> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of Gautam Mukunda
[snip]
> Advance warning - I'm going to agree with almost everything Nick
> says below.
> Anyone with a weak heart and poor reactions to surprise, don't
> blame me :-)
(I just had to leave that in.)
Not in response to anything you said, here's a bit more of my thought on
this question of moral judgments. Here's what I believe:
1. We all know right from wrong (setting aside the questions of insanity or
evil incarnate in a human).
2. We all deceive ourselves.
3. We don't know when we are deceiving ourselves.
4. When we disagree and fight with others, believing that we are right (#1),
we need to do so even as we realize that we might be kidding ourselves (#2)
without knowing it (#3).
By this logic, separating ourselves from those we regard as wicked would be
doing *them* a favor if we're kidding ourselves. We would be removing our
wicked influence from them. And of course if we are not kidding ourselves,
we are exercising appropriate care for ourselves.
Where our opinions may diverge is in the notion of "it's us or them" with
regard to the current terrorist threat (or any other). I simply don't
believe they have the power to win an ultimate victory. But I must readily
add that it is only possible to do so out of faith that the wicked lose in
the long run. In faith, I know how the story ends, so again in faith, I
seek to obey "thou shall not kill" and use violence only with great
reluctance, convicted that we do so only because we are ignorant of more
just ways to separate ourselves from the wicked. And deal with the regret
of our own violence by seeking greater understanding of the truth, less
self-deception.
Is it clear that I see two kinds of moral judgment? One that judges right
from wrong, a second that imposes punishment and/or revenge? And that I
believe most strongly in the first, but not the second? Courts work this
way, making two judgments, one that determines guilt or innocence, a second
that imposes a sentence. I can support sentences that isolate those who we
regard as wicked, but not sentences that kill or represent vengeance. Of
course, the latter is a difficult judgment call in itself.
Nick
