One of the assumptions I have found absolutely mystifying in many of the post 9/11 threads is the idea that violence and hatred are necessarily embraced only by a tiny minority of a given ethnic group, and that the majority wish only peace and harmony. It seems to me that in that last decade we have seen ample evidence to the contrary - Serbs vs. Croats, Hutu vs. Tutsi, Israelis vs. Arabs.
I'm quite tired of the insistence that this battle with the Taliban and al Queda is one of good vs. evil. Certainly I recognized early on that the Taliban must go and that the works of Al Queda were horrible. But I think setting up a situation in which the U.S. represents "good" and the "true god" is on our side is quite over the top. (Some interesting information, about 3/4 of the way down, dated September 17, about flip-flopping regarding the true representatives of evil.)
Humans have a tendency to behave in this manner with regard to any "monstrous" activity. Rather than recognizing monstrous acts as part of human nature and treating them as such, we label the perpetrators monsters, thus separating them from the rest of us...the humans.
Outside the realm of politics, we see evidence of human depravity - rape, murder, child molestation, large-scale corporate fraud. We have seen the human damage from the Catholic Church shielding pedophiles and allowing them to harm children unchecked.
Understanding why these things happen and how to stop them can only be accomplished by recognizing this. In some cases, the only difference between "us and them" is that they acted on their impulses and we held ours in check. Figuring out why some human beings cross that line would go much farther toward solving the problem than simply labeling them monsters.
So, why do you trust people?
Peace.
I'm quite tired of the insistence that this battle with the Taliban and al Queda is one of good vs. evil. Certainly I recognized early on that the Taliban must go and that the works of Al Queda were horrible. But I think setting up a situation in which the U.S. represents "good" and the "true god" is on our side is quite over the top. (Some interesting information, about 3/4 of the way down, dated September 17, about flip-flopping regarding the true representatives of evil.)
Humans have a tendency to behave in this manner with regard to any "monstrous" activity. Rather than recognizing monstrous acts as part of human nature and treating them as such, we label the perpetrators monsters, thus separating them from the rest of us...the humans.
Outside the realm of politics, we see evidence of human depravity - rape, murder, child molestation, large-scale corporate fraud. We have seen the human damage from the Catholic Church shielding pedophiles and allowing them to harm children unchecked.
Understanding why these things happen and how to stop them can only be accomplished by recognizing this. In some cases, the only difference between "us and them" is that they acted on their impulses and we held ours in check. Figuring out why some human beings cross that line would go much farther toward solving the problem than simply labeling them monsters.
So, why do you trust people?
Peace.