Soldiers aren't always so heroic
And that's an understatement. Why? I would be mildly surprised if you didn't agree after reading this: http://www.forbes.com/business/services/feeds/ap/2006/11/16/ap3183497.html
It is absolutely atrocious that there are American soldiers out there who are engaging in such activities. I actually started writing this post on November 16, and got too heated up to continue it at that moment. It's now November 20, and I'm returning to this post now.
Between the 16th and the 20th, I happened to discuss this with a close friend, who was at the time probably more likely to look at this story with a more objective viewpoint than I was able to. He agreed, that the concept of rape in general, when a guy is doing it for his own sexual pleasure or out of anger against a girl who is completely innocent is wrong and unacceptable under any terms.
Then he gave me a couple of scenarios. What if I had to choose between me getting raped, or 20 other people I didn't know getting raped? He gave me a scenario in which he would have to choose either his one good friend getting raped or 20 individuals he had no connection to getting raped. Though it was difficult at first for me to admit, I would have chosen the 20 others to get raped. Ideally, I wouldn't have wanted the rape committed at all. But if there was no choice but one of these two, I would have to go with the other individuals. Likewise, he chose the same.
Then he gave me another instance. What if I was living in a time such as World War II, and was a Jewish woman and my entire family had been murdered in concentration camps as a result of the Holocaust. If I had the choice of raping Hitler [assuming it's possible to rape a man] or kill Hitler, what would I choose?
He talked me through this. I realized in the process of the discussion that murder simply kills a person. That person doesn't feel a thing afterwards. However, rape can mentally scar someone for life. It is difficult not to wake up every morning and think about what happened to you. It is hard not to let it affect everything you do or feel or think. If I really wanted to harm someone for what was done to me and/or ones I loved, would I rape that person?
These are all extremely difficult questions to answer. Maybe not something you will be able to answer for a very long time, if at all. You start letting what your individual beliefs, morals and values are affect what you think, or what should ideally be the action taken. It's not easy to come up with an answer within the instant. These are all just things to think about.
Are there extreme scenarios in which rape is "justified"? Part of me wants to say absolutely no way. But the other part of me is still trying to answer those questions and decide if sometimes it may be "necessary", as awkward as that sounds.
When I showed my friend this article, he said that we are hearing one side of it. We don't know if that girl or that girl's family did something horrible to force the soldiers to react that way. From the article, I get the impression that the girl and her family were innocent, and this was a concoction of a few soldiers' silly, idiotic, drunken thoughts which were later carried out in action. If that is so, then these men who committed this serious crime deserve the worst torture possible.
I really don't know what to make of any of this at this point...all of this is just food for thought. So, any thoughts?
It is absolutely atrocious that there are American soldiers out there who are engaging in such activities. I actually started writing this post on November 16, and got too heated up to continue it at that moment. It's now November 20, and I'm returning to this post now.
Between the 16th and the 20th, I happened to discuss this with a close friend, who was at the time probably more likely to look at this story with a more objective viewpoint than I was able to. He agreed, that the concept of rape in general, when a guy is doing it for his own sexual pleasure or out of anger against a girl who is completely innocent is wrong and unacceptable under any terms.
Then he gave me a couple of scenarios. What if I had to choose between me getting raped, or 20 other people I didn't know getting raped? He gave me a scenario in which he would have to choose either his one good friend getting raped or 20 individuals he had no connection to getting raped. Though it was difficult at first for me to admit, I would have chosen the 20 others to get raped. Ideally, I wouldn't have wanted the rape committed at all. But if there was no choice but one of these two, I would have to go with the other individuals. Likewise, he chose the same.
Then he gave me another instance. What if I was living in a time such as World War II, and was a Jewish woman and my entire family had been murdered in concentration camps as a result of the Holocaust. If I had the choice of raping Hitler [assuming it's possible to rape a man] or kill Hitler, what would I choose?
He talked me through this. I realized in the process of the discussion that murder simply kills a person. That person doesn't feel a thing afterwards. However, rape can mentally scar someone for life. It is difficult not to wake up every morning and think about what happened to you. It is hard not to let it affect everything you do or feel or think. If I really wanted to harm someone for what was done to me and/or ones I loved, would I rape that person?
These are all extremely difficult questions to answer. Maybe not something you will be able to answer for a very long time, if at all. You start letting what your individual beliefs, morals and values are affect what you think, or what should ideally be the action taken. It's not easy to come up with an answer within the instant. These are all just things to think about.
Are there extreme scenarios in which rape is "justified"? Part of me wants to say absolutely no way. But the other part of me is still trying to answer those questions and decide if sometimes it may be "necessary", as awkward as that sounds.
When I showed my friend this article, he said that we are hearing one side of it. We don't know if that girl or that girl's family did something horrible to force the soldiers to react that way. From the article, I get the impression that the girl and her family were innocent, and this was a concoction of a few soldiers' silly, idiotic, drunken thoughts which were later carried out in action. If that is so, then these men who committed this serious crime deserve the worst torture possible.
I really don't know what to make of any of this at this point...all of this is just food for thought. So, any thoughts?
posted by Writer Through Life... at 11:23 PM
1 Comments:
rape is TOTALLY unacceptable. if i had to choose, i dont know if i could. i mean, i dont think id be able to make that decision. id make someone else do it for me. i cant ever imagine being in such a position..
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