quote:
Originally posted by Silver Cheeta:
When I say good/evil crap – I’m referring to a tendency that I’ve seen far too much of lately, (both on the forum and off it) to categorise actions/people as ‘evil’, and draw a line under that definition which may not be questioned. Full stop, end of story, end of discussion. No questions, no looking at cause and effect...
As I have said many many many times on this forum, people do not come out of their mother’s womb with ‘evil’ written in big letters on their foreheads. If a person or group of people resort to a course of action that is foul and disgusting in the extreme, it is worth while examining the background to that course of action. (And no, I am not excusing the perpetrators by saying that. Just saying that we might learn from what has happened, with a view to doing better in the future.)
That is not to say that I do not believe that actions have consequences. Of course they do. However, a little more understanding on the part of the West, and America in particular, as to just WHY the anti-Western feeling in various parts of the world – I am not just referring to the Middle East here..... would be no bad thing. Dismissing people and events as ‘evil’ is simplistic and discourages and stifles exploration and discussion around the issues raised by the events of September 11th. I’m not going to go into a full blown discussion yet again on the events of 9/11, if you don’t mind, because I’ve said everything I have to say on the subject at least 20 times, and really don’t want to go into it all again. Read some of the earlier threads in this forum, should you be at all interested in my opinion/views on these matters.....
But somethings are evil, no matter what the reason behind it. Just because we shouldn't close the door on discussion and research into something vile doesn't mean we can't label it evil. Labeling something, doesn't mean the end of the story or the choice of a simplistic point of view. There are those who say, "bomb them all to hell." That is a simplistic use, but I'm looking at the entire problem, and I still see those who purposely target innocents as evil even though I'm not the "bomb them all the hell type". I'm pro-war, but not uninformed. I believe this is part of the problem with communication. Seeing evil as an all consuming reasoning from both sides.
I don't believe anyone comes from the womb evil, but some people do become evil, for whatever reason. Everyone has a reason for everything they do in life, but all of them aren't valid.(not implying you think the terrorist have valid reasons for September 11th)
You have to deal with the problem itself before you can deal with the causes. Usually we wait too long to deal with a problem, but once you decide to deal with it or are forced to deal with it, you still have to address the immediate problem/threat first.