"Blame," wrote novelist Dalton Trumbo, "is for God and little children." I have always believed these to be good and wise words to live by. But today, sitting at my desk, writing these words, I am struggling with the desire to blame and the desire to punish.
The bold emphases is mine. Steven then goes on to list those he wants to blame and punish for the recently revealed murders by American solders in Iraq, but he ends with....
With tears welling in my eyes, and rage boiling in my heart, I want to blame and punish them all.
But I can't, because I am reminded of other words, also good and wise: "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone" - Christ's admonition about blame and punishment.
Consider: didn't we, twice, elect this president? Didn't we, for so long, overwhelmingly support this war? Didn't we, with our yellow-ribbon stickers, "proudly" support these troops? Didn't we, by ignoring the endless rush of executive-branch crimes, refuse to impeach this president for lying and for stealing and for cheating the American people? And didn't we, by remaining silent and electing war-mad politicians, refuse to bring home our troops?
I ask myself: honestly, who is to blame for the murder of those children? Who, among us, is without sin?
I remember again Dalton Trumbo's words: "Blame is for God and little children."
And I think: as we awake to the dark truth about our war with Iraq; and as we begin, honestly, to survey the damage that we, as Americans, have done there and around the world; and as we solemnly bury the dead and heal the wounds that our own hands have created, is it not time to put down our stones, to put away our blame, and to learn the sobering lessons from our folly?
Let's hope so.
Amen
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