Re: Aid for Afghanistan

From: Randall Randall (wolfkin@freedomspace.net)
Date: Wed Jan 02 2002 - 11:12:38 MST


On Wednesday 02 January 2002 10:29, John Clark wrote:
> Randall Randall <wolfkin@freedomspace.net> Wrote:
> >It seems to me to be foolish to ignore the reason a person would take
> >
> >"a sacred vow to kill you",
>
> You seem to assume that only evil acts can generate hate, so if somebody
> hates you then you must have done something wrong. It ain't necessarily so,
> unfortunately hate does not need such specific conditions to be produced.

My language was deliberately value neutral when it came to morals. I
certainly wasn't arguing that the terrorists are morally right, or that only
evil could have caused their hate. I was arguing that it is important to
find out whether it is more efficient to continue the course or to change
one's behavior, before one takes irrevocable actions.

> >In the long term, there are only two ways not to lose: modify one's
> > behavior so as not to provide even remotely valid reasons for joining
> > said movement,
>
> Changing our behavior so we become Islamic fundamentalists ourselves might
> do the trick, or it might not as Islamic states often go to war with each
> other.

I'm sure it wouldn't. In any event, that would require more than a behavior
change. :)

> A more certain approach would be to alter our behavior so we were no
> longer successful. If western civilization no longer lead the world
> economically, culturally, scientifically, and militarily, if Islam didn't
> even come in second but was dead last, then yes, under those conditions
> they might learn to love us.

No, they wouldn't.

The obvious way, of course, which you've ignored, is to only retaliate
against those who have used force against us, while initiating restitution
for those who had force used against them, paid by those who did that.

Of course, that won't happen. :(

> >or kill everyone who may have sympathy for those who are martyred for
> >said movement. Which one seems better to you?
>
> Easy question, I pick scenario number 2.

We're talking about over a billion people here, most of whom have are
innocent. It seems better to you to kill a billion people than to figure out
how to get along?

-- 
Randall Randall <wolfkin@freedomspace.net>
Crypto key: www.freedomspace.net/~wolfkin/crypto.text
On a visible but distant shore, a new image of man;
The shape of his own future, now in his own hands.-- Johnny Clegg.


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