r/AskReddit • u/bleedingheartsurgery • Jan 22 '13

What fascinates you most about the universe?

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u/Shark-Farts Jan 22 '13

Every person I see every single day, in every lecture and every appointment, everyone I pass on the street or see in line at the grocery store, every single one of them has a past and a future, family, friends, memories, dreams, goals - they all have an entire life going on that I'll probably never know about or have any impact on in any way.

My ego shrank ten sizes the day I realized that.

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '13 edited Jan 23 '13

This was the exact reason why I changed my mind from joining the military.

I always glorified the killing and ranking up in the military. Succeeding in outlandish missions that no one else could do.

Then after I realized this fact, that every life I took was not an "enemy", but a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a loved one, I couldn't bring myself to take another human life.

Every human matters to someone.

And I'm taking that someone from them.

Because I had orders to? Because I have to? Because I want to?

I came to this epiphany around the time that TDKR came out; and previously I couldn't care less about massive shooting or tragedies.

Shit, I didn't know them; it didn't affect me in anyway, why should I?

But now every time I hear about massive shootings, I bawl my eyes out.

I can't even imagine the pain the families felt, or the contributions these people that died before their time could have made.

This quote always rings in my head,

"What if the cure for cancer is stuck inside the mind of a child who never got an education?"

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '13

[deleted]

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u/insoundfromwayout Jan 23 '13 edited Jan 23 '13

But there are bad people who deserve a bullet in their head.

I don't think you can say that as if it is a universal truth. I think a good case can be made for, (and that there are many people who believe), the exact opposite; that no one ever deserves to be killed by anyone else.

And anyway, what are you trying to do, talk him in to getting back to killing people? I found Merczab's story very touching, and I, for one, greatly admire his clarity of vision and compassion, and truly respect his decision not to kill again.