[/footnote]
Seriously, find a way to kill an idea, and you've found a way to kill religion. When you do that, contact me. >_>
