A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life

A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life
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I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, –that unless I believed, I should not understand.-- St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Friday, February 08, 2013

Drone Warfare and Consistent Critique

Eugene Robinson, a supporter of President Obama, is spot on.
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If George W. Bush had told us that the "war on terror" gave him the right to execute a U.S. citizen overseas with a missile fired from a drone aircraft, without due process or judicial review, I'd have gone ballistic. It makes no difference that the president making this chilling claim is Barack Obama. What’s wrong is wrong.

The moral and ethical questions posed by the advent of drone warfare-- which amounts to assassination by remote control-- are painfully complex. We had better start working out some answers because, as an administration spokesman told me recently, drone attacks are "the new normal" in the ongoing struggle against terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda.

...as the Justice Department document admits, U.S. citizens have constitutional rights. I am deeply troubled by the notion that the president can unilaterally decide those rights no longer apply.
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The entire editorial, "Assassinations By Remote Control," can be read here.

3 comments:

John Mark said...

One thing this tells us is that journalists are not doing their job. Get Religion, run by a pro-life Democrat, said yesterday (this was Mollie, not tmatt, the de facto leader) that the only time real journalism is done is when the subject is a Republican.

Patrick said...

I could care less about the American constitution, it's a useless piece of paper since the 1930s, it's what the zeitgeist says it is now.

I do care about what God wants and I don't think He wants me to support killing unarmed folks like Bin Laden did us.

In almost every case, that's what happens and in most cases there are non terrorists along, such as wives, kids,etc.

Not to mention we're trusting a pagan state to give us entirely accurate information on every kill and that's just ignorant of us to do.

They could kill one of us and claim we were al qaeda and there is nothing to prevent it and most wouldn't ask a question. Our family would perish with us most likely.

This is a game of murder.

Allan R. Bevere said...

Patrick,

Thanks for your comments. There is no doubt that for Christians we must always be concerned first and foremost with what God wants, but the Constitution is the basis for how American society is ordered. Therefore, it is not unimportant. It may be secondary, but not irrelevant.