Seeds of Wisdom: "You cannot speak of ocean to a well-frog, the creature of a narrower sphere. You cannot speak of ice to a summer insect, the creature of a season." -- Chuang Tzu
There are several definitions of the word understand in my Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. The first is "to grasp the meaning of." The second is "to grasp the reasonableness of," which kind of takes the first definition a little further, yet this second definition is illustrated by "his behavior is difficult to understand." Another definition is offered - "to achieve a grasp of the nature, significance, or explanation of something." And lastly "to show a sympathetic or tolerant attitude toward something." How can we possibly agree on a definition of this word when a respected dictionary disagrees with itself? It's no wonder we quibble over semantics.
Ponder that for a moment while I look up another word - wisdom. The key definition here - or at least the one most pertinent to my thoughts is this one - "ability to discern inner qualities and relationships."
As I look at the world situation today, I attempt to seek wisdom for I don't believe that we can ever achieve peace without it. In my search for wisdom and along with wisdom, truth, I sense that neither can come without first understanding. When I speak of understanding, I'm taking the "to achieve a grasp of the nature, significance, or explanation of something" definition as my standard. I think we must understand the roots of what we face, but I don't necessarily believe that understanding leads to sympathy and tolerance. It can, but it doesn't have to.
Ponder for a moment, what makes terrorists think the way they do?
Hate, you may answer. I counter that this is too simplistic. Where does the hatred stem from? Why do they hate?
Because they are taught to hate, may be the first response that springs to mind. But I ask in turn, why are they taught to hate? Who was the first to hate? There had to be a first, an originator. What caused this person or persons to hate so passionately that they passed this hatred on for generations?
What inner turmoil causes a person to strap on a bomb, and explode it in a mall or a dance club? What warped thoughts lurk in the heart and soul of a person who can fly a plane filled with fellow human beings into a building also filled with fellow human beings? Are they mad? Insane? Evil? Warped beyond redemption?
How do those who are drawn to a charismatic, but twisted mind think? What motivated people to follow a Jim Jones to mass suicide? What thoughts went through the minds of the members of the Heaven's Gate cult that they truly believed their God's space ship would come to rescue them if they killed themselves? How are their minds different from those of us who would never even consider such a thing.
Examine your own beliefs and ask yourself, how far would you go to uphold them? Ask yourself what stops you from going too far to promote or defend them? Where would you draw the line? And why is that stopping device - if you feel it exists within you - missing from so many others?
Please don't misunderstand. I absolutely think that any act such as the destruction of the WTC and with it the killing of thousands is horrendously wrong. It is horrendously wrong by most moral standards. So is the killing of innocent people who just happen to have something you want. In this instance, the land that is Israel. But that doesn't keep me from asking why those who commit such acts think it is not only not wrong, but worse they think it is morally right. They seem to believe that their god will reward them for such acts. How do they come to that place?
Again I ask, are they all insane? I think not. So what drives these people? How do we convince someone, who holds his or her convictions so strongly that not only are they willing to kill others to serve those convictions, they are will to take their own lives to accomplish this? What do you say to such a person whose inner workings are so alien to your own? How do we "speak of ice to a summer insect?"
Do we truly think that we can simply tell them that they are wrong; we are right, and they will suddenly see the light? I don't think so. To convince someone that your way is right and their way is wrong, you must offer convincing arguments. How can you offer such arguments unless you understand that which you are arguing against. The arguments that work with people who share your values will not work on those who do not share those values.
How do you explain peace to those who have only known war? How can you explain freedom to those who have only known tyranny? How can you explain comfort to those who have only known abject poverty? How do we, indeed, "speak of ice to a summer insect?"
I can hear some shouting, "You don't - you just kill them." "Wipe them off the face of the earth!" "An eye for an eye." And I ask, do we stoop down to meet violence with violence every time? Do we kill them all?" Do two wrongs make a right?
Is revenge the only answer? Is eradication of a very large group of people the solution? If we chose this path where do we draw the line. Do we kill just those who commit the acts, or cause them to be committed? Do we also kill everyone who shares their beliefs? Even if we are able to do this, once they are gone, are we naïve enough to think that this kind of mind-set will not rise up again, like a Hydra once you cut the head off - or a Phoenix from the ashes? And if we do this monstrous deed are we really any better than they are?
On September 11, 2001 and in the days that followed, I listened to many around me, shouting, "Hunt them down and kill them all!" I heard them urge vengeance, shouting "Bomb them back to the stone age." And I cringed.
I'm not really a turn the other cheek sort of person. I too would like to see bin Laden and his followers punished - in fact I think they should bring back drawing and quartering just for the occasion - but I feared that we would go too far. I thought of innocent Afghan people - most of them women and children - who would be caught up in our search for vengeance, and I was deeply concerned. Concerned for them and concerned for us. Even the most rational and kind of us can get caught up in the mass hysteria of blood lust when it is running strong - and that frightens me.
Just this morning I read this article - on Alter Net and I shook my head. Do we never learn from our mistakes?
We aided bin Laden during the Afghan war with the Soviet Union. Did we ask what his motive was? Did we ask what he hoped to achieve? Or did we just assume that the "enemy of my enemy is my friend." Did we even care?
Now our leaders are seeking to help Turkey get into the European Union because for some reason they want Turkey more involved in Afghanistan. Because it is convenient, because it is expedient they are choosing to ignore the human rights violations the Turkish government continues to commit. Our leaders continue - even after the events of September 11 - to turn a blind eye to history and truth because it does not fit in with their plans.
I stated before that I'm not a turn the other cheek type of person. I think that attitude is far too naive. Passivity often makes aggressors more aggressive because they often see passivity as weakness.
I'm also not the type of person to puff out my chest, wave a flag and declare, "My country, right or wrong."
I love America. I love that it's founded on such noble principles. I love that our Constitution places such emphasis on Freedom. I love that we are strong and mostly prosperous. But I can not hold that we are without fault in many, many things.
I was taught that, "beauty is as beauty does" and "actions speak louder than words." I find that all too often the actions of our leaders belie the words of our Constitution and those of our Founding Fathers.
How can we convince the world that we believe "all men are created equal," and that we truly want to "keep the world safe for democracy," when we support a country like Turkey with an oppressive government. We keep giving support to such countries and it always seems to come around and bite us in the butt.
While the victims of September 11 and all the other victims of terrorism world wide are innocents caught in an ugly situation. We can not totally absolve our government's part in the current world situation. Citizens are mostly blameless, but governments too often are not.
Is this questioning "Moral Equivalence" or "Moral Relevancy" or whatever label you want to slap on it? If it is, I guess I'm guilty, but I'm never going to stop asking the questions. Someone has to.
Posted by Cyberkat at March 27, 2002 8:03 AM