She stared at Raven in a long second of shocked silence, before sagging to the floor.
Imagine a soldier who believes killing another human being is wrong, kills his first human being in war when he has never killed before. Worse still, imagine this same soldier has his enemy in his sites and the enemy appears defenseless. Here, he might be allowed the luxury to have that moment with himself to debate whether he should pull the trigger or not. But on another day he may not have that luxury. Imagine further, a soldier is in this situation because his father was a soldier, and his grandfather was a soldier, and he is trying to please them but, unlike them, he doesn__ believe killing people in war is right, yet there he is on the battlefield anyway where __illed or be killed_ leads the list in the army__ operation manual. So, he pulls the trigger anyway even though he__ categorically against killing another human being. And maybe this is the first time he__ compromised on such a high principle and he continues killing other people as long as he__ in the war and each time it becomes easier and easier until his principle, his absolute truth, is a motto not to live by, but one that is just a topic of conversation in a philosophy class or a backyard barbecue. War has changed him. From Messages From a Grandfather, by Robert Gately
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Imagine a soldier who believes killing another human being is wrong, kills his first human being in war when he has never killed before. Worse still, imagine this same soldier has his enemy in his sites and the enemy appears defenseless. Here, he might be allowed the luxury to have that moment with himself to debate whether he should pull the trigger or not. But on another day he may not have that luxury. Imagine further, a soldier is in this situation because his father was a soldier, and his grandfather was a soldier, and he is trying to please them but, unlike them, he doesn__ believe killing people in war is right, yet there he is on the battlefield anyway where __illed or be killed_ leads the list in the army__ operation manual. So, he pulls the trigger anyway even though he__ categorically against killing another human being. And maybe this is the first time he__ compromised on such a high principle and he continues killing other people as long as he__ in the war and each time it becomes easier and easier until his principle, his absolute truth, is a motto not to live by, but one that is just a topic of conversation in a philosophy class or a backyard barbecue. War has changed him. From Messages From a Grandfather, by Robert Gately
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