Wednesday, July 14, 2010
While I appreciated Angus McLeod’s review of American war casualties in his letter to The Pilot (June 18), I fail to understand how war deaths in the defense of freedom excuse us from facing our mistakes.
Isn’t President Obama’s honesty about our errors in judgment an important part of U.S. diplomacy with other nations? Is it not arrogant to ignore such behavior and expect the world to adjust?
Without honest confession, we are perceived as a powerful bully in spite of the good we have done around the world. Confession is not a sign of weakness; nor does it make us vulnerable and weak.
It communicates a strength that says, “We know we’re compassionate and responsive to the pain of the world, but we also know that we’ve made mistakes and we want to acknowledge them so we don’t repeat the same action.”
I paraphrase what I think McLeod is saying: “Look at what we have done around the world; because we are magnanimous, we don’t have to look at our dark side and confess that we make mistakes.” It’s a little like an abusive husband who says to his wife, “Look at all I do for you; how can you complain when I get a little physical once in a while?” When push comes to shove, domestic violence is not any different than international violence.
Because I believe we are all unique expressions of creative oneness, compassion and confession become ways to care for ourselves as well as others.
Chas Griffin
Seven Lakes
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