The Story of a U.S. Marine Corp Conscientious Objector (Excellent pro-peace article)

This is excellent pro-peace article by a courageous former Marine from WAKE UP WORLD- LIKE: I don’t believe that humans should be killing other humans. The idea that humans from one arbitrary piece of land they were born on should kill people from a different arbitrary piece of land they were born on, solely because the humans in charge of a particular piece of land decided the other humans had to die, seems ridiculous. I don’t believe that there are inherently evil people, s...o I don’t believe there could ever be a group of people that we could declare war on with every member “evil” and deserving death. I believe that evil people do not exist, and that no one is born evil. I believe that everyone is born a blank slate, or maybe even that they are born good. I’ve never met an evil baby.
You can look up my Brothers’ story on youtube – Body Bags and Dogtags – a tribute to Barry Alexander
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The Story of a U.S. Marine Corp Conscientious Objector

In May 2014, I woke up and remembered what it is to truly be alive. The feeling was wonderful and I felt connected to everyone and everything. The only hitch was, I was two and a half years into a four year contract as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corp. I...

wakeup-world.com

 

 

 

 

The US Marines has a culture of psychological ill-health. The demonizing of other countries and militaries helps us to rationalize and moralize our own perceived need to make war and to kill, but the truth is, the soldier who maims or kills the enemy ultimately damages his own psyche. The suicide rate in the U.S. military is as high as it has ever been, sexual assault and harassment are a constant plague, and basic respect for human dignity is lost on far too many. Yet we pretend all the time that we are not only “okay”, but that we are the biggest alpha dog on the block.

I believe that violence begets violence. Our involvement in the Gulf War of the early 90’s brought about Osama bin Laden’s 9/11 attacks. American presence in the Muslim holy land of Saudi Arabia so angered bin Laden that he used Al Qaeda to bomb, and eventually destroy the Twin Towers killing thousands in the process. His act created hatred in the hearts of Americans, precipitating an invasion of Afghanistan, and then Iraq, both of which turned into decade-long wars. These wars continue through the present day, and what gains we made in the past we watch evaporate now before our eyes. We mourn for the lives of our soldiers lost, but this loss is made all the more painful when it seems that their lives may have been given in vain. For every American soldier dead, over 25 non-combatants perished. What do we add on the other side of the scale to balance out all these deaths? Nothing can even the scales, least of all more violence or war.

 In July of 2013 I watched a PBS documentary on the life and teachings of Buddha called “The Buddha”. At the time, I didn’t watch PBS or any other informational channel for pleasure; I tuned into the show because nothing else was on and I was tired of playing video games. Aside from previously knowing that Buddhism existed, this was to be my first real introduction into Buddhist philosophy. The documentary gripped me, and it introduced me to the idea that violence begets violence. That concept stuck with me, though I didn’t fully understand it at the time. That same week I read What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula because I was so intrigued by the ideas I had learned from “The Buddha”. I was surprised to find that I agreed with many of the Buddha’s teachings, especially those on equality regardless of sex, religion, race, etc. His teachings were centuries ahead of their time, as evidenced by America’s, and the world’s, continual struggle with equality. I followed that book several months later with The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra, both of which solidified the importance of non-harming and peace, and accelerated my journey of spiritual growth.

Jake jacob.bridge@colorado.eduhide details

To

Awakening ronreunite@aol.com Wow Ron, First, thank you for the kind words. I poured my heart and soul into that piece and I'm glad you like it. Second, thank you even more for sharing that video with me. I'm not lying when I tell you that I'm tearing up as I write this. I can feel your love for your brother in that video. Though I've never had a sibling die in war, I feel that I understand exactly where you're coming from. Love truly does transcend all boundaries. Peace, Jake