Wow I am not sure what to do...

[dvanderdeen]

I was just marking some Student essays and the topic was the current American War with Iraq. The students wrote these Essays for another teacher, and I mark them and then discuss them in my class with them. The thing is that from reading the essays I get a very clear view of what the students here are being taught and it scares me.

I have never seen such hatred for another country expressed by children so young before. These children are being taught that the Americans are selfish and only at war with Iraq for the sake of oil. I don't want to get into a debate of what that war is really about or if it is justified or not. What concerns me though is that these students have been taught that America is attacking other countries because it can and they have what they want. They think that Americans do not care about anyone or any problems in the world and that they put their own selfish needs above what is good for the world. They are being taught that all countries are in danger of being robbed like the innocent country of Iraq that did nothing wrong but have oil that America wanted. They believe that it is very possible that America will decide the same thing about Korea and go to war with them just to take what they want from them. It concerns me quite a bit and come Monday I am going to have to talk to them about this. I really disagree with the anti-Americanism they are being taught and I want to balance it out somehow.

 

[Sketcher]

Invade South Korea? If we wanted anything from them, we could have taken it since our military has been there for almost 60 years.

How old are these kids?

 

[dvanderdeen]

These are elementary school children, aged 10-12. What concerns me is that they are being taught to hate America and view it as an evil country that doesn't care about the rest of the world. While I may not agree with everything that America has done in their history, I do not feel teaching young children to hate them is ever warranted, especially in countries that are supposed to be allied with them. Much of the older generation still feels indebted to America for saving them in the Korean war, and are glad that they are still here. The younger generation likes to blame them for a lot of problems and wants them out of the country.

 

[Sketcher]

Sounds like the older generation isn't doing their job.

I have met several Korean students here in the States, and none of them have espoused such crazy views.

 

[Inkachu]

Sadly, you can't grade on morality and politics...only how well they wrote their papers and expressed the topic. Like you said, they're just echoing what they've been taught by hate-filled people, and that's tragic. Their parents probably keep them locked in the house on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Veterans Day.

What can you do about this? I don't think there's anything you can personally do, to sit all these kids down and de-program their brains. I'd pray for them...and if you find a chance to state YOUR case to them safely, by all means, do it.

 

[Quoth]

Yea, the children need to know it isn't America that is doing all of that. It's George Bush.

They need to know the difference between

1) The American People and The Country as a Whole
2) Their horrible dictator leader, and the mentally disabled congress that helped him have his power


But then again.... The American People elected the President twice, and elected the people of Congress..... so the kids have to come to a conclusion that America as a whole is rather very evil, or very very stupid.

Your post made me cringe, not because I support G.W. or the war in Iraq. What made me grimace is the fact that you claim Christ, yet you seem to hold a hatred for your government.

I recently posted a thread about my own personal distaste for the government, but the Lord knows that I don't hate them--I'm just disappointed in them and cannot stand behind them right now.

You should realize that not all the blame for the wrongdoings in a war can be placed on the shoulders of the man at the top. Is George Bush responsible for sending the country to war? Partly. Do civilian politicians share in that blame? Yes.

Do the generals and commanders in the military share in the blame for making bad calls? As much as we might be able to understand their decisions, they do share the blame for making some wrong decisions. Also, those whom they gave the orders to--the lower ranks--share in the blame for agreeing to carry out those orders.

Is every action concerning the war evil? God can answer that. I don't know if the war as a whole is right or wrong. What I do know is that instead of cynically criticizing our government, we should be praying for them, and doing what we can to change our government.

 

[deliciousBass]

Also, those whom they gave the orders to--the lower ranks--share in the blame for agreeing to carry out those orders.

Oh really? So if you manipulate a child into stealing because you told him a lie, then the child is to blame for what happened?

"Aunt Meg won't mind if you take her Snickers bar, I promise! She told me so herself!"

*kid takes Snickers bar right as Aunt Meg walks into the room*

"What are you doing!?!?!?"

"But but, he told me I could take it!"

Think about it

 

[Quoth]

Oh really? So if you manipulate a child into stealing because you told him a lie, then the child is to blame for what happened?

"Aunt Meg won't mind if you take her Snickers bar, I promise! She told me so herself!"

*kid takes Snickers bar right as Aunt Meg walks into the room*

"What are you doing!?!?!?"

"But but, he told me I could take it!"

Think about it

Service Members are hardly children. They are adults who--while not immune to manipulation--are more able to differentiate between right and wrong in a situation.

If a soldier doesn't know someone is innocent and shoots them under the assumption they are an insurgent, fine. It's lamentable, but understandable. If they shoot someone because their commander told them to--knowing they're innocent--that's different.

 

[deliciousBass]

Service Members are hardly children. They are adults who--while not immune to manipulation--are more able to differentiate between right and wrong in a situation.

If a soldier doesn't know someone is innocent and shoots them under the assumption they are an insurgent, fine. It's lamentable, but understandable. If they shoot someone because their commander told them to--knowing they're innocent--that's different.

Grr stupid thing is messing up.

 

[deliciousBass]

Service Members are hardly children. They are adults who--while not immune to manipulation--are more able to differentiate between right and wrong in a situation.

If a soldier doesn't know someone is innocent and shoots them under the assumption they are an insurgent, fine. It's lamentable, but understandable. If they shoot someone because their commander told them to--knowing they're innocent--that's different.

I will save you the trouble of spelling this out for me since I was in the military and received that briefing countless times:

Article 92 of the UCMJ says, "A general order or regulation is lawful unless it is contrary to the Constitution, the laws of the United States...." Both the Nuremberg Principles and the Army Field Manual create a duty to disobey unlawful orders. Article 509 of Field Manual 27-10, codifying another Nuremberg Principle, specifies that "following superior orders" is not a defense to the commission of war crimes, unless the accused "did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know that the act ordered was unlawful."

I am not referring to isolated incidents where one soldier or small groups of soldiers commit an indecent act. I am talking about the big picture. We were all under the impression that we were going to Iraq for the right reasons. We trusted our Commander-in-Chief because up to that point, there wasn’t much reason not to trust him.

To place the blame on servicemembers who were clearly misled by their chain-of-command is reprehensible IMO.

 

[deliciousBass]

Anyway, sorry, I am getting off topic. Dvanderdeen, it really isn't much of a surprise to me. Much of the world's media paints the US in a negative light so what are we to expect? Half the time, I really can't blame them either considering the foreign policy that this nation has adopted in the last 8 years. I think it is important to demarcate that for a very long time, our Legislative and Executive branch both run amok disregarding what their constituency wanted, and it's a very large part why the Republican Party lost the majority in the House. They deserved it.

 

[Quoth]

I will save you the trouble of spelling this out for me since I was in the military and received that briefing countless times:

Article 92 of the UCMJ says, "A general order or regulation is lawful unless it is contrary to the Constitution, the laws of the United States...." Both the Nuremberg Principles and the Army Field Manual create a duty to disobey unlawful orders. Article 509 of Field Manual 27-10, codifying another Nuremberg Principle, specifies that "following superior orders" is not a defense to the commission of war crimes, unless the accused "did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know that the act ordered was unlawful."

I am not referring to isolated incidents where one soldier or small groups of soldiers commit an indecent act. I am talking about the big picture. We were all under the impression that we were going to Iraq for the right reasons. We trusted our Commander-in-Chief because up to that point, there wasn’t much reason not to trust him.

To place the blame on servicemembers who were clearly misled by their chain-of-command is reprehensible IMO.

Where you were not talking about isolated incidents, I was. On the rest, we'd have to start another thread.

I believe we should agree to disagree on some things and let our goal be the same: pray for our leadership.