Robert C Green II .com

Last night I watched the end of a movie called Rendition with my girlfriend. In this movie’s final scenes a young man is entering a town market with explosives attached to his body (he is a suicide bomber). As he enters the square, those who have instructed him to blow himself up in order to kill a government official are watching. At the same time his girlfriend enters, screaming his name and begging him not to do it because the government official is, surprise, her father. The boy hesitates, his superiors shoot him, the government official escapes, and the boy and his girlfriend are blown to pieces along with anyone in the surrounding area.

Now, as sad as this scene is on the surface, it makes me feel a much deeper grief. Why? This boy had found himself on this path because a government had killed his brother. Sound familiar? Governments have this tendency to kill people left and right. And while they are killing folks they have a tendency to send their own citizens to their deaths. No wonder the world hates the American government. How many sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandmothers, and grandfathers have we killed? How many sons and daughters have we embittered and filled with rage and hate? And it’s not just us. Governments all over the world do this constantly.

I love this country. I love its people. I just wish our policies were war as a last resort. I’d rather live in peace. I’d rather talk and trade with my neighbors. I’d rather have peace.