U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq

Today at our faith sharing gathering one of the persons read the following quote to us:

“The world is going mad in mutual extermination, and murder, considered as a crime when committed individually, becomes a virtue when it is committed by large numbers. It is the multiplication of the frenzy that assures impunity to the assassins”

He then asked us to guess who said it. People guessed Martin Luther King Jr. and other 20 century persons. He told us it was Cyprian of Carthage, a third-century North African bishop.

Last night I wrote how the spirit of Carlos, the murder and terrorist, lives on today. He was an individual assassin but when countries, large numbers, kill be it by guns, bombing or drone missiles the killing receives impunity.

Tonight when the president, in his State of the Union speech, mentioned that “Don’t ask Don’t Tell” has been repealed, he asked that all universities open their doors to military recruiting and ROTC, military training on campus. Perhaps he does not realize that all colleges and universities by law, Solomon Act of 1996 need to allow military recruiting on campus and give students opportunities for ROTC training, in order to qualify for all Federal Funds. Some question if the government ordering a certain program to be offered on campus is constitutional.

However, colleges or universities are not required to host military training on campus. As I pointed out there are only 21 Catholic universities (see List of Catholic Universities with Army Base Schools ) that offer ROTC on campus, mostly due to moral objections. There are only two Catholic Universities, Notre Dame and Marquette University that offer training in all three departments of the military, Army, Navy/Marines and Air Force. And Marquette is the only Jesuit university to host all three military departments on campus.

Also the president did not read or agree with the Washington Post viewpoint by Colman MaCarthy titled: ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ has been repealed. ROTC still shouldn’t be on campus.. I did feature the article in a posting but tomorrow should put it on the Featured Article web page. (Like that will matter)

The quote above brings our attention to there is no impunity for killing because large numbers do or institutions and nations teach and condone it. Nations and institutions cannot hide behind honoring the individual who is just following orders. Soldiers need our respect and perhaps some type of impunity but universities that teach war on campus and countries that sends soldiers to ‘unjust and immoral wars’ must be condemned. There is no immunity for murder by the numbers.

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