Subject:
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Re: Voluntary, private discrimination (Was: Disparicies in Sentencing)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 14 Sep 1999 20:37:01 GMT
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Viewed:
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2279 times
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Mike Stanley <cjc@NOSPAMnewsguy.com> wrote
> Still, killing the enemy in wartime is not murder. Shooting helpless
> women and children in Vietnamese villages is murder, though, no matter
> who tells you to do it. And sending people to die in gas chambers is
> also murder, regardless of orders, as any sane person would say.
Mike, while I don't want to get into a debate with you about military service
in general, the issue of "who is the enemy" is a very fuzzy one, and at
various times all sorts of people have been included.
One issue right now is: if I go to East Timor in an attempt to promote peace,
and refuse to bear arms or defend myself, is the Indonesian Army justified
in having me killed? My whole purpose in being there is to act as an enemy of
the state (the Indonesian one) by bearing witness to their activities. I
am helpless, but only insofar as I choose to be. Kill me or not?
Flip side: how can an army work if its members all have the right to withdraw
at any time if they decide that an order is immoral? A lot of military stuff
only works (as far as I can tell) by reflex obedience to orders, and that is
not compatible with holding soldiers responsible in detail for obeying orders.
Moz
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