ASIDE: Wow. I am seriously having a crisis of ideas here. Let me explain.

IDEA #1
You know that I think killing people is WRONG. In any way, shape or form, it is wrong to take the life of another human. I have said before that there are no good reasons, no acceptable excuses, no justifications, for inflicting death on someone. I stand by that. People must be treated with respect and decency - no matter their age, race, religion or belief - and I try to live my life with that as the number one rule. (I don't always manage it, but I try.)

IDEA #2
The men and women who are in our military forces are to be respected for being willing to give their lives to protect something they hold dear. When they face the enemy they do it knowing there is the possibility that they are doing it for the last time. I respect that.

Okay. Here's where the crisis comes in. These men and women are also willing to kill to protect something they hold dear. As I stated previously, I think that is wrong. It is exactly opposite of what I think needs to happen. So...if I respect and support the soldiers in what they are doing, I am being a hypocrite. If I refuse to respect and support the soldiers for what they are doing, I am also a hypocrite. It is quite a quandry.

MY CURRENT IDEA (because ideas are easy to change, beliefs are not - 10 points to the one who knows where that is from)
I have to make a conscious effort to remember that what soldiers are doing can be divided into these two different actions. The willingness to suffer for your ideas and the willingness to kill for your ideas are two seperate decisions. I fully support the one and completely oppose the other. That being decided, I will go on to tell you about what this post was originally about.

There is a website up, TROOPTRAX, that is dedicated to collecting donations of money or music in an effort to send our troops some tunes. Michele (a small victory) is organizing the whole thing. If you are interested in supporting our troops and their need for entertainment - even if you only support 1/2 of what they are doing - jump on over and let them know. The important is that members of the military THINK they are doing a good thing. Good intentions and all. That in itself should be respected.

You can't teach a child about light by keeping them in the dark.