jayjacobus wrote: ↑Wed May 02, 2018 7:12 pm
iolo wrote: ↑Wed May 02, 2018 5:48 pm
Nobody can make you kill.
I am in a place I don't want to be, in a situation I don't want to be in and people are shooting at me.
I am a pacifist but it's kill or be killed.
In war even a pacifist must be a killer, the same as everybody else.
Would you rather kill or be killed?
Before you answer that, remember you are a pacifist or objector. If you choose to kill, a vivid and gory scene will haunt your dreams for the rest of your life, guilt and shame will hinder your relationships with your partner, your friends and the general public as well, you will avoid strangers for the same reason, you will suffer repeated depression and intractable PTSD, you will never forget and always regret that single act, and you will serve a life sentence in a prison of your own making.
On the other hand, there are drawbacks to getting killed, beyond being dead. For one thing, being a target for your enemy carries a risk that you will be captured or maimed or both. Those outcomes will not diminish your commitment to your beliefs, but you still may find yourself in a prison of your enemy or of your body, with a life sentence as a captive or as a disabled stump of a person. Beyond that, by being dead you’ll cause grief and harm to those who love you or depend on you.
Would you rather kill or be killed?