On Apr 17, 2005, at 7:32 PM, Gautam Mukunda wrote:
Lincoln's last great speech, and the one that seems to have best
expressed his intentions, says it best - "With malice towards none, with
charity for all, _with firmess in the right as God gives us to see the
right_, let us strive on to finish the work we are in..."
With firmness in the right.
"... as God gives us to see the right."
This elision is telling, and is for me the crux of the problem.
Too often, we fail to remember that we only see so far, that our certainties are only so certain.
Lincoln contained multitudes, but none of those multitudes can plausibly
be enlisted in an argument that we should sit on our hands in the face
of great evil.
And this is a result of that failure: the oversimplification of complex issues. Who, is it -- citations, please -- is arguing that we should sit on our hands in the face of great evil?
While I've certainly heard you, Gautam, and others making the claim that
Nick has made that argument, I haven't seen him or anyone else argue that
inaction was the solution.
I see a pattern here:
Urge cautious language and be accused of cowardice and/or pretense.
Urge cautious action and stand accused of inaction.
Isn't the world more complex than this?
Dave
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