Friday, March 25, 2005
Not asinine
Smallholder has posted a small piece about the military never leaving a body behind. He considers it asinine to risk the life of a live soldier to recover the body of a dead one.
Though I can see where he is coming from, I think he does not understand the deep emotional needs of many people to know that if they die they will have a proper burial. Their loved ones want to feel that, if their loved one is dead, they can pay proper respects. Though honor is involved in the promise the military makes to never leave a body behind, the need for that promise is very deeply held in most people's emotional makeup.
Part of our humanity is the respect we show the dead. We are the only animals that hold funerals. Part of what horrifies us about mass murdering tyrants is the disregard that they hold for their dead victims--dig a trench, line them up, kill them, push them in if they didn't fall, and bulldoze it over. Non-humans walk away from dead to leave them to be carrion for buzzards, vultures, etc.
No, it is not asinine. It is necessary to maintenance of pride, honor, and morale.
Though I can see where he is coming from, I think he does not understand the deep emotional needs of many people to know that if they die they will have a proper burial. Their loved ones want to feel that, if their loved one is dead, they can pay proper respects. Though honor is involved in the promise the military makes to never leave a body behind, the need for that promise is very deeply held in most people's emotional makeup.
Part of our humanity is the respect we show the dead. We are the only animals that hold funerals. Part of what horrifies us about mass murdering tyrants is the disregard that they hold for their dead victims--dig a trench, line them up, kill them, push them in if they didn't fall, and bulldoze it over. Non-humans walk away from dead to leave them to be carrion for buzzards, vultures, etc.
No, it is not asinine. It is necessary to maintenance of pride, honor, and morale.
// posted by Bill @ 3:47 PM 
