"For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course, that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. "Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!"
"I want a military funeral when I diethe bugler, the flag on the casket, the ceremonial firing squad, the hallowed ground.... It will be a way of achieving what I've always wanted more than anythingsomething I could have had, if only I'd managed to get myself killed in the war.... The unqualified approval of my community."
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Source: Kurt Vonnegut (1988). “Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut”, p.169, Univ. Press of Mississippi
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