June 8th, 2006 by GoldenAppleCorp
Johnny on the Spot cnn.com interviewed Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg, a young business man who was beheaded, most likely by the recently ex-al-Zarqawi back in 2004. I’m sure a few of you out there remember it.
I read the interview, expecting it to be some typical gung-ho, Americuh’s doin’ the right thang kind of read and found myself quite surprise. If you haven’t already, I strongly suggest you read the link I’ve put up there. He’s an articulate speaker, much moreso than myself, at any rate.
June 8th, 2006 at 3:47 pm
He feels sorry for the man that chopped his son’s head off … unreal.
June 8th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
If you actually read the interview, he says says he feels bad when any human being dies. It sounds to me like he’s a Christian, since this is clearly what Christ taught. I guess since I was raised as a Christian, I don’t find it “unreal,” but I can see how others unfamiliar with the teachings of this religion might find it so.
Thanks, GAC, for pointing this out. Like you, I was surprised and impressed. The guy really walks the walk.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:07 pm
No offense to you, Joel, but I’ve known a lot of Christians, very few of whom are in reality that forgiving.
I’m not saying they’re not out there, just that there aren’t many.
June 8th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
No offense taken, GAC.
Like you, I’ve known a lot of Christians who fall short of the ideal exemplified by Micheal Berg. But a relatively casual inspection of Christian theology reveals that this faith teaches that we are all sinners. Failing the Christian obligation to forgive your enemies is a sin, but it doesn’t mean that you aren’t a Christian. FWIW.
June 9th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
Thanks for the link to this interview. It was worth the read. I just finished a memoir by Paul Russabigina, about whom the movie Hotel Rwanda was made. This book goes a long way to show how one may respond in a non-violent way to evil.
Here are some Christians who do practice what Micheal Berg preaches. Well, you’ll have to paste the link in. www.cpt.org
June 9th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
That was pretty powerful, and really puts a lot into perspective. I’d like to think that in a similar situation (God help me!) I’d behave in a similar way. I really agree with the guy, though - what do they really think they’ll gain by killing him? To me it seems clear that when the insurgents or whatever you want to call them learn of his death he’ll immediately be turned into a martyr and a hero, and it will only serve to strenthen their hatred for America. Also, what he said about those 5- and 10-year old Iraqi children being turned against us by the 100’s because we’re killing their families. I bet a similar story is in the past of all or many of those men in the airplanes on 9/11. For a long time I supported Bush, but anymore the whole idea seems more and more ludicrous that we could ever win anything over there.
June 9th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Want a shock? While I do feel sorry for this father that lost a son in such a horrible way, I think he is full of crap.
June 9th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
BTW, as you folks respond and let me know what an uncaring cold hearted ass I am, please try not to use the word “SAD.” It’s been done to death.
June 9th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
So, Daco… do you think he’s 100% full of crap, or only partly so. I mean he covered a lot of ground in that interview. There’s everything from passivism to vengence on the one hand, then he goes on to take the whole notion of a democratic Iraq to task.
You know I don’t think many conservatives these days are happy with Pres. Bush. He kind of went back on his promise to not build any nations. Daco, I’ll give you this. I disagree with Michael Berg, when he seems to blame it all on Bush. I’ve always thought that was liberal cop out. Seems to me about every one of our elected officials bought the whole war on Iraq hook, line and sinker. But then that’s the problem with war drums. Everybody likes to beat on them.
June 9th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
“But then that’s the problem with war drums. Everybody likes to beat on them.”
Speak for yourself. I was opposed to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 from the get-go. No apologies.
But then again, I learned the lesson of Vietnam.
June 9th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
I can top that. I was opposed to the invasion of Iraq when I figured that was the first thing Bush would do when he was elected in 2000.
GAC and I totally called “War with Iraq within 2 years” the Nov. Gore was elected.
June 9th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
Nice.
When are you two going to run for office?
June 9th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
I’m interested in M. Berg’s talk about passivism.
A theologian I read, Stanley Hauerwas, talks about passivism this way:
“I say I’m a pacifist because I’m a violent son of a bitch. I’m a Texan. I can feel it in every bone I’ve got. And I hate the language of pacifism because it’s too passive. But by avowing it, I create expectations in others that hopefully will help me live faithfully to what I know is true but that I have no confidence in my own ability to live it at all. That’s part of what nonviolence is–the attempt to make our lives vulnerable to others in a way that we need one another. To be against war–which is clearly violent–is a good place to start. But you never know where the violence is in your own life. To say you’re nonviolent is not some position of self-righteousness–you kill and I don’t. It’s rather to make your life available to others in a way that they can help you discover ways you’re implicated in violence that you hadn’t even noticed.”
I think that’s funny, but I also think he’s right on target.
June 9th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
“Nice.
When are you two going to run for office?”
Excellent
June 9th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Well Bos, to kind of answer your question, I don’t question his sincerity. I think he really is a pacifist. I just don’t have much respect for his pacifism. Yeah…he’s 100% full of crap.
But at least he doesn’t claim to know the future like AT and Joel.
Look I now have zero respect for President Bush. He is a pragmatic political animal just like any other. I just happen to believe that something may eventually be accomplished in the Middle East…and not with pacifism.
June 10th, 2006 at 7:26 am
“But at least he doesn’t claim to know the future like AT and Joel.”
Dang, daco, I don’t know if you are illiterate, obtuse or just stupid, but I never claimed to know the future. I just said I was opposed to the invasion of Iraq from the get-go. I’m opposed to every murder, rape and bank robbery from the get-go, too. Not because I “know the future,” but because I believe murder, rape and bank robbery are just always wrong. Your mileage may vary.
The rest of my post says that I learned the lesson of Vietnam. Since this is a reference to a war that ended over 30 years ago, I fail to see how this is claiming to “know the future.”
But here’s where I’ll try my hand at predicting the future: I predict . . . wait for it . . . that you won’t be able to admit you were wrong.
June 10th, 2006 at 9:12 am
Daco, yes, I do allude to a certain amount of clairvoyance… like I forsee that in the next election there are going to be issues with the fact that more and more votes are being processed through machines primarily made by a company with a proven, strong political bias. Whats that I smell burning… is it… democracy?
But yeah, I do agree with you on one thing, pacifism is like communism or an orgy in that its a great idea on paper, but doesnt’ work out at all in real life. I think that if Sam could jump back in time, the only way to do something right about this would be to keep soldiers out of the country altogether. Now that we’re in there, we’re committed, and some kind of major pullout would make the situation worse. The catch 22 is that the longer we’re there the more recruits we drum up for the ‘insurgency’.
Wonder if the Revolutionary War was fought today if the news would call it an insurgency?
June 10th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
…try not to use the word “SAD.†It’s been done to death. Sorry, I forgot to mention “… I don’t know if you are illiterate, obtuse or just stupid…”
Joel likes to use that one on multiple websites.
June 10th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Only the ones you post on daco. It seems to fit you so well. Your reading comprehension is just so . . . er . . . “consistent.”