Meat Morality and Human/Animal/Alien Rights

What a stupid simplification of a complex process. There is more to launching a cruise missle than just pushing a button by some 'kid'. Bill Maher, doesn't know what he is talking about here.Being religiously brainwashed to fly an airplane into a building in order to attain a golden ticket to paradise in the afterlife is only brave in the most literal dictionary meaning of the word but by most human beings this is not morally brave or courageous. If you consider these dillusional people 'brave' than so to would you have to consider mass murderers and criminals 'brave' as well, which is asanine and wrong-headed.In fact I would consider the 9-11 terrorist's (or any religious or political fanatics) acts to be the epitome of cowardice as they willingly allowed someone else to brainwash them and take away there critical thinking skills and ability to make rational
decisions.Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.

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One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

Ah, but young padawan, often we can see the damage we inflict.I agree though that firing a Tomahawk missile (an offensive weapon which travels hundreds of miles to its target) is not going to give you the same fear factor as being shot at with an AK-47 while trying to fire off your rounds to stay alive. But if the shit hits the fan and we are being attacked on a Naval ship with small arms, mines, or short-range missiles there is not a whole lot of difference between that and what ground forces feal when being fired at. Death is death whether it is from a distance or in your face. When a soldier is firing his weapon to protect himself do you really think he is concerned with the welfare of the person he is shooting at?
Experiencing firing both offensive and defensive weapons on a ship there is always a surge of adrenaline, fear, and shock factor when doing it for 'real' even when firing long-range missiles like tomahawks. But the question was not whether you understood the consequences of your actions, it was, are the people who fire missiles from a ship less brave than terrorists.Again on that not I would 100% emphatically disagree. What does this have to do with bravery? PTSD can be occur in soldiers who are or are not brave, perform well or poorly under fire. PTSD has to do with shock value of experiencing death first hand.Again the question is about bravery not PTSD.

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One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

When you are attacking and defending yourself against someone shooting at you are you really going to be empathetic to that combatant anyways?War by its very nature, whether it be from short or long-range will lend itself to a "kill or be killed" attititude. This a direct offshoot of our evolutionary survival of the fittest and flight or fight instincts. In these cases, individual survival trumps altruism shown to the advesary.Now what I think you ,may be getting at is the effect of long range planning and execution of combat and its affect on collateral damage to innocent bystanders/civilians. In this case, close combat may give a better edge at reducing collateral damage to innocent bystanders and civilians, though not always. This is especially true given the use of UAVs and author automated killing devices in which people thousands of miles away sit at x-box like devices and fire missiles and other destructive means at would-be terrorist hide-outs and gatherings from Terminator like aerial or ground robot killing machines.By experiencing combat up-close we can also hopefully reduce the number of My Lai type attrocities from happening if morally rigid people are in the right place at the right time. Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.

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One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

Maybe after the event but you are not going to have time or the objectivity to have an empathetic response when you are in a fire fight. The last thing on your mind is, "I wonder if he is all right" reffering to the adversary you are shooting at. Actually I think by not being in the thick of things and not being pumped up on adreneline you may have a more objective view of the situation and may be more empathetic to the result of your actions. Just my thoughts.Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.

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One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World