So my thought there is "were these attackers killing for an idea or pure delight?" There had to obviously be a loss of humanity in these people to be able to cause pain t helpless human beings. So were they getting pleasure out of it? Were their own minds so twisted that in their heads they were happy to do this because they honestly thought they were supposed to? Not that this would justify their actions, but all I'm saying is that these creatures to me seem that they've had their minds so distorted that they are no longer human but rather some more demonic beings.
And let's not forget the other side of the spectrum. Let's not forget that there were good people there too. From the helpless people themselves who helped each other get out. The security forces who braved the demons, who ran towards the sounds of chaos to help their fellow man. They knew that they faced true evil here and yet they charged into the fray knowing that there were humans in the hands of demons that needed to be freed. So I want to leave you with the thought that while there may be pure evil in this world, there seems to also be as pure good in men out there. I'm not a religious person so I don't intend to use this quote in any such way, but I do see it fitting to this situation "greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for a friend" John 15:13
Jose,
ReplyDeleteI like your comparison of both sides of this situation's spectrum. As we discussed in class, it seems that travesties like these occur everyday and we, as a result, are desensitized. As your rightly point out, at least there were some good people that intervened in this massacre.
Cullen Cosco
I'm revising an essay right now on disinterested malice in both Swift and Hutcheson, which is what made me think of this concept. Hutcheson says that the only true act of disinterested malice could be against something truly evil. Hutcheson says that's not possible in a benevolent universe, and therefore it can't exist. There may be some evil, but not evil like this.
ReplyDeleteSwift, I think, by contrast, believes that even if we think we see real evil in others, that can inspire this disinterested malice. This is my reading of A Modest Proposal: the proposer sees such evil in others that he feels he must pose the ultimate evil back to them. In both cases, the root of true evil is the ability to see it in others. Hutcheson simply thinks that at the end of the day, in neither viewer nor viewed, does it really exist. I don't know if Swift thinks that it really exist initially, but certainly the misperception of evil in others can make us see it in ourselves I think.
This is certainly true of acts such as this. These men think they are motivated by the highest righteousness. We have to be careful, though, that we don't fall into the trap of thinking that their evil can render our malice righteous. For both Hutcheson and Swift, I think, malice is bad. Someone like Swift believes that we can trick ourselves into crossing the line into evil for a second. Anyway, just some thoughts. Does this apply to Kenya? To terrorism generally?