I usually avoid politics, but I'm going to take this topic a little bit beyond politics, so please bear with me until I get there.
I have to confess that when I first read about this incident last week, I was absolutely outraged. A friend posted an article on Facebook with a caption expressing his passionate belief that this is why other countries do not respect us and why we have no business placing our military anywhere in the world. I can't say that I blame him. This incident is a terrible disaster for OUR image overseas. How we behave when we travel in other countries is a reflection on the rest of our country, and this is exponentially true for those of us who serve abroad. For reference, here is the article: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/12/us/video-marines-urinating/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Now, as to the actual conduct of the marines, there are a few things that I find wrong:
1) They desecrated a corpse. Call me old-fashioned on this one. But even if you don't have deep-seated feelings about respect for the deceased, you should at least think that the corpse can no longer hurt you, therefore hurting it should in theory be beneath you.
2) They mocked the deceased, and in doing so, they mocked death itself. It was clearly mockery because they laughed while they did it. Nor did they stop and think that the tables might easily have been turned; they did not show gratitude for their own life, which was lucky enough to be spared.
3) They flaunted their act by video-taping it and posting it to a website for everyone to see.
4) They embarrassed our whole country in front of the whole world, as described above.
I have some very strong feelings and beliefs against this conduct, and I don't think these feelings are likely to change very much.
However, after my initial shock, I had to realize that I was in immediate danger of hypocrisy. I had an uncle who was killed in the World Trade Center. And while I am normally very peaceful, I have to admit that I do not know how I would have acted, had I been in the shoes of these Marines. But I am sure there would have been a very grave temptation to act in some way as they did.
So I stopped and thought: maybe I can actually fathom the marines' desecration of a corpse. If they had an immediate and personal grudge against that person, if the deceased had maimed or permanently injured a close friend or relative of those marines, and if they were in a blind rage, then yes, I could understand why they did it. I don't know if that is the immediate case. Congressman Allen West (R-FL) is now bringing up the Blackwater incident of 2004 when Iraqi insurgents attacked four American civilians and hanged them from a bridge in Fallujah. Both incidents sadden me. However, war is double-sided, and all people are human and have the same potential for heroism or for infamy--regardless of the faction they belong to which they belong, and I am beginning to strongly doubt that all our enemies are wicked and that all our allies are innocent. There are good and bad eggs on both sides, which is a testament to humanity and not to any one political or religious or national affiliation. We are menschen first and part of an ethnicity only second.
I want to stress that desecration of an enemy corpse is not something new. The act found its way into the Iliad, when Achilles tied the slain body of his rival, Hector, to a chariot and dragged it around the city of Troy for twelve days. In fact, if corpse desecration found its way into a mythological work like the Iliad, then it must be a fairly common, and emotionally charged, human experience. However, Achilles also ransomed the body of Hector back to his family, and he also called a twelve day truce so they could give Hector the proper funeral rites. No, corpse desecration is not something new, nor is it something that only one side engages in. However, there is a right way to go about it and a wrong way to go about it.
After many long years, I reached a point when I wanted to see Osama bin Laden brought to justice: which meant captured or, more probably, killed. I was brought into conflict with my own instincts, which urge me to value life, and I was brought into conflict with the belief sI was taught as a child, "Thou shalt not kill." But in spite of that conflict, I am not gladdened by the death of Osama bin Laden. I will admit that I feel relieved to know that the bad guy does not always get away with murder. However, I repeat, I do not feel any joy at bin Laden's death. Why? Because his life was a sad waste of human potential. He had the money, the power, and the influence to lead a life of compassion and humanitarianism. He could have fed millions of starving widows and orphans in Somalia. He could have helped the UN free thousands of child soldiers around the world, but he did not. Instead, he chose to hurt and maim and cause fear and panic. This is a waste of the God-given potential within all of us. I am a lifelong fan of Michelangelo and the Italian Renaissance, and I believe with every fiber of my being that man was meant to be more than he is now. Osama bin Laden's acts are in stark opposition to this purpose. According to my view, he took his potential and squandered it. And I see that as a tragedy. My enemy was wrong. And if he could not see that, or if he ignored it, he is to be pitied. I do not resent him.
I also believe that all life is precious. What I am about to say may be something I gleaned from Buddhism's ideas of reincarnation, but out of all the myriad, unconscious, lifeless objects the atoms in our bodies could have been shaped into, in our lifetime they were shaped into human beings with a tremendous awareness, power, and capability. Life may not always be pleasant (in fact, I think much of the time it is not), but it IS something very rare, very fragile, and therefore precious. Life has an intrinsic value. I cannot rejoice in the death of a frog or the death of a bird or even the death of an ant. I certainly cannot rejoice in the death of another human being, even if he is an enemy. Call this a flaw or a virtue on my part, however you see it, but all death saddens me.
But what I've learned from my own experience is that my enemy is not that different from me to begin with. He has a family. He has a life and a culture and a country and a religion, and he loves them. And he has also had pain. Real pain. And when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we begin to realize that our enemy may actually have reasons for what he does, even if his actions are so grossly misguided. Just as we have reasons for what we do, and may become misguided ourselves. And as long as we do to our enemies the things that we hate to have done to ourselves, I suspect we will all have reasons for what we do or would want to do in retaliation.
I cannot condemn what those four marines did to that corpse, knowing full well in my heart that I might have acted very similarly in their shoes. "Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone," and I know I am guilty. However, I cannot condone HOW they desecrated that corpse--laughing and mocking as they did so. It shows a disrespect towards life and, just as importantly, towards death. Death is the great leveler--the thing that discriminates against no man and no thing. It comes swiftly, slowly, suddenly, or eventually, but it is always right there around the corner. As the parable says, "You know neither the day nor the hour." Death is something which should be treated with reverence--with fear and with awe--and not laughed at, for our turn will come one day, slowly and inexorably. It is something that should bind us together--the awareness our own mortality.
The purpose of war should be peace (I realize that this is not always the case). A war should therefore teach a man to look past his own colors and his enemy's colors and see another human being as a human being and not just as a Red or a White or a GI or a Charlie. This is what Achilles was getting at--he broke his enemy's body but still recognized and honored his enemy's humanity. If you are going to desecrate a corpse, do it the right way. Do it the ACHILLES way and LEARN something from it!
If you can realize this--through your thoughts or through your actions--then maybe you are on a path towards a greater sense of compassion and what it means to be truly human--and not just a member of a faction. Maybe the desecration of a corpse like that can ultimately be understood, if not condoned, if it is transformed into an eye-opening, revelatory act. But to laugh at the discomfiture of an enemy--that I cannot do. It should be an occasion to look down on my enemy and realize, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." I can only hope that the marines from that video will learn something about themselves and their enemies from this experience, even if they did not start out with that knowledge.
I have to confess that when I first read about this incident last week, I was absolutely outraged. A friend posted an article on Facebook with a caption expressing his passionate belief that this is why other countries do not respect us and why we have no business placing our military anywhere in the world. I can't say that I blame him. This incident is a terrible disaster for OUR image overseas. How we behave when we travel in other countries is a reflection on the rest of our country, and this is exponentially true for those of us who serve abroad. For reference, here is the article: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/12/us/video-marines-urinating/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Now, as to the actual conduct of the marines, there are a few things that I find wrong:
1) They desecrated a corpse. Call me old-fashioned on this one. But even if you don't have deep-seated feelings about respect for the deceased, you should at least think that the corpse can no longer hurt you, therefore hurting it should in theory be beneath you.
2) They mocked the deceased, and in doing so, they mocked death itself. It was clearly mockery because they laughed while they did it. Nor did they stop and think that the tables might easily have been turned; they did not show gratitude for their own life, which was lucky enough to be spared.
3) They flaunted their act by video-taping it and posting it to a website for everyone to see.
4) They embarrassed our whole country in front of the whole world, as described above.
I have some very strong feelings and beliefs against this conduct, and I don't think these feelings are likely to change very much.
However, after my initial shock, I had to realize that I was in immediate danger of hypocrisy. I had an uncle who was killed in the World Trade Center. And while I am normally very peaceful, I have to admit that I do not know how I would have acted, had I been in the shoes of these Marines. But I am sure there would have been a very grave temptation to act in some way as they did.
So I stopped and thought: maybe I can actually fathom the marines' desecration of a corpse. If they had an immediate and personal grudge against that person, if the deceased had maimed or permanently injured a close friend or relative of those marines, and if they were in a blind rage, then yes, I could understand why they did it. I don't know if that is the immediate case. Congressman Allen West (R-FL) is now bringing up the Blackwater incident of 2004 when Iraqi insurgents attacked four American civilians and hanged them from a bridge in Fallujah. Both incidents sadden me. However, war is double-sided, and all people are human and have the same potential for heroism or for infamy--regardless of the faction they belong to which they belong, and I am beginning to strongly doubt that all our enemies are wicked and that all our allies are innocent. There are good and bad eggs on both sides, which is a testament to humanity and not to any one political or religious or national affiliation. We are menschen first and part of an ethnicity only second.
I think
perhaps it is precisely because war is hell that it should be avoided, except in times of great danger and emergency, and even then kept as short as possible. I think it is because war and the absence of law can potentially bring out the criminal in us all that it is a danger.
I want to stress that desecration of an enemy corpse is not something new. The act found its way into the Iliad, when Achilles tied the slain body of his rival, Hector, to a chariot and dragged it around the city of Troy for twelve days. In fact, if corpse desecration found its way into a mythological work like the Iliad, then it must be a fairly common, and emotionally charged, human experience. However, Achilles also ransomed the body of Hector back to his family, and he also called a twelve day truce so they could give Hector the proper funeral rites. No, corpse desecration is not something new, nor is it something that only one side engages in. However, there is a right way to go about it and a wrong way to go about it.
After many long years, I reached a point when I wanted to see Osama bin Laden brought to justice: which meant captured or, more probably, killed. I was brought into conflict with my own instincts, which urge me to value life, and I was brought into conflict with the belief sI was taught as a child, "Thou shalt not kill." But in spite of that conflict, I am not gladdened by the death of Osama bin Laden. I will admit that I feel relieved to know that the bad guy does not always get away with murder. However, I repeat, I do not feel any joy at bin Laden's death. Why? Because his life was a sad waste of human potential. He had the money, the power, and the influence to lead a life of compassion and humanitarianism. He could have fed millions of starving widows and orphans in Somalia. He could have helped the UN free thousands of child soldiers around the world, but he did not. Instead, he chose to hurt and maim and cause fear and panic. This is a waste of the God-given potential within all of us. I am a lifelong fan of Michelangelo and the Italian Renaissance, and I believe with every fiber of my being that man was meant to be more than he is now. Osama bin Laden's acts are in stark opposition to this purpose. According to my view, he took his potential and squandered it. And I see that as a tragedy. My enemy was wrong. And if he could not see that, or if he ignored it, he is to be pitied. I do not resent him.
I also believe that all life is precious. What I am about to say may be something I gleaned from Buddhism's ideas of reincarnation, but out of all the myriad, unconscious, lifeless objects the atoms in our bodies could have been shaped into, in our lifetime they were shaped into human beings with a tremendous awareness, power, and capability. Life may not always be pleasant (in fact, I think much of the time it is not), but it IS something very rare, very fragile, and therefore precious. Life has an intrinsic value. I cannot rejoice in the death of a frog or the death of a bird or even the death of an ant. I certainly cannot rejoice in the death of another human being, even if he is an enemy. Call this a flaw or a virtue on my part, however you see it, but all death saddens me.
But what I've learned from my own experience is that my enemy is not that different from me to begin with. He has a family. He has a life and a culture and a country and a religion, and he loves them. And he has also had pain. Real pain. And when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we begin to realize that our enemy may actually have reasons for what he does, even if his actions are so grossly misguided. Just as we have reasons for what we do, and may become misguided ourselves. And as long as we do to our enemies the things that we hate to have done to ourselves, I suspect we will all have reasons for what we do or would want to do in retaliation.
I cannot condemn what those four marines did to that corpse, knowing full well in my heart that I might have acted very similarly in their shoes. "Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone," and I know I am guilty. However, I cannot condone HOW they desecrated that corpse--laughing and mocking as they did so. It shows a disrespect towards life and, just as importantly, towards death. Death is the great leveler--the thing that discriminates against no man and no thing. It comes swiftly, slowly, suddenly, or eventually, but it is always right there around the corner. As the parable says, "You know neither the day nor the hour." Death is something which should be treated with reverence--with fear and with awe--and not laughed at, for our turn will come one day, slowly and inexorably. It is something that should bind us together--the awareness our own mortality.
Don't believe me about universal mortality?
Just ask the monk from The Seventh Seal.
If you can realize this--through your thoughts or through your actions--then maybe you are on a path towards a greater sense of compassion and what it means to be truly human--and not just a member of a faction. Maybe the desecration of a corpse like that can ultimately be understood, if not condoned, if it is transformed into an eye-opening, revelatory act. But to laugh at the discomfiture of an enemy--that I cannot do. It should be an occasion to look down on my enemy and realize, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." I can only hope that the marines from that video will learn something about themselves and their enemies from this experience, even if they did not start out with that knowledge.
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