The best kept secret is the tremondous WWI Museum at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. If you are ever in Kansas City, please set aside time for a tour. It is well worth it and a somber reminder of the millions who died nearly 100 years ago.
Two issues that could have been mentioned, of no greater import than what you offered.
1. WW1 also led to the death of millions many miles away from the battlefields as returning soldiers helped to spread the influenza virus which devastated countries in 1917 and 1918. This was the widest-spread circle of death after the Bubonic plagues of the Middle Ages, and a direct result of our capacity to move more people across wider areas than ever before. We face an even greater exposure now in the age of jet flight. Even the weakest strain can easily be shipped from far-flung points, thanks to thousands of unwilling hosts.
2. While the phrase wasn’t coined during either WW1 or 2, it was certainly used to great extent by combatants and civilians alike รข€” “God surely must be on our side”. It was immortalized in hymns during our Civil War, fueled the Crusades, and is still used by neocons as determining who the ‘right side’ must be. This phrase would have tied together some of the authors’ points concerning postwar extremists on all sides (there’s usually more than just two sides to a conflict). And just as importantly, “Godless” societies such as the Nazi regime, the Khmer Rouge and the like elevated themselves or their leaders to godlike status, and their regimes to a foretold Manifest Destiny.
Lastly – remember to thank a veteran for their dedication and their offer of sacrifice. I would add “to God and Country” but in truth sometimes God isn’t in favor of killing, and the country might have sent them into the field after taking the wrong course for the right belief.
Whether they were on the front line, reinforcing the support line, or keeping the lifelines flowing, each should be thanked.
It seems to me that Charles E. Boyle is trying to say that if there is a God that He is responsible for evil. We can’t blame God for evil. Men have free will and unfortunately, some evil people do exercise their abilities to do evil deeds.
“Today only Israel and Turkey can properly be labeled as democracies, and both of them have problems. The rest have suppressed their people for so long,…”
I take GREAT exception to the insinuation that Turkey is a democracy. Greeks, Armenians and Kurds that still remain in this country continue to be treated as second class citizens and continue to face violence and suppression of their religious beliefs – that DOES NOT constitute a democracy in my book, nor does it in anyone elses.
What you also fail to point out is that the Ottoman Empire committed the first genocide of the 20th century, the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, the vast majority of which lived in what is now known as southeastern Turkey. Death marches to deserts in Syria, mass executions witnessed by children, rape, torture, live burials of groups of people.
This genocide is well documented, particularly by the U.S. Ambassador to that region at the time Henry Morgenthau. Modern day Turkey, the successor to the Ottoman Empire, continues to deny their act of genocide.
And you fail to mention that Hitler justified his actions in WWII by using the Armenian Genocide as his justification –
“Excerpts from Congressional Speeches on the Armenians
SENATOR RUDY BOSCWITZ, R-Minn. (CR-Senate, 4/25/84, p. S4852): When Hitler first proposed his final solution, he was told that the world would never permit such a mass murder. Hitler silenced his advisers by asking, “Who remembers the Armenians?””
There are so many retorts to the statements in your flawed editorial, that it would take pages to respond. And quite frankly, I am not even sure why IJ would even post such flawed commentary in its electronic or paper editions – this is supposed to be a news journal about insurance after all, not a political news journal.
IG, today is a day for remembrance. It’s a national holiday, even though we are both presumably at work.
Did you know that Veterans Day parades draw less spectators and cheering sections than Halloween or Easter parades?
Remember how we all treated our returning neighbors and friends when they stepped off the planes from Viet Nam, calling them baby killers? The worst image I remember is from the back cover of a Mad Magazine from that time, showing a hollow-eyed vet, and when you folded the page, instead of the rifle he was carrying in the full picture, it was transformed into a huge hypodermic needle.
Did you serve? If so, I salute your courage. If you didn’t, then go thank a veteran. Plain and simple. They were willing to give their full measure whatever their assignment.
This is the best ever concise discription of why the world is where it is today and pinpointing much of the problems we ALL are facing. I wish all peoples could read it. Thank you, Mr. Boyle!
Hey Reality, Yes you are right, today is Veterans Day and a day of remembrance for all veterans. But this editorial is a pretty weird way of showing it.
I didnt serve, but one of my dearest friends was deployed to Spain during the Iraq war and was sent to New York to assist immediately after 9/11 and walked and worked in the ruins of WTC.
So, I very, very much appreciate all the sacrifices our veterans have made for me and all Americans. As the first person of my extended family to be born in the United States, I appreciate them more than you can ever know. My parents grew up living under British and French colonization, I have heard the stories first hand – they lived it.
But don’t go saying that fascist countries like Turkey are democracies, because they aren’t; and an editorial about our veterans has nothing to do with Turkey.
IG, the unfortunate part of the story is that many of our families have paid a price, whether it was mine in the Potato Famines or the post-Jacobite transport, or my wife’s whose family was overrun by the Russians who refuse to cede back Karelia to Finland, or yours in the Armenian slaughter.
Senseless slaughter abounds in human history, but that capacity to hurt each other is apparently what makes us human and sets us apart from most other species.
9/11 was horrid. I work next to the site and remember dozens of friends lost that day. We shall never forget, until we do.
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The best kept secret is the tremondous WWI Museum at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. If you are ever in Kansas City, please set aside time for a tour. It is well worth it and a somber reminder of the millions who died nearly 100 years ago.
Well rounded, well thought out.
Two issues that could have been mentioned, of no greater import than what you offered.
1. WW1 also led to the death of millions many miles away from the battlefields as returning soldiers helped to spread the influenza virus which devastated countries in 1917 and 1918. This was the widest-spread circle of death after the Bubonic plagues of the Middle Ages, and a direct result of our capacity to move more people across wider areas than ever before. We face an even greater exposure now in the age of jet flight. Even the weakest strain can easily be shipped from far-flung points, thanks to thousands of unwilling hosts.
2. While the phrase wasn’t coined during either WW1 or 2, it was certainly used to great extent by combatants and civilians alike รข€” “God surely must be on our side”. It was immortalized in hymns during our Civil War, fueled the Crusades, and is still used by neocons as determining who the ‘right side’ must be. This phrase would have tied together some of the authors’ points concerning postwar extremists on all sides (there’s usually more than just two sides to a conflict). And just as importantly, “Godless” societies such as the Nazi regime, the Khmer Rouge and the like elevated themselves or their leaders to godlike status, and their regimes to a foretold Manifest Destiny.
Lastly – remember to thank a veteran for their dedication and their offer of sacrifice. I would add “to God and Country” but in truth sometimes God isn’t in favor of killing, and the country might have sent them into the field after taking the wrong course for the right belief.
Whether they were on the front line, reinforcing the support line, or keeping the lifelines flowing, each should be thanked.
It seems to me that Charles E. Boyle is trying to say that if there is a God that He is responsible for evil. We can’t blame God for evil. Men have free will and unfortunately, some evil people do exercise their abilities to do evil deeds.
It was a very interesting article though.
“Today only Israel and Turkey can properly be labeled as democracies, and both of them have problems. The rest have suppressed their people for so long,…”
I take GREAT exception to the insinuation that Turkey is a democracy. Greeks, Armenians and Kurds that still remain in this country continue to be treated as second class citizens and continue to face violence and suppression of their religious beliefs – that DOES NOT constitute a democracy in my book, nor does it in anyone elses.
What you also fail to point out is that the Ottoman Empire committed the first genocide of the 20th century, the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, the vast majority of which lived in what is now known as southeastern Turkey. Death marches to deserts in Syria, mass executions witnessed by children, rape, torture, live burials of groups of people.
This genocide is well documented, particularly by the U.S. Ambassador to that region at the time Henry Morgenthau. Modern day Turkey, the successor to the Ottoman Empire, continues to deny their act of genocide.
And you fail to mention that Hitler justified his actions in WWII by using the Armenian Genocide as his justification –
“Excerpts from Congressional Speeches on the Armenians
SENATOR RUDY BOSCWITZ, R-Minn. (CR-Senate, 4/25/84, p. S4852): When Hitler first proposed his final solution, he was told that the world would never permit such a mass murder. Hitler silenced his advisers by asking, “Who remembers the Armenians?””
There are so many retorts to the statements in your flawed editorial, that it would take pages to respond. And quite frankly, I am not even sure why IJ would even post such flawed commentary in its electronic or paper editions – this is supposed to be a news journal about insurance after all, not a political news journal.
IG, today is a day for remembrance. It’s a national holiday, even though we are both presumably at work.
Did you know that Veterans Day parades draw less spectators and cheering sections than Halloween or Easter parades?
Remember how we all treated our returning neighbors and friends when they stepped off the planes from Viet Nam, calling them baby killers? The worst image I remember is from the back cover of a Mad Magazine from that time, showing a hollow-eyed vet, and when you folded the page, instead of the rifle he was carrying in the full picture, it was transformed into a huge hypodermic needle.
Did you serve? If so, I salute your courage. If you didn’t, then go thank a veteran. Plain and simple. They were willing to give their full measure whatever their assignment.
This is the best ever concise discription of why the world is where it is today and pinpointing much of the problems we ALL are facing. I wish all peoples could read it. Thank you, Mr. Boyle!
Hey Reality, Yes you are right, today is Veterans Day and a day of remembrance for all veterans. But this editorial is a pretty weird way of showing it.
I didnt serve, but one of my dearest friends was deployed to Spain during the Iraq war and was sent to New York to assist immediately after 9/11 and walked and worked in the ruins of WTC.
So, I very, very much appreciate all the sacrifices our veterans have made for me and all Americans. As the first person of my extended family to be born in the United States, I appreciate them more than you can ever know. My parents grew up living under British and French colonization, I have heard the stories first hand – they lived it.
But don’t go saying that fascist countries like Turkey are democracies, because they aren’t; and an editorial about our veterans has nothing to do with Turkey.
IG, the unfortunate part of the story is that many of our families have paid a price, whether it was mine in the Potato Famines or the post-Jacobite transport, or my wife’s whose family was overrun by the Russians who refuse to cede back Karelia to Finland, or yours in the Armenian slaughter.
Senseless slaughter abounds in human history, but that capacity to hurt each other is apparently what makes us human and sets us apart from most other species.
9/11 was horrid. I work next to the site and remember dozens of friends lost that day. We shall never forget, until we do.
Just re read. Your analysis is brilliant. As always;-)