Puppy-throwing Marine is removed from Corps

[Compugasm]

In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't make one bit of difference that this puppy was killed. However, the argument is the manner in which it was killed. Was it giving away his position? Was it rabid? Did he shoot it? No... trained killers and warzone arguments aside, noone in their right mind would lob a puppy off a cliff for sheer enjoyment and casual disreguard and laugh about it.

As pointed out, the whole handling of the situation is equally "unbecoming" because any civilian would be imprisoned, psychoanalyed, medicated, and watched. This guy is discharged to roam the streets. That's the scary part.

[another day]

Quote by: RealRockingham No Im not. Puppies aren't self-aware. People don't care when people kill flies, do they? But their worried about people killing puppies, because theyre "so cute". Well I don't fucking care. I kill a flie if it annoys me, why not a dog? If I wan't eat a dog, like Asians do, I will do so. We kill and eat pigs, and pigs are more intelligent then dogs. So why is it unacceptable to kill a dog, and perfectly acceptable to kill a pig? I don't care about cuteness.

Keyword, we kill and EAT pigs. We don't sanction throwing them off bridges for a laugh. If you want to eat a dog because you are hungry, I say go for it, as long as it's your own dog and not your neighbors.

What this guy did has a word, sadism. He's delighting in the torture, or killing of another being. Puppies aren't self aware, perhaps (though you truly have no way of measuring this), but neither are severely retarded people. Is throwing a retard off a cliff, "like throwing a rock"? Maybe your just "personifying" retarded people by treating them like humans.

You get this caught on tape, and it's just the tip of the iceberg of what war does to these young guys. What you aren't getting captured on tape is far worse - the torture of human beings. Rapes, beatings, and other disgusting acts committed against iraqis by us soldiers. Keeping body parts as mementos, eating flesh from burnt bodies in the street.

[RealRockingham]

Quote by: Chris your point that people kill animals, is taken, however there is something to be said about people who get enjoyment out of seeing an animal suffer and or die.

Quote by: another day Keyword, we kill and EAT pigs. We don't sanction throwing them off bridges for a laugh. If you want to eat a dog because you are hungry, I say go for it, as long as it's your own dog and not your neighbors. What this guy did has a word, sadism. He's delighting in the torture, or killing of another being. Puppies aren't self aware, perhaps (though you truly have no way of measuring this), but neither are severely retarded people. Is throwing a retard off a cliff, "like throwing a rock"? Maybe your just "personifying" retarded people by treating them like humans. You get this caught on tape, and it's just the tip of the iceberg of what war does to these young guys. What you aren't getting captured on tape is far worse - the torture of human beings. Rapes, beatings, and other disgusting acts committed against iraqis by us soldiers. Keeping body parts as mementos, eating flesh from burnt bodies in the street.

Yup. End the Iraq war, and young men will automatically stop being so sadistic. Yup. Righto.

[Nono]

Well, it would certainly help. Keeping a lid on our reptile-brain savagery is what human civilization is all about. And lying your way into a disastrous war is not good for civilization.

Young Americans come back from Iraq brutalized just as they did from Vietnam. Congratulations.

[another day]

Quote by: RealRockingham Yup. End the Iraq war, and young men will automatically stop being so sadistic. Yup. Righto.

Did I say that? No I did not. Might want to end "debating" tactics like that if you wish to survive a little here.

But it doesn't help! A lot of soldiers likely were predisposed to this type of behaviour when they thought it a good idea to sign up for the military, but being immersed in an atmosphere of chaos and violence every day certainly doesn't help keep a wayward soul on a straight path. It's like the Lord of the Flies... everyone has it in them, but put them in the right situation and it will run amok!

Keeping a lid on our reptile-brain savagery is what human civilization is all about.

Nice to post and then recheck the thread and see I have skipped over someone saying the exact same thing as me! Quite right, and well put too.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Quote by: RealRockingham Why does it matter, really? Puppies aren't sentient beings. Not much worse then throwing a rock of the bridge. Do you guys no the term "personification"? Well thats what your doing.

Killing another living being for no other reason than sadism matters.

[RealRockingham]

Quote by: another day Did I say that? No I did not. Might want to end "debating" tactics like that if you wish to survive a little here.

My apologies.

Quote by: Gods_Mercenary Killing another living being for no other reason than sadism matters.

Really? And whats so special about "living beings" really? To be honest, I don't buy the idea that even human life matters, really. Were just a bunch of atoms.

[RealRockingham]

Quote by: Gods_Mercenary Killing another living being for no other reason than sadism matters.

People do that all the time with flies/snails/invertabrates etc.

They mimic it in videogames, even on humans...

Why is it worse to kill a puppy then an invertebrate?

And if the logic that killing another being for purpose of sadism is wrong because it implies you enjoy violence, then why is it any different for a video game? A videogame is about as selfaware as a puppy, after all.

[Thanatos]

Quote by: RealRockingham My apologies. Really? And whats so special about "living beings" really? To be honest, I don't buy the idea that even human life matters, really. Were just a bunch of atoms.

Look, it boils down to the fact that most people like puppies. I can emphasize with them because their brains are superficially similar to mine and I would prefer if they were not caused undue pain. That's why kicking or throwing a dog is an entertainment trope instead of the villain lighting a house plant on fire.

You asked why hurting invertebrates isn't quite so evil, and the truth is that if house flies feel pain I'm not sure what to look for. Science also suggests that dogs think a lot more like we do than a lobster so this is undoubtedly why my mirror neurons pick up on pain in a dog yet not in most invertebrates.

[RealRockingham]

Quote by: Thanatos Look, it boils down to the fact that most people like puppies. I can emphasize with them because their brains are superficially similar to mine and I would prefer if they were not caused undue pain. That's why kicking or throwing a dog is an entertainment trope instead of the villain lighting a house plant on fire.

Ahhh, but my point is that people liking puppies doesn't mean it matters if they die. People THINK it does, maybe....

[Thanatos]

Quote by: RealRockingham Ahhh, but my point is that people liking puppies doesn't mean it matters if they die. People THINK it does, maybe....

In my philosophy things can matter to me and to another person but they cannot "really" matter because there's nothing for it to really matter to.

God did give us dominion over the Earth and all its critters so the Christians could throw puppies too. They don't usually do that sort of thing for some reason :)

[RealRockingham]

Quote by: Thanatos In my philosophy things can matter to me and to another person but they cannot "really" matter because there's nothing for it to really matter to. God did give us dominion over the Earth and all its critters so the Christians could throw puppies too. They don't usually do that sort of thing for some reason :)

To your former point, I agree. Nothing matters.

To your latter one, is that some creationist dogma with a point behind it, a meaningless joke, or both?

[Thanatos]

Quote by: RealRockingham To your latter one, is that some creationist dogma with a point behind it, a meaningless joke, or both?

The point is that most people who define meaning relative to a higher power still define plenty of things my way. I thought you were heading for the higher power definition of meaning. Take it as a compliment; my prescience only works reliably on the exceptionally dumb.

[RealRockingham]

Quote by: Thanatos The point is that most people who define meaning relative to a higher power still define plenty of things my way. I thought you were heading for the higher power definition of meaning. Take it as a compliment; my prescience only works reliably on the exceptionally dumb.

I don't HAVE a definition of meaning.... the world is meaningless from where I'm standing.

As for whether I'm exceptionally dumb or not...well, thats debatable

[Nono]

Quote by: Rocks I don't buy the idea that even human life matters.

Spoken like Adolf H. Human life mattered not to him. In fact, its extermination was a bit of a turn-on, much like for the pathetic shithead in the video.

[RealRockingham]

Quote by: Nono Spoken like Adolf H. Human life mattered not to him. In fact, its extermination was a bit of a turn-on, much like for the pathetic shithead in the video.

No, not quite. Adolf had the delusion that one bunch of molecules was better then another. And he wanted to kill the "lesser" ones.

I simply couldn't care less either way. See the difference? I'm merely apathetic, he was genocidal.

[Nono]

One can easily facilitate the other. Very easily.

[Sonart]

.

Quote by: RealRockingham No Im not. Puppies aren't self-aware.

The hell they're not.

Honor among beasts.

Quote by: RealRockingham We kill and eat pigs, and pigs are more intelligent then dogs. So why is it unacceptable to kill a dog, and perfectly acceptable to kill a pig?

Because dogs were specifically domesticated and bred to be symbiotic companions and helpmates.to humans. This was a sadistic and brutal betrayal of that relationship. You said it yourself...

Quote by: RealRockingham Yup. End the Iraq war, and young men will automatically stop being so sadistic.

...you called it sadistic. It's inflicting terror and pain for the pleasure of it. That's exactly what our military is supposed to be avoiding.

Quote by: RealRockingham Ahhh, but my point is that people liking puppies doesn't mean it matters if they die.

What matters is why and how you kill them.

Quote by: RealRockingham I don't HAVE a definition of meaning.... the world is meaningless from where I'm standing.

Obviously.

Quote by: RealRockingham Really? And whats so special about "living beings" really?

You're one. Sort of.

Quote by: RealRockingham I simply couldn't care less either way. See the difference? I'm merely apathetic, he was genocidal.

The word that comes to my mind isn't apathetic. It's sociopathic.

.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Quote by: RealRockingham People do that all the time with flies/snails/invertabrates etc. They mimic it in videogames, even on humans... Why is it worse to kill a puppy then an invertebrate? And if the logic that killing another being for purpose of sadism is wrong because it implies you enjoy violence, then why is it any different for a video game? A videogame is about as selfaware as a puppy, after all.

People kill flies because they annoy them, and they are generally granted a quick death. Plus, I don't even know if they can feel pain, so it couldn't be sadism. I generally enjoy video games, even highly violent ones, for something other than killing.

[another day]

Quote by: RealRockingham My apologies. Really? And whats so special about "living beings" really? To be honest, I don't buy the idea that even human life matters, really. Were just a bunch of atoms.

What's so wrong with living beings that they should be destroyed? Living creatures exist because our nature has created them, has it not?. Do you not understand how in that sense, all living things matter? To say that it's "all a bunch of atoms" is like saying a gorgeous painting is "nothing but a bunch of brushstrokes"... True, but they form a large and beautiful picture. Your argument is like when people say "how can these thoughts and feelings come out of some grey blobs of matter, referring to the brain. But why label it "grey blobs of matter", when in reality it is a complex and incredibly complicated organ that has made possible our current experiences? Why do you say it's just a bunch of atoms, as if they mean nothing, when atoms make up our entire world, all the things in it, the wind, the tides, the vast array of creatures and landscapes, the space the stars, the oceans, and us ourselves with all our experiences and dreams? What about the reason for the atoms to exist in the first place? And why they form the things they do? Why do you have such a "nothing matters" attitude, just because we have been able to get close enough to see that it's all "made of little dots"? (gasp!)

This is what always gets me about the hardcore science atheists today. They are like little men looking through magnifying glasses so large and clear to the point where they're looking at a pixel in a pattern, and they've neglected to view life through the larger sense from time to time.

Science explains nothing but the mechanics of life and how it works. Beyond that there is the bigger question, why? You don't need religion to understand or appreciate it. You only need a wonderous and curious perspective on the entire nature of our being, and you most certainly need only the slightest amount of positivity to see that no matter what, life matters and must be cherished, and looked upon in awe. Either that or off yourself right now, because for a man who does not appreciate life, there are only two options; seek to destroy as much of it as he can, or destroy himself.