Friday, March 24, 2006

Duncedom beyond measure

Activist group fails to thank rescuers
(from The Times)

THE Christian group whose activists were freed in a British-led raid in Baghdad yesterday did not thank their rescuers but instead called on them to withdraw from Iraq.

In a long statement released in Toronto, the leaders of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) described how delighted they were to hear about the release of their three abducted members. But they pointedly failed to acknowledge that the hostages had been freed in a military operation involving British, American, Canadian and Iraqi forces. Instead they blamed the presence of foreign troops for Iraq’s problems.

Doug Pritchard, co-director of CPT, said the hostages knew that their only protection was in “the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers”. No mention was made of the special forces, intelligence officers and police who worked for months to secure the men’s release.

“We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by multinational forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq today. The occupation must end,” Mr Pritchard said. “Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow to their families.”





Next time, how about loving your enemies somewhere where our soldiers don't have to waste their time and risk their lives saving your useless hides?

2 comments:

Oroborous said...

Doug Pritchard is well and truly an idiot, and that goes double for the entire Christian Peacemaker Teams organization, for not putting a muzzle on him.

The occupation of Iraq is clearly not illegal, being under UN auspices. (Nor is it "legal"; at the level of international warfare, might makes right, and the victors write the rules; concepts of legality and illegality are rather moot).

But at least it's as legal as such things get.

Further, it's "the occupation of Iraq by multinational forces" that has led to so much pain and suffering in Iraq ?!?

Has Pritchard never heard of Saddam, was he in a coma while Hussein beggered his nation for the sake of a few tons of poisonous gasses ?

Anyone with two brain cells knows that Hussein could have ended the UN sanctions at any time.

Further, although the Christian faith does compel us to love our enemies, even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship, any parent knows (or ought to) that love doesn't excuse bad behavior, or mitigate responsibility.

One might as well say that Christians cannot fire anyone from their jobs, because "love" requires us to give incompetents endless chances to fail, regardless of the hardships that their failures impose upon everyone else.

Unknown said...

Speaking as an ex-Christian, I'd have to say that "love your enemies" and "turn the other cheek" have to be among the stupidest ideas of all time. The CPT'ers are among the few Christians that actually take those commands seriously, which shows how ridiculous the commands are.

A better command would be to treat your enemies as human beings with inherent rights, but also as beings that must be held responsible for their actions. The proper moral duty that should be owed to all people is justice, not love. Love should be selective.

The CPT version of love does away with any need for enemies to be held responsible, neither does it apportion the proper amount of love that should be directed to your enemy's victims. You can't love everyone without diluting the very meaning of what love represents. It makes a parody of love.