|
Wednesday, March 05, 2003 |
|
God and My Friend the General. This morning at Starbucks I unwittingly engaged a former pentagon official in a discussion about the situation in Iraq. I knew he was a retired army officer; he is one of the morning regulars at Starbucks and we often exchange pleasantries or engage in discussions about our weekend activities. I did not know that he retired as a General and that he had been one of the people responsible for the development of war strategies. Needless to say, I was in over my head.
My friend is opposed to the war and listed some excellent reasons for his opposition. Hussein has not directly threatened the US and their is no clear tie between Hussein and Al-Quieda. Well-known, and good, arguments. I then asked my friend if engaging in war was wrong, what is the right thing to do. To me it is pretty clear that the inspections are not working and we are not going to be able to bring Hussein into compliance without having to resort to force. My friend surprised me at this point by essentially falling back on a question that Pontius Pilate once asked: "What is truth?" My friend's version was: "What is right?" As I continued to probe my friend I began to realize that he subscribed to the philophy of moral relativism - all truths are equal and none moreso than others. It is a bankrupt philosophy, but I'll save that discussion for another day. Of more immediate interest to me was my friend's paralysis: he could not decide what was right or wrong in this case because doing so would neccessarily impose our will on somebody else. The only criteria left open to him, it seemed, was an examination of the resulting quality of life following the conflict (or its avoidance).
It was a very interesting discussion with somebody whose authority and opinion and service deserve my utmost respect. I hope to continue it in the days ahead. 9:48:18 AM 
|
