Thoughts on war and religion.
I generally don't follow the news, not as much as I should. As a result I feel pretty ignorant about a lot of things going on in the world. However my homepage at work is MSN (I'm too lazy to change the IE default) and I ended up reading about how Bush wants to put more troops in Iraq.
I've never been to Iraq. I have no idea what is going through the mind of someone who straps a bomb to their chest to take out a bunch of soldiers (or worse yet, civilians they're opposed to). I hear conflicting stories about how the citizens hate the US for being over there and how the people love the US for coming over to liberate them. I guess some may argue that the US is pushing their way of life onto Iraq but I just don't know. As a Canadian I feel pretty lucky living here and having the rights and privileges that I do. I know the media puts their own slant on things, that's one of the reasons I don't watch a lot of news. It seems to me however that the US can not win this war. It's the motivation of the opposition. The insurgents are not fighting for their country, they're dying for their religious faith. But if the US were to pull out...would they be abandoning the Iraqi citizens to a horrible fate.
I've had no desire to join the Canadian Armed Forces. I'll admit it...I'm just not that brave. The prospect of fighting over there terrifies me. How would I feel though if I were living in my grandfather's time of the second world war? If invasion of my own country were a real possibility? In Iraq are we viewed as the invaders? Is this a just war? I hear of the atrocities that are committed over there. Death squads, rape, ethnic cleansing. Doesn't sound too far off from the Holocaust to me and I can say that going against Nazi Germany WAS a just war. Part of me wants the US to pull out. To say fuck it, leave Iraq to it's own devices. There's so much hate over there how can they ever find peace? Or is it only a minority causing trouble? Maybe most of the citizens do want peace.
I don't blame religion, to do so is just a cop-out. It's people who kill other people and then twist religion to justify their own actions. I'm not Muslim but I'm willing to bet the Koran doesn't tell you to up and kill anyone you don't agree with. Look at Christianity. By all accounts a pretty peaceful religion but it has it's own dark history of bloodshed. Someone at some point had their own agenda and then twisted the Bible to justify their very non-Christian actions. Using religion is also a great way to get others to go along with your nefarious plans. "What, you don't want to kill Group A? I guess you're not following your faith. You're going to go to hell." I think some of these radical clerics in Iraq are using religion to gain power, especially among the younger crowd. I guess it shouldn't be surprising though. If you're young, disillusioned, and have nothing where else are you going to turn to find meaning in your life? It's just sad that people are taking advantage of this. Filling young people with hate and then strapping bombs to them.
Then again, I'm not very educated in such matters so what do I know.
I've never been to Iraq. I have no idea what is going through the mind of someone who straps a bomb to their chest to take out a bunch of soldiers (or worse yet, civilians they're opposed to). I hear conflicting stories about how the citizens hate the US for being over there and how the people love the US for coming over to liberate them. I guess some may argue that the US is pushing their way of life onto Iraq but I just don't know. As a Canadian I feel pretty lucky living here and having the rights and privileges that I do. I know the media puts their own slant on things, that's one of the reasons I don't watch a lot of news. It seems to me however that the US can not win this war. It's the motivation of the opposition. The insurgents are not fighting for their country, they're dying for their religious faith. But if the US were to pull out...would they be abandoning the Iraqi citizens to a horrible fate.
I've had no desire to join the Canadian Armed Forces. I'll admit it...I'm just not that brave. The prospect of fighting over there terrifies me. How would I feel though if I were living in my grandfather's time of the second world war? If invasion of my own country were a real possibility? In Iraq are we viewed as the invaders? Is this a just war? I hear of the atrocities that are committed over there. Death squads, rape, ethnic cleansing. Doesn't sound too far off from the Holocaust to me and I can say that going against Nazi Germany WAS a just war. Part of me wants the US to pull out. To say fuck it, leave Iraq to it's own devices. There's so much hate over there how can they ever find peace? Or is it only a minority causing trouble? Maybe most of the citizens do want peace.
I don't blame religion, to do so is just a cop-out. It's people who kill other people and then twist religion to justify their own actions. I'm not Muslim but I'm willing to bet the Koran doesn't tell you to up and kill anyone you don't agree with. Look at Christianity. By all accounts a pretty peaceful religion but it has it's own dark history of bloodshed. Someone at some point had their own agenda and then twisted the Bible to justify their very non-Christian actions. Using religion is also a great way to get others to go along with your nefarious plans. "What, you don't want to kill Group A? I guess you're not following your faith. You're going to go to hell." I think some of these radical clerics in Iraq are using religion to gain power, especially among the younger crowd. I guess it shouldn't be surprising though. If you're young, disillusioned, and have nothing where else are you going to turn to find meaning in your life? It's just sad that people are taking advantage of this. Filling young people with hate and then strapping bombs to them.
Then again, I'm not very educated in such matters so what do I know.