The Moslem Problem

I am musing today on the Moslem problem.  What exactly is this problem?  That's the first thing to decide.  Well, the problem is that Moslems believe that not only is killing people indiscriminately okay, it is in fact a good thing.  (You can argue that all Moslems don't believe that and you'd be right but so long as thousands of them do believe it the rest don't really matter)  Now I'm assuming that the terrorists truly believe that they are doing a good thing and that is the root of the problem. 

            In considering this subject we have to think about the unpleasant subject of killing in general.  Let's simplify it and call it murder.  If we come upon a person in the act of murdering another person we conservatives would favor murdering the perpetrator.  By that direct act we are preventing another worse act.  At least we see it that way.  It gets a little more complicated if we don't actually see the whole crime being committed.  Let's consider another possibility.  We come upon a person raping another person.  At my age the only way I can really stop it is to kill the rapist.  Is that truly the moral and correct thing to do?   Most of us wouldn't hesitate if the victim was friend or family, but it might not be so clear cut in other cases. 

            How about a death sentence handed down by a court of law?  Personally I have always favored execution as a preventative measure rather than a punishment.  Nearly all violent criminals continue to commit violent crimes - especially those that have been jailed for some period.  It also doesn't make any sense to support a person in jail for 50 years who cannot be released into society.  But, do we really have the RIGHT to murder a person when they are not in the act of committing a heinous crime?  Hmmm

            So the one time that we have a clear cut right and obligation to kill is on the battlefield, right?  The soldier in uniform is acting to protect his home and country and has a definite right to kill the enemy (and perhaps some collateral damage?) when so ordered by his superiors.  Hmmm, that doesn't seem exactly correct somehow.  In the modern world the order comes down like "drop a bomb or missile on a particular house in a particular village where an enemy is hiding."  So the soldier executes those orders as given and perhaps we kill an enemy and perhaps we kill some folks who are not enemies.  Let's see now, those orders are made by superior officers up to and including the commander in chief after they consider the totally accurate intelligence gathered by the moral folks in the field.  And those stone age Muslims hate us because they say WE kill indiscriminately.  Really makes you think, doesn't it?

 

Disclaimer:  I don't intend to draw any conclusion from the above, I only believe it warrants careful consideration by thinking Americans.  I certainly hope someone will point out the error of my musing above because I don't like the direction it takes me.