hear, hear.
This is spot on.
I've been disgusted with our (humanity's, not the US', or the West's, or just us ping-pong champions) flexible approach to the culture of life since I was about old enough to be smarter than George W is now (it's been a really long time), so I'd increase the scope of Mr. Glucksmann's point to non-Muslims, as well (he does have a very good and timely point, though).
800,000 dead in Rwanda in a few months? Eh.
Millions dead and orphaned from AIDS they did nothing to contract (as opposed to those who did know enough to avoid it - they shouldn't be discounted, but maybe not as much outrage over their suffering should be trotted out)? Hmmm... well... eh.
Some completely undifferentiated cells in a womb? Call out the dogs and bomb a clinic.
The fact is, we all pick our grey area when it comes to the energy we're willing to expend on a pet set of abused people. The problem is that almost every damn one of us, the 'culture of life'-ers most definitely included, believes firmly that one set of murdered is more grievous than another, and that something should be done to end that violence but not this violence. Three thousand dead innocents are the same, whether they're under smouldering rubble in NYC or smouldering rubble in Baghdad.
Once in a great while a group of people has it coming (the Taliban springs to mind) and some of them should be wiped from the earth with unremitting and decisive finality. Cooler heads must prevail, though, and help us realize that even then, some of those people are just dumb bumpkins told a lie by a zealot, and maybe they shouldn't be dealt with violently if it can be avoided.
We must recognize violence for what it always is: the failure of us all to do more than we did.
I've been disgusted with our (humanity's, not the US', or the West's, or just us ping-pong champions) flexible approach to the culture of life since I was about old enough to be smarter than George W is now (it's been a really long time), so I'd increase the scope of Mr. Glucksmann's point to non-Muslims, as well (he does have a very good and timely point, though).
800,000 dead in Rwanda in a few months? Eh.
Millions dead and orphaned from AIDS they did nothing to contract (as opposed to those who did know enough to avoid it - they shouldn't be discounted, but maybe not as much outrage over their suffering should be trotted out)? Hmmm... well... eh.
Some completely undifferentiated cells in a womb? Call out the dogs and bomb a clinic.
The fact is, we all pick our grey area when it comes to the energy we're willing to expend on a pet set of abused people. The problem is that almost every damn one of us, the 'culture of life'-ers most definitely included, believes firmly that one set of murdered is more grievous than another, and that something should be done to end that violence but not this violence. Three thousand dead innocents are the same, whether they're under smouldering rubble in NYC or smouldering rubble in Baghdad.
Once in a great while a group of people has it coming (the Taliban springs to mind) and some of them should be wiped from the earth with unremitting and decisive finality. Cooler heads must prevail, though, and help us realize that even then, some of those people are just dumb bumpkins told a lie by a zealot, and maybe they shouldn't be dealt with violently if it can be avoided.
We must recognize violence for what it always is: the failure of us all to do more than we did.
posted by jim at 8/20/2006 12:35:00 PM
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