Sensitivity

As Afghans continue to kill Americans in Afghanistan under the excuse that they are defending their religion, I continue to hear commentators in the U.S. criticize the military in Afghanistan for being "insensitive" in their mistake of burning holy books. This is patently absurd. 

The military is not supposed to be sensitive. The military is a killing machine. As a pacifist, I find this sudden re-framing of military role very disturbing. It is a lie. The function of the military is to apply lethal force against enemies. The military is not a democracy machine. Men and women with uniforms, rifles and heavy ordinance are never going to be peace ambassadors, nation builders or missionaries. This is cynical public relations at best.

Religions notoriously speak of reaping what is sown. The Afghans are reaping what they have sown over centuries of patriarchal tribalism and xenophobia. The Americans in Afghanistan are reaping what they have sown by aggressively entering a country and culture which have no reference points to American democracy or modern Western mores. Their mission failed before it began. The senseless cost of human life and financial security at home are results of that insensitivity to reality.

Sensitivity? How about some sensitivity to the poor men and women in the U.S. who are coerced financially into taking up arms to pay for an education or a path to citizenship?  How about sensitivity to the women and children who will suffer in the aftermath of the American invasion of Afghanistan? How about some sensitivity to the ignorance in  the U.S. which supports this form of violent, hollow nationalism?

As a secular humanist, I am frequently amused by the knee-jerk calls for sensitivity to organized religions, which have cheered on murder and war throughout history. I am equally amused by the knee-jerk "multiculturalism" in the U.S. which pontificates on the necessity for sensitivity to cultural mores which violate all basic definitions of human rights and justice. These calls for sensitivity are as hollow as the patriotism, religiosity and multiculturalism they are supposed to represent. They are simply cowardly howls in defense of the status quo.