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On Moral Relativity and Other Current Controversies…
a year ago
For the past several years, I have watched people tear apart and divide each other on stupid grounds of opinion rather than a sense of tangible right and wrong while actual moral and ethical issues were considered some sort of optional sidequest. Now an actual issue of right and wrong comes out, and I cannot fucking believe how many people I see being FLAT OUT WRONG in this, so let’s rap, shall we?
There is a simple truth that I know to be completely infallible when it comes to judging a society or a person. However they treat the least among them, the weakest, the ones who NEED their rights defended, is directly equal to their worth. The weakest are always in four groups: children, elders, women, and animals. What I know to be RIGHT, not even my OPINION, is that if you wantonly cause injury and death to these groups, you, your cause, or your society, is SHIT. FULL STOP. There is no other argument. Hamas is shit. They are not FREEING Palestine or anyone. You take the freedoms of the least among any group of humans, you are taking the freedoms of all, your own people included. This has been proven time and time again in the history of our world. It is THE control in the great human moral experiment we could call our existence.
Nothing about this is political. Nor is it related to a rigid set of religious or cultural dogma. It’s common sense, it’s common decency. That being said, we all need an example to look to in hard times, don’t we?
Let me introduce you to mine. In a work camp during the last dying gasps of WWII, United States Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmond was demanded by his captors to turn over Jews who were hiding as Gentiles among his imprisoned men. With a gun to his head, Roddie’s answer was this: “We are all Jews here”. He would hand over NO ONE.
Never really been good at being religious. Never knew how to answer the question of “What Would Jesus Do?” when it became so popular amongst those of my generation. Well, Roddie made his answer pretty damn clear. Until innocent people are no longer hurting, that too is what I am because if I do not see undeserved human pain as my own, I do not get to call myself human.
So, today, I am a Jew. Because I will not
be Hamas. Wow, guess that’s cultural appropriation. Cancel me.
There is a simple truth that I know to be completely infallible when it comes to judging a society or a person. However they treat the least among them, the weakest, the ones who NEED their rights defended, is directly equal to their worth. The weakest are always in four groups: children, elders, women, and animals. What I know to be RIGHT, not even my OPINION, is that if you wantonly cause injury and death to these groups, you, your cause, or your society, is SHIT. FULL STOP. There is no other argument. Hamas is shit. They are not FREEING Palestine or anyone. You take the freedoms of the least among any group of humans, you are taking the freedoms of all, your own people included. This has been proven time and time again in the history of our world. It is THE control in the great human moral experiment we could call our existence.
Nothing about this is political. Nor is it related to a rigid set of religious or cultural dogma. It’s common sense, it’s common decency. That being said, we all need an example to look to in hard times, don’t we?
Let me introduce you to mine. In a work camp during the last dying gasps of WWII, United States Army Master Sergeant Roddie Edmond was demanded by his captors to turn over Jews who were hiding as Gentiles among his imprisoned men. With a gun to his head, Roddie’s answer was this: “We are all Jews here”. He would hand over NO ONE.
Never really been good at being religious. Never knew how to answer the question of “What Would Jesus Do?” when it became so popular amongst those of my generation. Well, Roddie made his answer pretty damn clear. Until innocent people are no longer hurting, that too is what I am because if I do not see undeserved human pain as my own, I do not get to call myself human.
So, today, I am a Jew. Because I will not
be Hamas. Wow, guess that’s cultural appropriation. Cancel me.
Off topic though. I hope you're doing somewhat better, Pidge. Missing you a lot. T_T <3
But they are not Palestine. The children and innocent people of Gaza are not responsible for what a terrorist group has done and do not deserve to be murdered or exterminated by a domineering warmongering government.
Israel even warned the Palestinians to get out to safer locations, cause HAMAS won't dislodge (Or worse, flee with the refugees and hide among them to strike later , Insurgency 101 tactics) Now Hezbolla is upping their game, with Iran's blessing, ISIS is chomping at the bit and in a few cases, took part in the October 7th attacks. IDF found numerous dead and marked ISIS fighters after battle. Israel is the only nation on the planet that had FIVE nations declare war on it 5 minutes after being accepted as a nation by the UN! HAMAS literally controls Palestine much like how the PLO did in the 60s-80s...and look how that helped them in the long run!
Having said that, you chose a path that represents an uplifting. Look in the mirror and see that the history of both sides has been one that lacks morals. For thousands of years, this war has raged...not only between these combatants but humanity as a whole. We can only choose to be better than the monsters of humanity. Today, you did.
Thank you for sharing...I do mean that.
As for your post, Hamas is absolute shit and you can correctly state this as a bare fact without further qualification. But what dismays me about this awful unfolding news is the fact that solidarity with one side or the other isn't enough. I can be a Jew today, but I'm pretty sure I have to be a Palestinian too.
But still. Starting points matter, the moral absolutes matter, and we can definitely start by headbutting anybody who even hints that massacring a bunch of kids at a party might somehow have been some kind of cute idea.
It pains me to admit, but I don't think we will ever see a world at peace, not unless something deep within our psyche changes drastically.
I hope you are well, and hold onto the love and hope this world needs so much.
We can't save the world with a gun, but only with open arms and empathy in our hearts.
This sums up the whole situation in a nut shell. Its been going on millennia.
Amen!
This time, however, make no mistake, you are so right it hurts. You put into words what the correct-thinking world believes. More power to you; keep shouting until the universe hears you.
And since I can't fave a Journal on Fur Affinity (the one good thing about DeviantART), ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- or should that be ✡️✡️✡️✡️✡️?
Nope, What HAMAS did October 7th 2023 is inexcusable, horrific, on a scale of 1-10 in assholery...a 13!
And yet simply put, had HAMAS NOT done what they did, and worse...Live streamed showing the horror they caused, the suffering of innocents, the bloodshed, the terror. Palestine , especially along the Gaza strip wouldn't be in ruins today, the loss of Palestinian life, Israeli life. HAMAS is even preventing them from escaping further south for safety.
But no, those goat dick sucking (Cause no woman in reality would have them) 'Fighters' just had to shit on everybody, including their own countrymen in the long haul. No, No 72 virgins for you if you die in battle fighting the IDF. And now Hezbolla is ramping up to make this a two front war to bleed Israel white or better yet...dead. And with support from Iran, ISIS is heading in to assist in the bloodshed.
I am more disturbed seeing students protesting Israel, calling out "From the River to the Sea, We shall be free!" (Meaning : Push the Jews into the ocean!) And even MORE entertaining, Students , many with hair color not found in nature, holding up signs reading "Trans People Support HAMAS/Palestine", "Support HAMAS freedom fighters" (While wearing /sporting Trans/Gay rights buttons, patches, signs) News Flash, You go right ahead and head to the middle East and flash your pride openly. Lets see how long before you get some Fanatical Muslim grabbing you and tossing you from a high roof, or shot on sight, or hung from a crane. THEY don't tolerate Gay/Trans people one iota!!!
And yet Israel supports gay pride, trans rights. Gee...how "phobic" of Israel!! Remove them all, make sure that poison doesn't spread! Must make Palestine safe for HAMAS!!
Oh and yes, HAMAS live streamed themselves killing even animals in Israeli homes!
Pidge...welcome to the tribe!!! We also have cookies!
The students and "intellectuals" support Hamas because they think the Palestinian problem is an indigenous brown peoples being oppressed by colonial white guys issue. Which it is.
But Hamas is a terrorist organization, which purports to speak for the Palestinian people, who support it because it's basically their army. Which it is.
The state of Israel has been a contested piece of ground for over a century now, and the Muslims and the Jews have been warring over their little strip of rocky desert for several centuries. There can be no peace when the combatants are so blinded by hatred that they believe the other side are subhuman. Which they do.
Our "intellectuals" are fanning the flames because they don't realize that a war in the Middle East could easily erupt into a second front in the proxy war between NATO and the Communist nations and their allies, and they don't expect that the draft will be reimposed to send their soft little butts into a war zone. Which it will.
They've been so busy erasing history that they forget that WW I was started over the assassination of a princeling...after many years of The Great Game being played by the major governments of the day.
Israel treats the Palestinians like zoo animals. Hamas is the hungry tigers on the loose now.
The evil you've described is WORSE than rabid animals (Rabid animals cannot help themselves, and have no capacity to reason).
I feel precisely the same thing, and my lifelong Mantra has been- "We get precisely the kind of govt./society we tolerate/allow."
I have zero empathy, pity, compassion, or any sense of mercy towards those who abuse children, others, animals. Rapists are part of this, and none of them should ever again be free to plague any society. Murderers are of course already exempt of anything from society. Why should the very people/societies they infest pay for their upkeep in a cage somewhere? THEY didn't give a damn about other people's lives, other people have no obligation to give a damn about theirs.
Respect is earned, not demanded.
I don't pay too much attention to all the blather a person may say. Oral flatulence is at best 'Potty humor,' though it CAN be a good indication of what said person is actually thinking/planning to do.
Actions. Actions are what truly matter. Observe what they DO, over what they SAY, and you'll know what you're dealing with.
I don't I.D. with any religion/religious group.
I am a human being.
If necessary (and sadly, it often is), draw it in blood.
I don't know what all has gone on over there. It's possible Israel really has done some awful things to the Palestinians and somehow covered it up. Or got the governments of the West to do it. The CIA probably could figure out a way, if Mossad didn't beat them to it.
BUT. That doesn't justify targeting what Jesus would call "The Least of These". Ever hear the parable of the Sheep and Goats? These guys are most definitely Goats. I'm sure they have some way to justify their actions, but I can't imagine Jesus buying the excuse.
In any case, I find that the more important question is not "What Would Jesus Do?" But instead... "What Would Jesus Have Me Do?" Because we are not Jesus, and besides... some of us have some very screwy ideas about who he is. It's best to know him well before asking such things.
For now... I don't think I can do very much. But I think what Jesus would have me do is to get my life in order, live virtuously, and strengthen my soul so that I might be of better help to others. To build a life that makes the world better, and stands against evil where I find it, even if it ticks people off. To be humble and kind, to everyone, and hope that God can work through me to reach even the worst of us... maybe even the sort that do these awful things (though I won't hold my breath or expect it)... so that one more soul is saved from evil, and dying as only a monster who kills, and steals, and destroys.
I still remember an old commandment from God to the Jews in the Old Testament... something that perhaps would be good for all of us to remember, and maybe try to follow if we can...
Seek Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly With Your God.
In the end, is there anything else worth doing? Probably, but... I think it's good to start there, no?
The morally high path has no room for hate and cruelty.
Committing violence in the name of hate and cruelty is barbarism.
Yes, Israel has not treated Gaza or the West Bank as equals... but why should they? Let's not forget history: the governments of these places are consistently and absurdly belligerent toward Israel, and have refused any form of peaceful coexistence or cooperation since the country was founded. For centuries before Israel was created, the Arabs systematically oppressed the Jews. Since the day the Jews got their own country, they have been threatened with annihilation, and were forced to fight multiple defensive wars to earn their right to exist at all. They were well motivated to win, and had sympathetic allies who loved underdogs, so they ended up capturing most of their modern territory during said wars. At every turn, these Arab governments have refused to cooperate or find any common ground, and have constantly called for Israel to be wiped off the map. They have rejected all two-state proposals, always reiterating that unilaterally erasing Israel & a return to systematic oppression is the only acceptable condition for peace. Meanwhile, all the neighboring Arab countries have conducted a quiet ethnic cleansing, driving out or killing the vast majority of their own Jewish minority populations. These are NOT the sort of neighbors that you can or should treat as equals.
Hamas is just the latest in this long awful history of zero-compromise genocidal antisemitism. They were born from the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS, and are just more jihadist barbarians with another name. Their own credo explicitly states their goal is the complete elimination of Israel and the extermination of all Jews, simply because they are not Muslims. They warned the world there would be no peace as long as they existed. They refused to consider coexistence in any manner. More people should have taken them seriously.
Hamas subjugates the Palestinian people, exploits them, extorts them, impoverishes them, abuses them, murders them. Hamas throws LGBTQ+ people off rooftops. Hamas uses aid funding to buy weapons instead of food/medicine/infrastructure, and hides their weapons inside hospitals and schools.
And then they launched a massive raiding attack: under the distraction of volleys of rockets, they swarmed over the borders on fast vehicles... bypassing military targets to go straight for the weakest and most helpless innocent bystanders they could find. A music festival turned into screams and a massacre. Whole towns murdered. Babies beheaded in their cribs. Homes burned with families trapped inside. People gunned down in their cars & on the streets. Executions, rape & pillage, the taking of hostages back to Gaza... and they filmed it all, like it was a big bloodthirsty party.
Absurd levels of unforgivable barbarism.
And they think this behavior is somehow justifiable?
Now, I'm plenty progressive and liberal... but I cannot understand how anyone could sympathize with any group who practices such extreme barbarism. I have zero mercy for these monsters. I sincerely hope that when the IDF rightfully rolls in, the Palestinian people do the right thing: collectively point out the Hamas fighters and snitch where the hostages are being held, so the IDF can efficiently annihilate the barbarians with extreme prejudice.
Then Israel should try to build Gaza a government that actually serves the people, instead of more religious hate. If they can't, annex it, make it a special Arab province of Israel, and root out the jihadist cancer.
Two-state is not possible unless borders can be negotiated, and the Palestinian side has never once demanded anything less than 100% of Israel be handed over to them. It's a non-start.