Wed, 01 Sep 2004 06:29:01
When pacifism becomes evil
Before I hit the sack, I like to read a little escapist fare, usually SciFi of one kind or another. Lately it has been the series of Star Wars novels that take place just before, during and after the Clone Wars. I just started “The Clone Wars Short Stories” and was struck, as I often am when reading the Clone Wars saga, of how things described can parallel the world we live in today. This one jumped out at me as particularly interesting.
“It is just as clear, Aayla, when pacifism becomes evil. If beings are capable of protecting others but refuse to take action to preserve their own sense of peace, they are being selfish. They place themselves and their sense of peace over the peace of others, and so they defend a philosophy instead of lives. In this way, they fail everyone. This is where their choice is evil.”
To me, this passage illustrates what is wrong with the repusively loud and obnoxious segment of the American Left. It made me think specifically of Iraq. I’m literally at the point where if the President comes on TV this Thursday and says “I completely lied, fully intended to fool all of you and I did it to invade Iraq, so suck it, bitches.” I am not sure I would care at *all*.
Why? Why would I forgoive something like that? Because thousands...maybe hundreds of thousands...potentially MILLIONS of lives were saved. Whatever the reason you believe we went to Iraq, we saved lives.
Think about that for a minute.
We. Saved. Lives.
Forget WMD. Forget the UN resolutions. Forget supporting terrorism. Forget every single justification you have ever heard about Iraq. Open your mind to this fact: For every life that has been lost, we saved tens, maybe hundreds more. Does anyone on earth believe Saddam was going to stop killing people? Does anyone believe that Uday and/or Hussay were going to be any less murderous? No matter how you feel about the war, you simply cannot argue that Saddam wasn’t killing scores of people every week, and his horrifying sons were literally revelling in torturing Iraqi citizens for fun, and sometimes profit. Mostly for fun, though.
Pacifism becomes evil when you can do something to save lives and you don’t. There are many places in the world that need something to be done, and we will do them, given time and support. And that is why I will be voting for George W. Bush this time. No, I do not think he’s the best protector of civil liberties. No, I do not believe he has anywhere near the right ideas on certain aspects of science, religion as a *government* institution, gays, etc. But when it comes to the jobs I think the federal government should be doing...protecting my ability to breathe and forwarding the cause of freedom, I believe he is exactly the right man at exactly the right time.
And that is precisely what men like Michael Moore can never understand, because their selfishness is causing them to do evil. They protect a philosophy, not lives. And that is evil. For all Moore’s railing about corporate criminals...that’s not evil, that’s greed. That’s unethical and criminal, but no one was fed into an industrial plastics shredder when Bill Gates stole technology and crushed innovation in the browser market. Athletes weren’t tortured and killed for not winning when Scott Sullivan and Andersen took millions out of WorldCom. Women weren’t raped by the thousands when Ken Lay milked millions out of Enron.
When you do nothing in the face of unspeakable horrors being perpetrated on innocent people who just want to make a living and raise their kids...that is evil. And when you try to prevent others from acting because your philosophy is more important than the lives at stake, today and in the future, that is evil. When you actively seek to undermine the office of the President to protect your philosophy instead of lives...that is evil.
Who knew you could learn so much from The Force? :)
Posted by JimK at 06:29 AM on September 01, 2004
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Categories: 9/11, Michael Moore(on), Things To Ponder, War
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#2 Posted by doorik 
on 09/01 at 01:02 PM -
I like the quote from A Few Good Men:
Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know—that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.
You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall—you need me on that wall.
We use words like “honor,” “code,” “loyalty.” We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line.
I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.
I would rather that you just said “thank you” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand the post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you’re entitled to!
Like you said Jim, fiction sometimes can articulate the realities of the world better
#3 Posted by Rann Aridorn 
on 09/01 at 04:45 PM -
Hey, scifi makes for great analogies!
Speaking of which, have you read any of New Jedi Order? It continues things from books I HAVE read some of, Young Jedi Knights, but it sounds like it continues them… well, in a rather dark, overangsty fashion that I’m not sure would be good. I’m hoping someone will give me a tip towards whether the series is worth getting into.
#4 Posted by JimK on 09/01 at 07:53 PM -
Rann: I am *just* about to dip into them. Wish I could tell ya, but I don’t knwo yet. :)
#5 Posted by Rann Aridorn on 09/01 at 10:03 PM -
Well, when ya do read enough to get a feel for ‘em, make sure to make an entry on it so that I don’t have to do my own work on searching for reviews. z.z
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#1 Posted by ironmaiden
on 09/01 at 11:51 AM -
Jim, You hit the nail on the head. My question to people who said we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq is...how many more women did you want raped? How many more innocent lives did you want to see tortured, maimed and killed just for fun? You are right, to defend a philosophy instead of lives is evil.