Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Bumper Sticker Discordance

Yesterday I saw a car with a purple "Stop the Violence" ribbon on one side; on the other side was a yellow "Support the Troops" ribbon.

Today I saw a car with a bold "God is Pro-Life" sticker; it was joined with a sticker for the "U.S. Army."

Perhaps you see no inconsistency in these messages (most, I suspect, don't). I think even staunch opponents of war could make a solid argument that the messages are not incompatible. But I see in these messages a divided mind, a failure to see one form of violence as violence, to see one form of killing as killing.

3 comments:

  1. most troops i know carry tulips.

    god is prolife makes no sense to me. did not He create the fishes in the sea who devour the fishes in the sea?

    rk

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  2. War is not killing it is needed.

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  3. One could debate whether a particular war is necessary. However, war IS killing. The debate wouldn't be about whether or not war is violence, but about whether that violence is necessary.

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