Sympathy for the Devil?

2015-03-24T18:08:24-04:00

But who prays for Satan? Who in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most, our one fellow and brother who most needed a friend yet had not a single one, the one sinner among us all who had the highest and clearest right to every Christian's daily and nightly prayers, for the plain and unassailable reason that his was the first and greatest need, he being among sinners the supremest?
- Mark Twain's Autobiography

Often we go to war on pretext of God, country, and family. We fight for things we believe in. While those on the other side are fighting for the same things. Politics aside, resources aside, when we go to war, do we think about the reasons why our enemy fights? What motivates the man behind the AK or who builds the IED? Does our fear, or drive to survive cause us to discount the virtues of our enemies?

Could you, in future days, confronted by an individual who has caused you loss in combat, greet him as a human being with a shared experience, even though it was from opposite sides of the conflict?

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2014/09/20/enemy-wwii-vets-meet-years-later/15961843/

World War II enemies become friends 70 years later

An American Army vet and German Army vet met during memorial event Saturday.

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made Jul 28 at 2015 7:09 PM

2015-07-28T19:09:18-04:00

CW2 Joseph Evans, Look I divorced her so do not bring her up to me. If you married her, she is your problem.

Response by Sgt Jerami Ballard made Jul 29 at 2015 2:05 PM

2015-07-29T14:05:41-04:00

No man is so incapable of his own free will as to be blindly coaxed into war, see it's horrors, and still believe his cause is just.

I absolutely believe there must be a form of sympathy and compassion between those who may have met on the battlefield. Because it is a contest of wills, not the wills of a nation, the wills of an emperor, nor the wills of an army. It is the wills of the individual men that choose to forgo themselves for the expense of those immediately around him.

Both sides do this, no matter the orders that come down from higher.

As George Santayana wrote,
"Only the dead have seen the end of war."

Response by MSgt Curtis Ellis made Jul 29 at 2015 3:47 PM

2015-07-29T15:47:27-04:00

Kinda hard to have compassion for the guy coming to kill you...
But once that little business is complete, then yes, compassion for the vanquished and the victor, as both sides would have lost tremendously...

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Jul 29 at 2015 8:40 PM

2015-07-29T20:40:31-04:00

The difference between a terrorist and a hero is what side of the fence you're on... Never let zealotry negate your humanity..,

Response by SGT Jeremiah B. made Jul 31 at 2015 2:55 PM

2015-07-31T14:55:55-04:00

From a Christian perspective the issue of humans and evil is complicated. I just fall back to Matthew 5:43-44: You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...

It's hard as hell sometimes though, especially when we're talking about groups like Daesh.