Perception of Weakness

While those who know me best recognize my admiration and determination for a good argument (I've been told I should be going to law school way too many times), I do try to pick my battles.  Religious debate, for example, is something I can almost never turn down.  And although I'm sure that my boyfriend would add to this "nitpicking-cranky-sparring-matches-in-which-I'm-always-right-no-matter-what," let's just leave that out for the time being.  :)

Anyway, there are certain things I tend to avoid.  After all, there is a lot I do not know (imagine that; please don't tell my boyfriend I said that), so if a conversation or debate is headed into unfamiliar waters, I usually will not participate.  There is also a lot that gets way too intense, too quickly, particularly within modern era American politics (although I suppose the same could be said of religion, but hey, it excites me).  I generally find politics to be petty and superficial, almost like a façade for issues that should be more important than who is doing what or is on what side as though Washington, DC has its own E! show.

There are occasions, however, where I do find myself stepping in to stay a thing or two (imagine that).  This passion for certain issues dramatically increased after taking Dr. Rick Axtell's Religion and Violence course.  While digesting the (often interrelated) histories and current events of various troubled countries throughout the world, we simultaneously learned about how a "just war" should meet certain criteria (that it literally almost never meets) and peacemaking strategies that could easily be implemented (and by that I mean, WORK) if we were to pack up our ego.

When I saw that Obama was sending more troops into Afghanistan (followed up by the constant drone of "but we're going to withdraw!...sometime"), I was more than disappointed.  It was not because it gave me "another reason to hate Obama," I'm not that type of person, but more because it just seemed inherently wrong and crudely deceptive.  America (and the President) are only living up to their past traditions of biting the bullet because apologizing or simply stopping a failed operation might make us seem like the weak guys.  In reality, it just makes us look more like a group of schoolyard bullies, bumbling about the globe yelling "FREEDOM!" and making all our wars appear just without taking any real steps towards actual peacemaking (or justice for that matter).

Wow, rant.

Anyway, this is why I'm not a political writer and why I don't get involved in arguments.  I rant more than I give anything productive (even though I have the ability to do it) because I get far too heated just like everyone else.  That's where Bob Herbert comes into play.  Sheldon Tapley, my studio art professor, posted an opinion piece from the New York Times on his Facebook and it framed my thoughts concerning the issue at hand perfectly.

Check it out, I'd recommend it to anyone for at least perusing whether you agree with his sentiments or not.  It's quite well written, in my opinion.

A Tragic Mistake