Will you at least concede that you were wrong at calling yourself a moral absolutist?
You are now boring me and I intended to no longer participate in this debate but this question had a tone of genuine sincerity so I feel compelled to respond.
I do not accept your Wikipedia definition of moral absolutism anymore than you did not accept my dictionary definition of Pacifism even though I consider a dictionary more reliable than Wiki.
I NEVER SAID I WAS A MORAL ABSOLUTIST. I SAID I BELIEVED IN MORAL ABSOLUTES. BIG DIFFERENCE.
My play on the accusation and admission seem to be a poor attempt at irony and your propensity for the cut and paste and calling foul when others do it. There's often something lost in the translation from verbal speech to written.
You failed to notice that I said it wasn't always about a numbers game. Pure body count as it were. Murder is always wrong. A moral absolute I believe in. Stealing, lying, shooting pointy headed twinks in black panties carrying a knife -- sometimes. Sometimes not. Saying there are moral absolutes is quite different from saying everything is a moral absolute or that I am a moral absolute.
So in that regard you have my concession.
You may call it personal vanity, I call it a moral imperative that I don't commit murder. What someone else does or doesn't do based on my actions is between him and his God or whatever.
Ever wonder why it was often the policy of the NVC to wound rather than kill an American soldier? Because they knew that American's don't leave their wounded soldiers on the field to die and the additional burden put the advantage more on their side. With Americans it's eit her we all come home or nobody comes home. Of course, it would be much more pragmatic if they just leave the wounded soldier to die. After all not only is he worthless on the battle field but he now takes up a good deal of resources and puts everyone else at greater risks. Why do we do it? The Russians don't. They treated their men like canon fodder in WW2. The Chinese don't. And the NVC sure as hell didn't. Why do we do it? Because it's not always just about numbers and pragmatism and naked survival. Why bother taking care of the infirmed? The old and sick? They contribute nothing and only needlessly drain resources. Sure maybe their families and friends care but that's their problem. Why should we?
When soldiers risks their lives and the lives of their comrades to save another wounded soldier it is no longer just about the pure efficacy of survival. We are not just animals. It's not just about how many of us will live, maybe sometimes, but not all the time. Sometimes there are things higher than ourselves. Things worth risking our lives and dying for. When those brave, and some may say stupid, soldiers drag their dying comrade off the field and carry him with them it is then that they rise above being mere animals only concerned about their own survival. It is then that they assert their humanity. That they are more than just flesh and blood. That they have souls.
If we were soldiers in the same platoon fighting a common enemy and you should fall wounded even though I do not like you I would risk my life, the life of my son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father... that we would not just leave you there to die and rot and decompose in the sun like some animal carcass.
We all come home or none of us comes home.