In Reply to: For our soldiers in Harm's Way, From the Message posted by Mr. Don on July 05, 2004 at 21:39:21:
"Hermaneutic" is a 50-cent word I learned for translations of scripture that bring the original ideas & sentiments into my experience as a 21st century citizen.
You know, I love psalms--my goal when I was in TF was to memorize every one of them. But nowadays, seen from eyes that desire mercy & a heart that yearns for compassion, I have trouble with pleas to God that ask God to "throw others into a muddy bog" or "haul betrayers off to hell...to experience the horror...every desolate detail of a damned life."
So how do you deal with the contradiction between "turn the other cheek" and "forgive your enemies" and the retribution & damnation for which the psalmists so fervently plead? Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't FEEL like cursing those who have sworn to kill me and my kind, just that I find indulging that natural instinct generally does my own spirit more violence than it causes those who would harm me if they could.
I suppose if I were in a position of active combat, being soft-hearted toward my enemies wouldn't be wise. I have to be perfectly honest: There's a side to me that would like to kill every last one of those MFing Islamicists who terrorize innocent people with their bombs and beheadings. But to do that, I'd have to kill a lot of people who think the way they do even if they don't plan to follow through on suicide missions for Allah in the next 24 hours.
Maybe praying for God to damn them all to hell is better than me wanting to personally send them there myself. Maybe it's a way of getting rid of the fear and anger I feel to ask God to take care of my enemies in the way I would dispatch them if I could. Fortunately, my Higher Power is bigger than my need for revenge & protection.