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I heard an Iraq veteran somewhere (Air America Radio? or MSNBC?) recently say that the death of a friend of his was not something he would prostitute for general consumption, and then he went on to discuss veteran's issues. Having seen death, in my family, up close and personal myself three times now, I soooooo very deeply appreciated that attitude toward it.
Death is sacred.
And yet "we" regard it as entertainment. I watched Tears of the Sun recently and thought that thought once again as a "soldier's" "death" was studied by the camera. I know it's just a movie, but it SELLS and this does happen in the real world. And Tears of the Sun is just one of thousands and thousands of examples. What does this mean?
Though I personally disagree with the moral choices that take a person to a place such as Iraq, I do not dispute that FREE moral choices, ***whatever*** an individual's decision becomes, ARE the basis of morality. The problems are related to whether these choices are, in fact, Free or not. This means not encumbered by ignorance, falsehood, social pressure, economic need, ir-responsibility or the abdication of personal responsibility to act on one's moral choices, emotional deficits, prejudice, or any of the other myriad things that can bind one's ability to choose.
I mention all of this, because my understanding of veterans is beginning to evolve. I don't think I will ever regard them as the glorious stereotypes that are socially required (people join the military for ALL kinds of reasons). But I am starting to form a new perception of at least some Veterans and it has something to do with . . . . . . well, I'm not sure yet, but, ironically perhaps it does have something to do with REAL Freedom, not the cardboard cut-out idolatry that we are sold.
I think I will go read about Dave Cline.
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