Sickening

I just received an email from a fellow teacher containing a most disturbing video. It’s entitled “Iraqi insurgents - gunship chaingun.” Now my problem with this crap is simply that it glorifies violence. I have no problem with our military killing Iraqi insurgents smuggling in weapons they will use to kill innocent people or American soldiers. No problem whatsoever. We’re having a war. Bad things happen. I know this.

My problem lies in the fact that video tape of a killing (actually three) is being sent around! Dr. Walsh and Dr. Koeslaugh had the X-rays and video resonance of my father’s lungs filling with cancer, but I don’t want that spread around. And I sure as hell don’t want to see it.

The problem with this glorification of violence is that it has a horrible effect on kids. I once showed a similar video - sent by the same teacher too now that I think about it - to a few students after school. They had heard of the video and wanted to witness it. I showed it to them because I wanted to see their reactions. Would they be as sickened as I was? No. One even went on to say, “Whoa. That’s so cool. I’d love to do that.”

Are you kidding me? You’d love to murder someone. I don’t care if they are smuggling in weapons - they are still someone’s father, son, friend. They are still fighting for what they believe in.

How would we react if an email containing the World Trade Centers crashing down from the point of view of Al Qaeda circulated. I’m not justifying what they did at all. It was horrible and atrocities like that should never occur. But I’m not Republican enough to think there isn’t another side to the argument, another side that makes us look like the vile weapon smugglers getting blown into a red mist on the video I just watched.

And yes, I just watched “300” over the weekend - one of the bloodiest movies ever. It’s based on the Spartan’s initial battle with the Persian empire. But I know that film was not real. It’s entertainment loosely based on historical fact. It’s the same with “Saving Private Ryan.” Those first 30 minutes are brutally unforgiving. I shudder and wonder if hell could be any worse than Omaha beach. But I too know that it’s a film. It’s entrainment closely based on historical fact. After watching “Ryan,” I felt sickened. I hoped such things would never come about again. I sure as hell didn’t think, “Whoa. That’s so cool.” And I sure as hell didn’t send it around as an email glorifying the horrors of war.