Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
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Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418 |
| Fratricide |
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Friend, one of the most dreadful incidents to take place during the War in Iraq was one in which two American
soldiers were killed and fourteen wounded. It didn’t happen in a firefight with the enemy. It wasn’t an
event during a pitched battle. Neither was it one of those terrible cases of “friendly fire” in which
either defective weaponry or human error has a soldier accidentally killing his own allies.
What makes the situation I have in mind far worse than all these is that it was a case in which a sergeant in the U.S. Army apparently rolled hand grenades into the tents of fellow soldiers in his own camp. While the 101st Airborne Division was camped in Kuwait, the man turned on his own comrades. The soldier was taken into custody soon after the event in question. A judge has found probable cause to try him for assault, and he has been returned to the United States for investigations and proceedings. He could be charged with a range of things from aggravated assault, to murder, to treason. The word for wicked actions of this sort is fratricide. The word literally refers to the murder of one’s own brother or sister. By extension, it covers a range of aggression in which one strikes out against family, colleagues, or countrymen. We’ve all seen varieties of it! A disgruntled employee sabotages the company because he or she feels slighted or mistreated. Someone gets angry at a fellow worker and undermines her effectiveness, circulates a vicious rumour about her, or works to get her fired. People occasionally storm into a former workplace and shoot the person who fired them - or simply shoot people at random. You may have seen it in your church, of all places. A leadership fight breaks out, and the very worst sort of mean-spirited feuding takes place before a watching (and unbelieving) world. Churches split. People who have been friends for years stop speaking to one another. Family members are alienated. In the case of the soldier in question, he had been disciplined recently for insubordination. Early speculation is that he was venting his resentment over that action. Others said he has recently displayed an “attitude” toward superiors. In war or peace, in military or civilian life, in the workplace or social settings, in church or family - we just can’t afford to feed resentment or harbour grudges. Offence, pain, resentment, rage, plotting, reprisal, fratricide - it is an evil progression that is better intercepted early than late. Friend, if you are harbouring any resentment that might tempt you to take your frustrations out on others close to you, let me encourage you to make the effort to forgive those who have wronged you. Because forgiveness saves the distortion of anger, the cost of hatred, and the waste of life. The truth is, if we long for strained relationships to be eased and broken relationships to be restored then we must take the initiative in forgiveness. Email me or write to me at P.O Box 1540, Albany W.A 6331. Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418 Have a great day! Ron |
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