Taylor, III, Porcher L. (1986, Fall). When moral force impedes the mission on the airland battlefield an ethical and legal dilemma for leaders? Military Chaplains' Review, 35-44.
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This article begins with a scenario in which a crisis is forming and a certain specific specific specialist is required immediately or there will be great loss of life, but it happens to be the Sabbath and that individual observes the Sabbath. So the ethical dilemma is established."By accepting the general population that "a soldier is a mirror of the society from which he comes," he goes on to make some generalizations about our society. First, individual freedom is the "most precious thing" in our society. Our Judeo-Christian society "believes that it is wrong to kill and that nothing is worth the taking of a human life. Second, General Cavazos Makes a sobering observation: "The negative impact of the influence of the society upon the will of the soldier to fight is evident."I think the leaders of the Vienna mission knew that they were pushing the envelope with what was acceptable even for right which Moral Majority crazed American Evangelicals pumped up against with the red scare hype. Some of the security things were security to protect the believers in the East Bloc countries, but other things were to keep the supporters back home from getting too upset about the tactics used, such as for socialization (use of psychology, etc.) and possibly other things like cooperation with government and the like. These things might not have sit so well with at least some supporters back home and so could have brought some unwanted bad p.r.
...
We face a dilemma that armies have always faced within a democratic society. The values to defend that society are often at odds with the values of the society itself." (p. 37)
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"Every leader has been instilled with the primacy of the mission." (p. 38)Exactly! That's what I've been saying all along: that the mission was so focused on the mission that practically any means was open game - the ends justifies the means, remember? Well, maybe you didn't read any of those discussions, but I've said it more than a few times here on this blog.
So the Vienna mission had an absolutely fantastic objective in mind, no question about it, and the basic premise as to how to meet it was likewise seemingly impeccable. But the devil's in the details, as they say, and it seems that in this case the devil really is in the details, or was when I was with the mission. I just mean how they handled the security and the use of psychology and how they handled the socilization and things like that.
But I also mean any possible government entanglement, which would be particularly egregious. Do you know that that is one thing that the Soviet Union use to regularly accuse Christian missions of - of having connections with the CIA and other government agencies. If that kind of thing was true that is a horrible testimony and it could have been even more dangerous for the people they were working with. What were they thinking? And I haven't even gotten to the issue of being unequally yolked with unbelievers yet (II Cor. 6:14).
If I'm going to work for a Christian mission, I want to know that it is truly a Christian mission and not under the influence of any secular agency that's going to be influencing it's ministry, especially not surreptitiously.
So getting back to the text, the leaders of the Vienna mission all believed in the mission of the mission, and I think they thought it was primary (i.e., any other possibly competing objectives would have been secondary or tertiary), but I still didn't trust them because I still thought that there could be other missions (objectives) because of the ways they treated me and some other anomalies.
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"The story of Sgt. York serves to underscore the need for leaders to not only possess the "traditional qualities of courage, honesty, and stamina, but a socio-psychological understanding of people" as well." (p. 40-41)I wonder how the Vienna mission leaders and the military chaplains/H.R. staff felt by the end of my term. It's kind of funny, because I don't think a one of them understood me. All they knew was I was "standing up on the inside." That's all they knew I think. And if that's all they could figure out, then they were way short of reality and you guys are getting a way better picture of what was going on in me then they ever had any idea of. I was thinking all these things and I told my Grandmother and she knew these things and I told my friends in Russia and I wrote them in the human rights report and I did all this research in the US while I was living in Russia, but it was to clarify my thoughts more since my problems were dragging on and on and on and on.
So it is possible to fool even the cleverest of leaders if you really try and have motivation. I even fooled my family.
They need to add interrogation skills to this list I think.
I should add, though, that I can laugh at it now because I'm just beginning to see some relief from having this horrible secret come out in the open, but it was horrible. It was a nightmare and I was all alone in it despite being surrounded by people. When I was in counseling I was afraid to leave until I was sure I could pull off the double life. Inside I was the same person I had been, but outside I portrayed this changed person (except I still wanted to do my Austrian stuff). I was sweet and subdued and nice and kept my views to myself, etc., etc. I had chances to practice when I was with the local U.S. office visiting people and the like. Eventually I had to go for it, but I really was terrified and it was horrible, really. I just can't tell you. But I worked everything out on my own as to how I was going to make it with the mission because I never told anyone about anything going on at the mission or in Vienna.
I knew I had to do it on my own or I was going to spill everything and be really in a straight jacket and you'd have never ever seen me again in broad daylight. I'd be like slobbering down my chin or something. So that was ruled out right away. I was with a Christian counseling place and they knew my mission and they'd never ever have believed me in a million years so they would right away have labeled me among the most desparate of cases.
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Okay, that's it for this post. 