--- Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > But a good number of the people marching aren't > necessarily in agreement > with ANSWER's general policies. Additionally, there > are smaller rallies and > marches organized by people *not* connected to > ANSWER. Will you tar them > *all* with the ANSWER brush? What about > demonstrations where people are > gathering not to protest, but to pray for peace? > > Julia
I was, to some extent, baiting Jeroen to prove a point. Where were these people a year ago? Two years ago? Five? Where was their concern for the people of Iraq _then_? That's what bothers me. Peace is well and good. Anyone here opposed to peace? Anyone? But peace at what price is the real question, and it doesn't seem to me that they have proposed a coherent answer. If they are genuine pacifists I respect that position - I don't agree with it, but I respect it - as long as those pacifists are willing to acknowledge that the consequence of their pacifism is leaving a monster like Saddam in power. The consequence of their pacifism is that the nightmare of the people of Iraq will continue. That more Iraqis will die than could ever die in an American invasion. If they are willing to accept and acknowledge that consequence, that's a morally serious and legitimate position for which I have great respect, and there's no tarring involved. They have a legitimate stance. But if they're not willing to acknowledge that, then I honestly think that they _don't_ have a legitimate moral position. Gandhi was willing to accept, for example, that forswearing violent resistance to Britain might well delay Indian independence - it probably did. He thought that was a worthwhile sacrifice. Part of your moral stance has to be a realistic evaluation of the costs of that moral stance, otherwise you're living in a fantasy world. In this particular case, it is striking that the ANSWER marches and rallies are so large, and that the people in them vigorously applaud the vilest anti-semitic and anti-American slurs. Doesn't this tell us something? Shouldn't we judge them for that? Gautam __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
