|
In Reply to: Observations posted by Thinker on April 07, 2003 at 03:25:23:
You are wrong. I'm a Christian. I never said that the United States is Christian. The United States is mostly populated by people who say they are Christian. However, in it's government makeup the USA is not a Christian nation.
I work in a neighborhood where there are more Buddhist temples than Baptist Churches, so I'm not under the silly idea that we are a Christian nation.
However, we are made up of people who know right from wrong. Our Judeo/Christian heritage (and we do have that historical heritage, whether people admit it or not, has instilled within us the ideas of right and wrong.
To answer your question: "What is the price of that freedom of justice? Do the buyers have any say in whwhether they want to buy this "justice and freedom"?" I suppose it depends upon the situation. There are some situations, such as WWII, where I think that the nations of the world should simply intervene, and take things into their own hands. Did the German people 'ask' for our help? Of course not. They were the ones murdering millions of their own citizens, and the the citizens of other nations. Should we have waited around until the Germans 'asked' for our help? No, that would have been ridiculous. However, we did invade Germany, even without Germany's permission. Was this rude? No, it was called for.
In the same way, when we see people being murdered.When we see children being taken away from their parents as a 'punishment' by a foreign government. When we see a nut making chemical weapons, etc. then I think it is our responsibility to intervene, when it's possible. Sometimes it may not be possible.
Why do I think we have the right to act in this way? Because we are powerful, and we can do it. However, I think that Might requires Responsibility. We should only do this in a responsible way.
And I think we have been (basically) responsible in the past. We have always rebuilt these nations that we 'invaded.' We offer them a chance to start over, under the banner of Democracy. We don't leave them devastated
I'm sitting here typing this out and watching cable news. It's showing hundreds of Iraqis dancing in the street as they pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein, and it shows black-clad women mingling and laughing with US troops. Men are smiling and taking photos of their friends with US troops. I like what I'm seeing. I'm happy that we as a nation (in cooperation with a few other nations) have been able to free these people from Hussein.
I personally think we have done the right thing.
