Pardon? ... who has hardened their hearts?
I hope Mike Sanders doesn't represent the views of the majority of Americans. In his recent blog he claims that the "Liberal Heart" is hardening, apparantly because liberals are trying to understand the motives of Palestinian suicide bombers. It seems liberals are not showing enough compassion (at least by whatever standard Mike Sanders uses) for Israeli suffering.
This is the usual category error made by those who hold views similar to Mike - he mistakes the desire and attempt to understand the motives of such people as the Al Qaeda and the Palestinian suicide bombers as agreement with their actions or condonement of their behaviour. Mike likes to portray himself as reasonable and rational (while still holding to his views with passion of course), but I see no attempt to understand the whole situation. Everything is so clear to him (eg his discussions on "moral clarity"). "They" are just murderers, simple, one dimensional murderers; the Israeli government is "simply" defending itself and its citizens. It never seems to occur to him that there might be reasons beyond such simplistic categorisations of "the muderers". For Mike Sanders, it seems, to explain and to understand is to say it is good and right.
It is often said (I at least I have heard it often enough, even from our own Prime Minister), that the world changed on September the 11th. This is a disappointing assessment. The world didn't change at all. The world behaved much as it always had. The citizens of America (and Australia) should not say the world changed, they should say "now we know how much of the rest of the world has suffered too. Now we understand better. Now lets do what we can to make the world experience better than this".
I just cannot see how more war, so called "pre-emptive strikes" and a refusal to understand why someone might attack you will help make the world a better place. I believe this will lead to even greater hatred and violence. This will be true in Israel and Palestine, and it will be true the world over.
I think that Mike Sanders is the one who has hardened his heart against the Palestinians.
I hope Mike Sanders doesn't represent the views of the majority of Americans. In his recent blog he claims that the "Liberal Heart" is hardening, apparantly because liberals are trying to understand the motives of Palestinian suicide bombers. It seems liberals are not showing enough compassion (at least by whatever standard Mike Sanders uses) for Israeli suffering.
This is the usual category error made by those who hold views similar to Mike - he mistakes the desire and attempt to understand the motives of such people as the Al Qaeda and the Palestinian suicide bombers as agreement with their actions or condonement of their behaviour. Mike likes to portray himself as reasonable and rational (while still holding to his views with passion of course), but I see no attempt to understand the whole situation. Everything is so clear to him (eg his discussions on "moral clarity"). "They" are just murderers, simple, one dimensional murderers; the Israeli government is "simply" defending itself and its citizens. It never seems to occur to him that there might be reasons beyond such simplistic categorisations of "the muderers". For Mike Sanders, it seems, to explain and to understand is to say it is good and right.
It is often said (I at least I have heard it often enough, even from our own Prime Minister), that the world changed on September the 11th. This is a disappointing assessment. The world didn't change at all. The world behaved much as it always had. The citizens of America (and Australia) should not say the world changed, they should say "now we know how much of the rest of the world has suffered too. Now we understand better. Now lets do what we can to make the world experience better than this".
I just cannot see how more war, so called "pre-emptive strikes" and a refusal to understand why someone might attack you will help make the world a better place. I believe this will lead to even greater hatred and violence. This will be true in Israel and Palestine, and it will be true the world over.
I think that Mike Sanders is the one who has hardened his heart against the Palestinians.
posted by Vergil | 10:07 PM
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