Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockstar
Its probably more common than we think. No different than stalking and hunting a living, beautiful, majestic and strong animal. My first time I felt terrible, I still feel a tinge of remorse for taking an animals life but I have become more comfortable with it each time. We gather around it patting each other on the back, some saying how 'blessed' we are for making the kill, take a life to give a life etc etc. We talk about the freedom to take guns and find our food as if to trying to convince ourselves what we did was OK. Meanwhile someone takes a trophy photo of us with big grins on our faces kneeling next to the animals corpse.
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I killed an animal just once, an ill dog straying around our camp, with a bow. I felt neither pride nor regret over it, I considered it necessary to protect us while sleeping, and so did it. I can imagine to kill an animal for food, but I again would nto feel pride or joy in it, and maybe even some regret. I understand that background and culture of hnting that you describe. Its just not my culture. I also understand the culture of war, and war culture, and how both affect each other over time. Both Kohn Keegan and Martin van creveld wrote two very differfnt and very recommendable boosk about it, I red both twice. I understand the psychological need of warriors" for symbolic self-reassurnaces and thus: bulding of ritual and customs that then are mandatory to follow. I all understand that, becasue all that cna be explained.
What i do not like is, however, to comoare deer huntign with war killing and to comoare a hunting trophy shot with posing with killed enemies in war. Savages may do that, but then thes esavges before committed often atricities today beign seen as unacceptable. Posng with dead bodies of humans, simply I do not accept. I also do not accept raping of women in conquered cities. I understand why it is beign done, why it happens, why it even gets commanded at times. But it is a stepping beyond a certain red line, and I do not accept crossing that line, not for me, and not for others.The same with needless torture and cadaver selfies. Its unethical, its barbaric, it shows a degree of iongoing dehumanization of those doing the deed, its is a severe crime, period.
And as I said, discipline and military order. An army is more than a pack of hungry rabid bastards.
We must make these diferences, else we are not any better than the worst scum we ever needed to wage war against.
What i have a prb