Am Freitag, 18. November 2005 16:05 schrieb Jeff Bone: > On Nov 18, 2005, at 2:51 AM, Biju Chacko wrote: > > One should be held responsible of ones *actions* not ones > > *ideas*. > > +1!!! > IMHO, much of it grounds out in religion. Many flavors of > Christianity hold it true that a sin committed in thought only is > just as sinful. :-/
Well, agreed, but Christianity also holds true that the judge be god alone, particularly when it is about the thoughts or ideas of somebody. I find it quite interesting to have this debate here, and have followed it to some extent. I see a very serious problem in distinguishing between the idea and the action. Because as soon as someone propagates his idea, (s)he begins to act. And there lies the crux. Hitler has spread his ideas for years, until he finally reached a position from which nobody could remove him, and when his followers had already begun to act on their own, but under his influence. Then he started to act, being safe in all directions, in a manner we all agree is inhumane. Now, can I leave it as it is when someone tells me that Hitler had bright ideas and murdering the Jews was just plain necessary in order to help the German people to develop and prosper? Who do you (impersonal "you") want to hold responsible for setting fire to an asylum of refugees, when the person who did it is obviously brainwashed by another, strongly influencing person, who implanted the idea that foreigners are bastards, just exploiting our goodwill and misusing our hospitality? Of course the arsonist will and should be punished, but can you leave the other alone? I don't think so. It's a very difficult terrain, because at a certain point you reach the same position the other has, and you are as "bad" as he is. How long is it "protecting the freedom of thought and speech", and when does it begin to be an attac against another person's life? My 2 cents... Martin -- Martin Senftleben, Doctor of Philosophy, S.V. University using Debian GNU Linux http://www.drmartinus.de/ http://www.daskirchenjahr.de/ GPG/PGP key/Schlüssel ID: 5269AE638F01C848
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