Isn't it also to some extent a form of denial. I can imagine that if everybody
goes to war you'd feel morally obliged to join the effort. Psycologically we are
after all still herd animals. But I wonder how many men going to war actually
consider the risks involved or are seriously convinced that they could become a
permanent invalid or even die as a result of that war?
Like how many people actually consider that they might ever become the victim of
a crime, get hit by a car or die as a consequence of a serious illness?
Just wondering
Sonja
Dan Minette schreef:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marvin Long, Jr. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: BRIN-L Mailing list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, May 28, 2001 9:00 AM
> Subject: They gave their lives....
>
> >
> > I think it's fairly appropriate to use the phrase "gave their lives" when
> > soldiers die in action
>
> I agree, and I'd like to give an analogy. Let us say someone drives drunk
> and kills someone in a car accident. They are morally responsible for
> killing those people. They made a tradeoff between the enjoyment of getting
> drunk (or the giving in to an addiction) combined with the ease of just
> driving afterwards to the risk of terminating someone's life. That's why we
> have jail terms for this. We would say that they took someone's life in
> this case. If someone was the driver in a fatal accident which was not
> their fault, we would not use that language.
>
> When someone agrees to go to war, they knowingly risk their lives for the
> goals of the country. It seems that parallel logic says that they have a
> moral responsibility for taking that risk. This moral responsibility is
> viewed in a positive light, and we honor them for making that choice. It is
> true that we give them higher honor than those who risked their lives and
> lived, but I think that is proper, and fits what we do with drunk driving.
>
> Now, it is also true that we give even greater weight to the people who kill
> others with forethought. But, we also give greater weight to people who
> make a deliberate action that knowingly results in their death in order to
> save their fellow soldiers. These people are typically singled out for
> special honor.
>
> Dan M.
