April 25, 2009

The Nature Of Man

Every debate we have -- whether we should torture, how viciously we should defend our freedoms, what it means to remain honorable -- is a crass, smacking illustration of our nature.

Every man has both Good and Evil in his heart.

It seems every political struggle is an effort of one side to point out the evil in the other's heart -- or that one side has more good in their heart than the other.

Don't you think that even some Nazi's woke up in the morning believing they were fighting for Good? How else could anyone fight so viciously?

As it turns out, we've been given some guidance how to judge whether we, or those we see as our opponents are right or wrong.

Let's do a little fruit pickin'.

Germany in the 1930's was a hot bed of authoritarian socialism. Political upheaval gave rise to the Natioanal Socialist party -- the Nazi party, which was ultimately responsible for the subjugation of Europe and the systematic murder of five million Jews. Whether Nazi Germany is evil based on a review of it's poisonous fruit is clear.

Religious fanatics -- more accurately, followers of the Islamic faith -- continue to conduct terrorism around the globe. 9/11, suicide bombings in Jerusalem, Spain and the U.K. are all grapes of the vine of Islam. Whether Islam is evil based on a review of its fruit is terribly clear.

A Republican held the White House from 2000 to 2008. We now debate whether our government erred in its prosecution of the War on Terrorism. The results of overt military action in Iraq and Afghanistan were the creation of democratically controlled governments, formed by those who are governed by them. A particularly sweet fruit has been the peace American citizens have enjoyed since the horrific events of 9/11.

A Democrat currently sits in the White House. A direct result of his decision to release information has been contankerous, vicious debate as to whether his predecessor went too far in securing the fruit of peace. Even members of his own political party have been swept up in his accusations of having "lost their moral compass." We also hear reports that members of military and intelligence agencies now feel their ability to protect the nation is diminished.

How do the fruits of both Bush and Obama administrations taste to you?

Posted by Richard at April 25, 2009 2:46 AM

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