Re: Carta ejemplar

Ahi acompaño el texto.

Chuck

P.S: Stephen Mansfiedl escribio "La Fe del Soldado Americano" y tambien un
libro sobre la religiosidad de Bush

Estan en el NYT "Book Review" como Bestsellers.


---
Dear Mrs. Sheehan,

You are in a firestorm of grief and what must be a disorienting
swirl of world attention. For that reason, I will be as brief in my remarks
as I hope to be compassionate.

I will not insult you by presuming to know your sorrow. The loss
of a son in armed conflict abroad must be among the most soul-wrenching
experiences possible. You are surely right to rage against the horrors of
war, right to demand answers and right to reach for those of like mind.

I fear, though, that what began as a mourning mother's righteous
cry for meaning is becoming something that threatens to dishonor Casey's
heroism. Though I mean no disrespect, it is clear you are becoming swept up
in a cynical drama that is far a field from the meaning of the war and your
son's sacrifice. From your blogging on Michael Moore's web site to the
pronouncements you feel obligated to make on the cause of Palestine, you
have abandoned the moral high ground of a grieving mother and are in danger
of becoming just another fleeting voice on the American pop culture
landscape.

The central issue here is not whether George W. Bush meets with
you again or whether your self-styled "peaceful occupation" of Crawford,
Texas, ever wins you the explanation for "why our sons are dead" you say you
want. The central issue is that when your son volunteered for military
service, he placed himself upon an altar of sacrifice. Sadly, the ultimate
sacrifice was indeed required. Yet he gave himself willingly, as all our
soldiers do in this generation, and his death is therefore the noble death
of a hero and not the needlessly tragic death of one accidentally or
foolishly taken

What we must understand is that a pledge to military service is
a surrender of rights, a surrender of comforts and, potentially, a surrender
of life if the nation calls. What leaves us so stunned at the death of a
soldier, beyond our grief for a life snuffed out and our personal loss, is
often our failure to understand the noble calling of the profession of arms
and the warrior code that gives this calling meaning. When your son, and the
thousands like him serving today, pledged himself to military service, he
did not just "join the army." He offered himself to his God and his nation
in an act of devotion that has been repeated for centuries. He entered the
fellowship of those who offer their lives willingly in service to others.
His death, though a horror, was a horror with meaning, willingly engaged.

I cannot know your sorrow. I can urge you, though, not to allow
your son's offering on what Lincoln called "the altar of freedom" to be
tained by the passing parade of trendy causes. I can also urge you to live
now in the knowledge that your son's passing ennobles our nation, just as I
trust it will now ennoble you.


With deepest sympathies for your loss,


Stephen Mansfield







.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Carta ejemplar
    ... it is clear you are becoming swept up in a cynical drama that is far a field from the meaning of the war and your son's sacrifice. ... The central issue is that when your son volunteered for military service, he placed himself upon an altar of sacrifice. ... Yet he gave himself willingly, as all our soldiers do in this generation, and his death is therefore the noble death of a hero and not the needlessly tragic death of one accidentally or foolishly taken ... He offered himself to his God and his nation in an act of devotion that has been repeated for centuries. ...
    (soc.culture.argentina)
  • "A Life Wasted;" parents of a dead Marine speak out
    ... Our son, Lance Cpl. ... two reactions to Augie's death have compounded the sadness. ... At times like this, people say, "He died a hero." ... because he went to Iraq. ...
    (alt.politics)
  • Muslim Misogyny
    ... so judge between us according to ... "My son was a laborer for this ... The Prophet addressed some man, ... next morning and stoned her to death. ...
    (alt.politics)
  • Re: BATFE Asks To See Your Guns?
    ... He tried to revive her and had his son call 911. ... No evidence of drugs anywhere in the house or in the wife's ... no reason for the death ever found in the autopsy. ... the warrant and the items to be found. ...
    (talk.politics.guns)
  • Re: A comment and question on Jews God and History
    ... > life here is just a preparation for what is to come. ... As such death may ... > there then it takes on a different meaning. ... blanket statements about what Jews think or do don't hold up to ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)
Loading