The Mystic
July 11th,2002, 06:31 PM
Those who know me know this, I am a humanitarian. I am one of the most peaceful people that many know. In my spare time I study history and military history (those who do not study such things are dooming themselves to repeat past mistakes) and I came across an excript from a book titled Johnny Got His Gun and I think everyone should take the time to read this if you do not have a heart of stone:
"Numbers have dehumanized us. Over breakfast coffee we read of 40,000 American dead in Vietnam. Instead of vomiting, we reach for the toast. Our morning rush through crowded streets is not to cry murder but to hit that trough before somebody else gobbles our share.
An equation: 40,000 dead young men = 3,000 tons of bone and flesh, 124,000 pounds of brain matter, 50,000 gallons of blood, 1,840,000 years of life that will never be lived, 100,000 children who will never be born.
Let us use his same arithmetic for World War I; 9,000,000 dead young men equal 1,350,000,000 pounds of bone and flesh, 27,900,000 pounds of brain matter, 11,250,000 gallons of blood, 414,000,000 years of life that will never be lived, and 22,500,000 children who will never be born. The dry if imposing figure '9,000,000 dead' seems a little less statistical when we view it from this perspective."
Perhaps, if everyone looked at a life in this prespective, we'd all b a little more peaceful, a little more humane to our fellow man. We are all we have of each other, and each other is all we have. I think I speak for many when I read something like this and find a disgrace for being part of humanity, the greater intelligence we have of ourselves we use to hurt one another. Many would rather build bombs than buildings, many would rather take life than give it, and many would like to cut out the eyes of another than rather look for the human inside of them.
To those with religious beliefs perhaps you should say a similar prayer as I am going to say to the souls mentioned here in this post and for all the souls unspoken for.
We are all on the verge of a new beginning, I beg that everyone here be a little more tolerant of others, and let them live in peace provided they cause no malice or harm, and let this extend beyond faith of religion, ideal of government, and personal likes and dislikes.
~ The Mystic ~
"Numbers have dehumanized us. Over breakfast coffee we read of 40,000 American dead in Vietnam. Instead of vomiting, we reach for the toast. Our morning rush through crowded streets is not to cry murder but to hit that trough before somebody else gobbles our share.
An equation: 40,000 dead young men = 3,000 tons of bone and flesh, 124,000 pounds of brain matter, 50,000 gallons of blood, 1,840,000 years of life that will never be lived, 100,000 children who will never be born.
Let us use his same arithmetic for World War I; 9,000,000 dead young men equal 1,350,000,000 pounds of bone and flesh, 27,900,000 pounds of brain matter, 11,250,000 gallons of blood, 414,000,000 years of life that will never be lived, and 22,500,000 children who will never be born. The dry if imposing figure '9,000,000 dead' seems a little less statistical when we view it from this perspective."
Perhaps, if everyone looked at a life in this prespective, we'd all b a little more peaceful, a little more humane to our fellow man. We are all we have of each other, and each other is all we have. I think I speak for many when I read something like this and find a disgrace for being part of humanity, the greater intelligence we have of ourselves we use to hurt one another. Many would rather build bombs than buildings, many would rather take life than give it, and many would like to cut out the eyes of another than rather look for the human inside of them.
To those with religious beliefs perhaps you should say a similar prayer as I am going to say to the souls mentioned here in this post and for all the souls unspoken for.
We are all on the verge of a new beginning, I beg that everyone here be a little more tolerant of others, and let them live in peace provided they cause no malice or harm, and let this extend beyond faith of religion, ideal of government, and personal likes and dislikes.
~ The Mystic ~