Is there no good news in the world? There's precious little in this thread.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

There's a difference between "I disagree with the justification for initiating this war" and "I believe this war is being fought in an illegal manner." My sentiments fall in line with the first statement.

Ok, and again then you're excluded from what I'm saying about moral decisions. Because according the general anti-war talking points the war we have fought and are fighting is an illegal war, it is an immoral war.

And on your point about "suppor" I have no problem with what you're saying there. If I am paraphrasing correctly, you don't actually support what they are doing, you just hope that they don't get killed and you won't retaliate against them when they return. That's fine, but that's not support (as you said you wouldn't choose that word).

But when presented with "support the troops!" I don't like the tactic iSm endorses above of saying "ok. We do support the troops" and then in a whispered aside "as long as we define to support to mean something other than support."

As Prudence suggested way above and agreed. That is simply a disingenous marketing slogan designed to deflect criticism. I would prefer (and no, my preferences are no more effective at shaping the world than your preferences) that people just say what they believe and stand behind it. But then I'm the guy that told a roomful of Baptist mothers that I think it is essentially child abuse to raise children with religion.

It's artifice that masks the ability to discuss things. I won't hold it against you if you don't actually support the troops. I don't think that not supporting the troops means you want them all to die. Just as hopefully you don't think that because I feel life has no inherent value that doesn't mean I want to kill people. But when we all pick words to use so that we can pretend to agree while each maintains their own secret dictionary then that is a far greater harm to a society than just about anything else we can do.

And now I've been told I better get some real work done today or I'll be in trouble. I've enjoyed (and am enjoying) the back and forth. It's fun. But I promise I won't drag it on into tomorrow. Anybody after me on this topic is guaranteed the last word.