I have seen the Frontline documentary _Ghosts of Rwanda_ many times now, but it never ceases to affect me. The whole thing is remarkable, but each time I watch it, there are certain moments that stand out. One of them is a moment in the interview with Romeo Dallaire, the U.N. general in charge of the peacekeeping force. He describes his meeting with leaders of the Interahamwe, the Hutu militia that did much of the killing, and notices, as they're shaking hands, that these same hands still have blood spots on them. Dallaire reports that these men were no longer human: they were bestial, or demonic--something that was not human, that was simply evil, something that needed to be destroyed. He wonders to this day whether he should have simply taken out his pistol and shot them, rather than negotiating. I wonder too.
Another unfortunate feature of our world (along with genocide) is terrorism. The philosopher always starts with the most basic, sometimes the most naive question, and in the present context, here it is: is terrorism in fact "evil"?
That was a very powerful documentary and I think everyone should be required to watch it. The entire film was startling, and even more so were the words of the Red Cross Director Phillip Guillard when asked how many were dead. Hearing him say, “I can’t count anymore, I wont count anymore” overwhelmed me. I would like to think that if I was faced with that situation that I would act half as well as both he and the General did. It amazes me that out of hundreds of people in power, only three able to do anything did something.
ReplyDeleteAnd going from Genocide to Terrorism, I’d have to say that to those suffering at it’s hands, it seems evil. The problem I keep running into with these questions is the issue of perspective. From an American perspective the actions taken by the Taliban against out nation are evil. Then 9/11 happened and there is no doubt in my mind that killing innocent people to prove a political point is evil… but what about before that? From the opposite perspective these people are defending a faith that we don’t bother becoming aware of. I’m sure that authors like Goldhagen would point to the moral flaw in their culture that condones and even glorifies suicide bombs- but not everyone subscribes to that. I think a lot of people are suffering from what Arendt would call a crippling lack of understanding. Just as Hitler drew on the engrained anti-Semitism in his people, our own government has drawn on our misguided stereotypes of the Muslim culture. The Iraq War would have turned out very differently if more of our Nation understood the conflict in the Middle East. So in a very long winded way I am saying that the issue of perspective distorts the notion of evil. If we viewed what we were doing as evil we might change our actions, but since both sides believe we are doing what is morally right we conflict. I winder if war would exist in the amount that is does if opposition was dampened by understanding and a shift in perspective. If we were willing to put ourselves in the shoes of those we disagree with and understand why they believe what they believe it would be a very different world. Evil is only evil (to an extent, of course) because of the perspective you have. I am sure what we are doing to Iraq and now to Afghanistan looks like evil from their perspective. How many ‘necessary casualties’ and ‘unintended targets’ have we ‘eliminated’ during our ‘occupation’ of their country?
As always the questions are complicated. But I think asking them is more important than finding the right answer. The magnitude of answers you can come up with are more valuable than deciding what is correct- because again it is all about perspective.
I think what affected me the most about the documentary is America's stance on the genocide act happening in Rwanda... I feel, America picks and chooses their battles. We are so hasty in sending troops into other countries who pose threat to us. But, we can't send troops or atleast send some kind of help into the countries who are in unfortunate circumstances?...
ReplyDeleteAsides from America's poor decision in helping Rwanda, a continuous image that has stuck in my head was the piles of rotting bodies in the grass, the church, houses etc. just laying there. I can't comprehend what "evil" motivated the Hutus to kill this many people. It's just an unsettling feeling that evil can affect a group to kill an entire population, such as like Holocaust...
The documentary of Rwanda and of Septemeber 11th have both impacted my life. I can't stop thinking about the images that I saw of pure evil. In my opinion, the Rwanda genocide was perpetuated by evil. In the case of September 11th, I find it to also be evil. The terrorism in that event, to those hurt by it in anyway would have seen it as evil. In other contexts, one has to really see the purpose of any kind of evil they do, big or small. But I feel the word, "terrorism" has a negative connotation to it, so if we say that there is terrorism, I would assume it was an act of evil.
ReplyDeleteI cannot get over the image of the Hutu militia man with blood-stained hands. It must have taken an immense amount of composure and control not to go crazy on that evil person. To continue sit there to negotiate with him and act in a civilized manner infront of EVIL itself is astonishing to me. Dellaire, with already being so consumed and immersed in the ideas of the innocent civilians being slaughtered and trying to save them, and then seeing the very person who is in charge of this evil has to be unreal. I am forever changed by the image of this situation and cannot only help but think I would go entirely crazy in this circumstance and try to take this Hutu militia man's life on the spot. It is very easy to say this out of context, but I just cannot imagine.
ReplyDelete-Kathleen Voss
I think terrorism is evil because who has the right to inflict evil on another country just to teach them a lesson? If a country feels like a war is necessary, then they should declare war on another country. Terrorism is the "wussy" way out, trying to sneak up behind someone and attack them when they do not know it's coming. It isn't fair and just at all.
ReplyDelete-Ryan LoRusso
In response to what Thomas said. I do agree, I think America picks and chooses its battles. We tend to get ourselves involved in everything and anything. So, why didn't we come to help any sooner? The Rwanda documentary we watched stuck with me because it was honest and real, and because it made me think. Why wasn't this foreseen, or even stopped sooner. There is no reason we couldn't have gotten involved sooner since we bud into everyone's affairs. Yes, one can argue it wasn't our business or place to step in and be the hero like we usually have to do. But we somehow always seem to get involved. So, we should have definitely been involved with this and sooner. We could have saved a lot of lives.
ReplyDelete-Ryan LoRusso
The two movies that we watched were very moving. I have seen many documentaries about genocides and they brought an aspect of genocide that I did not usually see. In Ghosts of Rwanda, I think one of the hardest things to watch was how the bystanders acted as if they could not help, or furthermore did not appreciate the severity of the situation. In Faith and Doubt, I was very interested to see first hand how people dealt with it the attacks. I remember the day very clearly, but I had never actually met someone whose family had been directly affected by the incidents so I had never really gotten a real feel for what was going on these peoples' minds.
ReplyDelete-Vanessa Norkus
To answer the question about whether or not terrorism is evil, I have to stand by Augustine and say that after being in this class, I don't really believe in an evil force. Terrorism, yes, is very unfair, painful to deal with, and a concept that many people can not understand the reasons for, but in the eyes of the terrorist, they are doing something right in their beliefs. I believe there are, of course, major extremities to terrorism that do not arise with every day crimes, such as violating peoples' lives and because of this, some people may say it is evil. Another thing with terrorism, is that is usually happens to innocent people. This is one of the main reasons that I think people start to question their religion.
ReplyDelete-Vanessa Norkus
The Rwanda documentary really opened my eyes. I don't have any recollection of learning about what happened in Rwanda with such depth, in any of my History classes. I'm glad you showed this in class because i think what had happen was very wrong., and people should see this to prevent such crimes to happen again.
ReplyDeleteI am still distraught how the United States did not help Rwanda. It really killed me that they knew all of these innocent lives were dying and knew they could have made a huge impact by saving a few lives.
I absolutely believe that terrorism is evil. I think killing in general is evil. I know in some cases killing is necessary, and those can be exceptions. But I don’t think there was a “right” reason for the Hutu militia to kill so many innocent people. Before they started killing wasn’t live normal? Wasn’t everything fine? Envy must have taken over their minds…
I am surprised that Dallaire didn’t shoot them but was happy he did not, because he didn’t stoop down to their level. He wanted to show them that there is a reason for people to live, and killing the main guy wouldn’t solve any problem, and wouldn’t bring back innocent lives.
Going off what Natasha mentioned in the bottom of her post, I sometimes catch myself wondering what I would have done in Dallaire's position. It makes me intrigued to seek out his book because it is an impossible situation to be faced with. And I can only see that thought, a quiet "should I just shoot them now?", being parasitic, and once it took hold being hard to dislodge. I am amazed and can only imagine what a man as impassioned as him had to do to stop himself from shooting. To actually see the blood on their hands, as Kathleen said, is a very hard image to get over.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Elise's first comment and the initial question posed: "is terrorism, in fact, evil?"
ReplyDeleteI attempted to post a comment earlier today, and I'm glad that I didn't, because I have read about half of the Terrorism reading, which outlines the definition and nature of terrorism. (To critique something, it helps to understand what exactly it is that you are talking about...)
The opening paragraph explains that terrorism's main purpose is to:
"destroy the morale of a nation... (and that) randomness is a key component to the choosing of a target of innocent people... it is an indirect approach (thus it is a civilian strategy)"
Within this context of the definition of terrorism, it certainly seems evil. I mean, if the main motive is to randomly kill innocent people, I don't see any other option than to call it evil. True evil, I believe, resides in the killing or torturing of children, and children included in this "randomness".
The purpose, as stated, is to "break the spirit of their subjects". These people have nothing to do with your crusade, your beliefs, your dogmas... I find it completely irrational to "blanket" an entire nation or people under "american" or "muslim", because attributes included in these broad generalizations are so often false and based on hype, speculation, and assumption.
Elise, I understand completely what you are saying about perspective. What American troops are doing overseas certainly could look (to the countries that we occupy) like terrorist. You said it perfect when you said that there is a "crippling lack of understanding" amongst perpetrators of violence. This was the point that I was trying to get across the other day in class when I proposed that education could help prevent future genocide. I should have been more clear when I said "education"... what I meant was that we, as a human race, are "crippled with a lack of understanding and misguided stereotypes". I did not mean "education" as in nations should impose agenda, doctrine, or beliefs of their own onto other countries, but valuing the differences of our fellow humans is crucial to preventing undo violence and future genocide.
I am not so naive to think that this is the only thing that will prevent future genocide. Another component would surely be to lessen the importance of nationalism. In the terrorist reading, it stated that so often, terror is used frequently by "ultranationalist", and in fact, nationalism is used as a justification for terrorism, and has been a key variable in past conflict.
(It is a hard question, and I do not think that my answers are absolute, and I welcome any discussion-especially in person- to try to answer "how do we prevent future genocide?")
-nicole luna
I also agree with Thomas' post. After watching the documentary "Ghosts of Rwanda" I was appaled that the US did not offer their help. We do pick and choose our battles. BUT we should have helped Rwanda seeing as it was the U.N.'s job to help during a genocide and Rwanda was a genocide even though they refused to call it that.
ReplyDeleteAs for terrorism, I do believe it is evil. Terrorism is awful because it is a surprise attack on mostly innocent people.
It regards to 9/11 yes, it is a very evil thing. But I wonder thinking about the conspiracy theories and the truth to them. Because if they were true, I think in a way the severity of the situation would be amplified because the perpetrators would be member of our own society. Betraying our trust and destroying our national security and spirits for some unknown advancement or gain. This may seem abstract but I just wanted to put this out there.
ReplyDeleteI think that terrorism is just as evil as genocide and differentiating them is actually kind of difficult for me. On 9/11 terrorists (practicing terrorism) purposely, precisely, and gladly flew two planes into two gigantic buildings causing them first to burst into flames (which caused helpless, innocent human beings to jump out of windows on the 100th floor of a building or die from smoke inhalation or burn to death) and then collapse killing nearly every person that was in those buildings. In 1994, Rwanda's Hutus were purposely, barbarically, and relentlessly killing Tutsi people with machetes and their bare hands causing people, many being children, to lose their families, hide under dead bodies, starve for weeks, fight painful infection or appendage loss, the list goes on. After both events, survivors were terrified, depressed, hopeless, searching for a god. Both types of killings have had the ability to steal people's faith and I think that that is one of the telltale ways to classify something as evil.
ReplyDeleteIn response to what Claire stated...
ReplyDeleteI was going to mention this in class but it is a very controversial issue and a sensitive subject. I have always been fascinated with conspiracy theories within our own goverment. I took a course in high school where we dove into such heavy topics regarding this issue. I always believed our government had something to do with the attacks on September 11. Back in high school I visited a website reopen911.org and got a free dvd about this. Now, the dvd isn't free. The dvd is a recording of a confererence in which people explain how the world trade centers fell in 10 seconds alluding to the fact explosives were placed in the buildings prior to the plane crashes. They also question why there is no footage and no photos of a plane outside the pentagon after impact and why the hole it supposedly fit through is so small. Such topics and videos can be accessed on youtube and I highly suggest everyone just keep an open mind and watch some. They're very interesting and make you think.
-Ryan LoRusso
Great insight, Ryan because the conspiracy theory is something that has been mentioned ever since the attack... but is overlooked because of it's insensitivity. It is interesting to think that not only evil can come in from an outside source, but our own government?... This poses a great question, has the government become our own nation's "terrorist"- the source of evil?
ReplyDeleteRyan, I would love to see some videos on this theory.
Here is one that goes along with the pentagon conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteThe video is about six minutes and questions where the plane is that crashed into the building.
It also contains eye witnesses accounts and explains questions government officials about their shady behavior after the crash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAwtmun_aj8
If this link doesn't work. Go to youtube.com and type in 911 conspiracy pentagon and the video that is 6:08 is the one I tried to paste. Other related videos can be found. The world trade center ones are just as mind blowing!
-Ryan LoRusso
I wonder what the philophers we have studied would say about conspiracy theories. Just like if 9/11 was a terrorist attack, would it be diabolical evil or radical evil. Is there a real reason behind these acts? Bin Laden had many strong points in his letter about how the attacks were basically revenge and also to "communicate" with us in the only way we knew how. So that would be moral evil. But if 9/11 was a conspiracy theory, than that could be considered institutional evil because the government is behind it and you cannot pinpoint one person.
ReplyDeleteGood Point Shelley.
ReplyDeleteI believe that both theories are entirely possible. We could debate the facts and whatnot but that's not what this is about. (Though it is interesting and I would like to know more) But about evil, I think that institutional evil is would be considered to be a greater evil (there is one).
Oh Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI found that video to be very interesting and strangely convincing. The fact that the windows are intact, that hole, and most of all the absence of the plane? Like the government came in, ready to clean up fast before. Hmmmmmm.
Shelley! Great insight, interesting that you bring up how the conspiracy could be an institutional evil... because if the government is part of this "conspiracy" it would be difficult to pinpoint who is really to blame... However, I don't know if I'd consider diabolical. I don't know if the government would go as far as doing evil just to do for evil...
ReplyDeleteWell diabolical is evil for evil's sake. I don't particularly think that if the foreign attacks or the conspiracy theory constitutes as diabolical evil. They both are trying to gain collectively and have points (as we can see in Bin Laden's Letter to America) that it is justified (to him). Not just to perpetrate evil, but to avenge or to fight.
ReplyDeletePs. Thanks Ryan for the video! It's such an interesting topic...
ReplyDeleteJust another point to think about, what do you think Rousseau would say about the attack on the Twin Towers... It's probably a touchy idea but to him say if the buildings were built to an appropriate height evil wouldn't have crumble the buildings?
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteThat video was very interesting. There was a single hole left in the pentagon that a plane could never fit through. Also, the FBI came to collect all of the videos with footage of the crash. That is really something to ponder.
Rousseau would definitely say something like that. Just like he did with the Lisbon earthquake. The only difference is that the Lisbon earthquake was a natural evil, and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were a moral evil. But yes, the height of the buildings could have been quite a temptation to the terrorists. Maybe if the buildings weren't so tall they wouldn't have been attacked.
ReplyDeleteThe buildings were made out of steel! A pretty resilient material. It makes a strong statement that these seemingly impermeable buildings could be destroyed. That could speak to the power of the US and how nothing bad could happen to the country that is the leader of the free world.
ReplyDeleteThat's so Rousseau you! I do like the metaphor of the steel and how it's durability and strength symbolizes the U.S. power in the world. Although I don't completely agree with Rousseau's theory, it's interesting to compare the buildings' strength to his theory. Also, his idea of everything looping everything together for the good and for the whole can be compared to the aftermath of the attack. The U.S. I feel has united together, don't we all agree?... Yes, the attack on the buildings was the most horrific, inconceivable, and terroristic act, but in the end the U.S. has united for good.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Ryan, I do feel that the United States, ultimately, picks and chooses their battles and when they want to intervene. The thought process and logic doesn't necessarily add up. I think if the conflict in Somalia wouldn't have occurred right before the Rwandan genocide then we would have stepped in and intervened. I know Leibniz would say "Everything happens for a reason" but his argument crumbles when it comes to a situation like this ie.100 Days of Slaughter. How can we just sit back and watch?
ReplyDelete-Kathleen Voss
I think that terrorism is always an evil act. It is something people do to create terror in others. There is nothing good about it. I think if you do something for the sole purpose of invoking fear and terror, it is evil. On the other hand, when reading Bin Laden's letter, he was not just trying to scare us or put fear into us. He was trying to awaken us to all the wrong that our country has done to his people. It is still evil, but it is impossible to say that it is diabolical evil.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the conspiracy theories everyone is talking about is very interesting. When you look at it from that perspective, is our government evil? If it was behind these attacks. It must be because what country would kill it's own people and then try and blame it on someone else.
ReplyDeleteKathleen,
ReplyDeleteIn response to America picking and choosing their battles, they kind of have to. A countries first loyalty has to be to itself and its own citizens. Is it our countries job to save the rest of the world? Is it ok for us to just invade any country that looks like it is having problems. That being said, I do think that the US should have gotten involved, but I think in the beginning they were right not to. It looked like a civil war and they had no reason to believe otherwise. When they started to hear about the mass slaughtering then they should have gone in. But I do also think that the US should not have really been the ones in charge of this so it is wrong to blame them. The UN should have been on top of this. That is their job. The US can't always swoop in and fix what the UN should have done.
I think if we started to learn and understand other people’s religion (taking their faith seriously other than ours) it would help us all get a long and make changes. Also if the United States stopped interfering with Palestine and Islam (and their situation, and stopped bringing troops into their land, I believe 9/11 would have never happened.
ReplyDeleteAmanda-
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that we can't just swoop in and save the day all the time (even though we do a lot), but our right is to protect ourselves and the people. It closely ties with the article we just read "Democracy and the Lesser Evil" and whether when to act and when not to act in times of crisis. Also, the article continually addresses the balancing act of protecting the citizens rights versus protecting the nation as a whole. It is a hard place to draw the line but a necessary one for the rights of the nation as a whole. I guess in the case of Rwanda, we try to justify the safety of our nation over the safety of those Rwandan citizens. Where do we draw the line and when do we step in?; these will be never ending questions we have to make and sometimes they are good decisions and others are made out of panic.
-Kathleen Voss
-Kathleen Voss
Just a thought on why the idea that the "terrorist" attacks could have come from our own government is so sensitive:
ReplyDeleteI think that to wage a war in which the your citizens have to volunteer to be in the service, the men and women serving have to believe that they are protecting their country, and to do that, you (the people in the military) need that juxtaposition of "good vs. evil" or "black vs white" or whatever. Namely, the process of "othering" is so necessary, i think, to be able to do what you have to do in war (and that is kill people) as well as rally your country's citizens against the "other"
It is a sensitive topic, and I think that Ryan didn't bring it up in class is because the "othering" phenomena is totally dissolved and the blame for something so tragic and horrible as 9/11 is placed squarely on us: We The People, as well as our Government. We know their names, we have voted for them, they are our neighbors, our history, our people. The "them" that we are so vehemently fighting against (so much so, that we can pay billions for war but not for health care) so rarely have a face or even a name (as proved with the anecdote that Prof. Herling mentioned that we just associate any brown-skinned person with a turban as out enemy).
We as Americans (as a whole) will never buy the conspiracy theory, no matter how much evidence is placed before us (I am familiar with the theory and believe that there are so many lies covered up with lies that it is impossible to get to the truth.. I know, too much x-files) because we then, the "other" would be us, and for many, this would be too much to bear.
I think part of the reason we wouldn't buy into the conspiracy theory is because of America's patriotic history. The government is supposed to be what holds our country together and to attack, blame, and lose such faith in that would be the worst effect of the terrorist attacks. Our government would have to do something really quite terrifying to have us believing that they're the enemy, the ones who did this to their own people. To me, imagining that it was our government that did that is more frightening than having someone else commit such a crime.
ReplyDeleteYesterdays class made me think a lot about terrorism in a different way. When someone brought up the issue of money it made me think. Is this the best use of what little money the terrorists had? Bin Ladin probably doesn't have near the money or the resources that the United States do. In order to made a stand and actually have an effect he couldn't just start a war in his land because if he didn't have the money he would surely lose. He had to attack us with as little money spent as possible. All it took was the price of a plane ticket. I am not saying that the acts at 9/11 were not evil or unjust, but I am trying to see things more from Bin Ladin's perspective to get a better grasp on what happened.
ReplyDeleteThe documentary of the Rwandan genocide was pretty tramatizing to say the least. I feel that it was pure evil; conducted and acted out by evil. In the context of the terrorist's attacks on Septemeber 11th, I also think it was an act of evil. There is no reason to kill innocent civilians who had nothing to do with any attack in Palestine or are in conjuction with the Jews to go against anyone. I understand that Osama may think that we as tax payers contribute to these statements but we obviously don't know where each penny is going and personally I would not want my money to go to amo to kill others.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the conspiracy theory goes, I can understand in the heat of the moment, people want someone or something to blame this destruction on but ultimately it leads nowhere. When there were conspiracies that we were fighting for oil, I could understand because at that point, we weren't really getting any answers as to why we were still fighting. Americans wanted answers and conspiracies came up and were believed because they were so out there and would be scandalous if true.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a few documentaries on conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11, and while I do not buy into any of them I applaud the purpose they may serve. I'm frightened the day our country stops questioning the information being fed to us either by the media or the government. Imagination is one of our greatest skill as humans; some have even defined it as our defining feature (see Daniel Gilbert). I enjoy hearing a well thought-out and articulated argument on a conspiracy theory because it shows how easily a true story can be spun into something false. Perhaps the human imagination is most aggressive and complex when reacting to something so overwhelmingly "evil" like what happened on 9/11.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the conspiracy theories are definitely a reaction to an unrecognized sort of fear that people found themselves with after the events on 9/11. There is a huge importance in questioning everything, but it also is a distraction. In general, no matter how much questioning and searching one does for the truth they're bound to believe whatever they really want to in the end. So what is the importance in the truth? What kind of power does it have in changing the situation?
ReplyDeleteWhen people question things, searching for an answer, they are searching for the truth. Many people may come up with answer that might not be true, but the importance of finding out the right answers is shown through court. Knowing some truths matters because it can affect others or your own life. If everyone just gave up and knowing or trying to know anything, live probably wouldn't go that far. Truth keeps us exercising our brains and the abilities we have.
ReplyDelete- Vanessa Norkus
Even though some people criticize Bernstein for copping out of the point of Philosophy, I think he's gotten it as right as you can: the truth is that there are many truths and terms such as 'evil' are too vague to mean anything specific. I think a mix between Kant, who says a true theodicy is one where you excercize your moral consciousness, and Bernstein, who says the truths come from leanring, understand and education those aroun you, is my kind of flavor.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amanda and Elise on the point of questioning to find the truth. Many peope roam around the world and don't question anything and therefore they keep roaming. In the instance of these tragedies, we needed to question every possiblity in order to get some answer because they were so devastating and unwarranted. Questioning things is what makes us human.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to questioning to find the truth, I think that is what made this course so exciting and interesting for me. I found myself constantly questioning everything during the course, and still continue to do so. It's important to ask questions. After high school, I kind of lost faith because I couldn't understand why bad things always happen to good people. Recently, within the past year or so and after taking this course, I realize it's important to question but it's also important to have faith in something because that's something that keeps you going. This course has taught me to question, but it also taught me to believe in something because admist all the evil in the world, there is still good. There is still hope.
ReplyDelete-Ryan LoRusso
I also wanted to mention how glad I am that the topic of conspriacy theories was brought up in class. I was hesitant to bring it up because of how touchy the subject is. I think, whether or not people agree, it's an important topic to be aware of. I thought the debate we had in class was thought-provoking, even for me. Like I said I did a lot of research in high school because I took a course on them, so it was great to get other insight in class. I always like to hear what other people think about them. When Bradley said, "most times, the simplest explanation is the right one," it got me thinking because I never thought of it that way before.
ReplyDelete-Ryan LoRusso
Conspiracy theories are kinda like localized religions. Just like a religion, a conspiracy theory takes an event or phenomenon and tries to understand and rationalize it a way that is not necessarily factual, logical, or empirical. Both are used as a utility to help people cope and digest the things that happen in life that we cannot always wrap our heads around. Especially when addressing such a terrible "evil" as 9/11, conspirists have turned to their theories for answers simililarly as the religious communities have turned to their faith
ReplyDeleteRyan,
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad that the conspiracy theories were brought up in class. Even if they are not true it is still great to be questioning what the truth is. Like Steve just said, it can be looked to as a religion. While philosophers have been seeking out the truth through God, others come up with their own conclusions, like the conspiracy theories.
I feel that we have become the Big Brother of the rest of the world. On one hand, I understand that we are the great nation of the world and we are the power house call the U.S. of A but i feel that we try and interving in everyones situations and become the bully of a nation, I mean the examples go on an on through out the years. but considering 9-11 I feel that we needed to become a bully of the nation. remain standing on our higher ground, whether egotistical of not, we needed to remain on higher ground. Being the bully in some cases is needed.
ReplyDeleteBrendan, what you said reminded me of the how Ignatieff and Walzer talked about lesser evils being necessary to prevent greater evils. I feel that this is true but when it comes to "bullying" THAT is where the greater evils start. So is the USA still at the lesser evil stage, or has it moved on to greater evils?
ReplyDelete-Vanessa Norkus