Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobs on War

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I've been meaning to share this bit of text ever since I read it several months ago. The following is an exchange between Sergeant Fred Colon and Corporal Nobby Nobs of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch from Thud! (Wiki with spoilers, Amazon) by Terry Pratchett.
"War, Nobby. Huh! What is it good for?" he said
"Dunno, sarge. Freeing slaves, maybe?"
"Absol--Well, okay."
"Defending yourself from a totalitarian aggressor?"
"All right, I'll grant you that, but--"
"Saving civilization against a horde of--"
"It doesn't do any good in the long run is what I'm saying, Nobby, if you'd listen for five seconds together," said Fred Colon sharply.
"Yeah, but in the long run what does, sarge?"

The whole book is a good read. Leave it to Terry Pratchett of make ethnic and fundamentalist strife damningly funny.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 06, 2008 10:27 AM

    If you choose as an axiomatic principle of all government that people have inalienable right to their property (property rights for an individual is inviolate if you will), then asking the state to violate the property rights of citizens of another nation, is logically consistent.

    Wars of aggression can all be reduced to this simple fundamental truth - the state has no right over your person or your property. If you do not believe in this, then war may be justified.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 06, 2008 10:29 AM

    Sorry, I meant to state above that violating the rights of other citizens in a foreign sovereign nation is NOT logically consistent....

    I dont know if we as Christians should ever advocate war. My thinking has really changed lately, given the obvious problems and criminal behavior of our current government.

    ReplyDelete

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