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yt
(192.77.139.1) on 5/12/2004 - 10:40 a.m. says: ( 6 views
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"My $ 0 .02..."
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I keep hearing all this "outrage" and certainly that is the feeling I had from only seeing the runup clip (I do not want to see the other . . . because like Hep I don't need more convincing). However, as always the problem of vengence is one of focus. We have the "kill them all" group which seems to be growing. Certainly that is a historical way to do it and a biblical one. Is this what we are today? Shall we kill every Arab on the face of the planet? Are you guys really serious about this?
I think the natural human response to seeing this kind of atrocity is to demonize the perpetrators and widen the potential targets of vengeance. It's really a viciouis cycle because, on the one hand, the perpetrators tried to dehumanize the victim. On the other hand, the perpetrators dehumanize themselves. I think it's very important that we resist the urge to call these perpetrators "animals". If we strip them of their humanity, I think that leads to a few outcomes:
1. We tend to strip all who are like them of their humanity which leads to "kill them all", racism, etc.
2. We begin to strip ourselves of our own humanity. We begin to tolerate more evil. That's why it's important to respond justly and not perpetrate more evil.
3. We start to believe that these acts are isolated to a specific group or person. When we do this, we begin to believe that these atrocities cannot happen again (as with the Holocaust) or will not happen once X group is eliminated. The sad fact is that these types of things will continue to exist as long as sin is in the world.
4. We diminish our own sinful nature. I believe that I am fully capable of commiting every atrocity the world has ever known - given the chance. I also believe that, with God's grace, I'm fully equipped to match the greatest good the world has ever seen - given the chance. That's the nature of being human.
It's a tricky idea I'm putting out there, and I don't mean to suggest that we shouldn't defend ourselves and so forth. I actually haven't quite worked out this thought, so it's still kind of half baked. So far, though, I think it's true that it is important to not dehumanize people based on the atrocities of a few. I'm also thinking we should do our best not to dehumanize the actual perpetrators.
Now, if you ask me how I feel at a visceral level after just reading about this beheading... well, it ain't what I wrote above.
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