Ray,
Sorry for the confusion.
The men who formed our nation were decidedly not pacifists. They understood that personal responsibility is a prerequisite for personal freedom. They understood that the British version of PNAC was an unacceptable form of government. I personally wouldn't want to be a hijacker on a plane where Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries were passengers.
<<<When you call paying passengers "pacifists" as a means of derogatory speech, I take offense.>>>
The statement was not intended as "derogatory speech", but a statement of fact. In at least 3 out of the 4 flights, passengers chose death over personal liberty, and as a result thousands more died. That doesn't change my view that what happened on 9/11 was wrong, or that my perception of the evidence points to an enemy of the domestic variety.
In terms of moral responsibility, from a personal standpoint, when I find myself saying, "Someone needs to do something.", I need to remind myself that "I" am somebody. If someone hijacks my airplane, I will fight. I may not win, and I may not get any help, and I may die first, but I will fight. I find the concept of, "Golly, I don't want to fight and someone should protect me." contemptible.
I respectfully suggest someone willing to risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, to take a stand and defend a cause, is probably not a "pacifist" in any meaningful sense of the term. |
