>Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 10:18:46 -0800
>From: KMO <kmo@c-realm.com>
>Subject: Re: virus: Utopias
>
>Reed Konsler wrote:
>
>> We must each oppose that evil in every way we can imagine...
>
>I don't agree. I think we should oppose evil with courage, ingenuity,
>rationality, faith, intelligence, creativity and compassion, but we
>should not oppose evil by adopting its methods; something I can
>certainly imagine.
Excellent point. I trip over my own rhetoric sometimes, don't I? Word.
>> and one critical way is through what Richard describes as "goodwill".
>> We need faith that our common vision will carry us through the
>> darkness. Most certianly we need this faith in the darkest times, when
>> all evidence seems against us.
>
>We need faith that no circumstance, no oppression, no emergency is
>accute enough to justify adopting those elements of the enemy's
>technique that we dispise.
[Nodding in agreement]
And yet...we should be willing to fight for freedom and liberty. It's a sin against our common vision, true...but there will be times when violence against the Other is the lesser of two evils. Even so, violence is a act which taints us. This is why we need to be able to hold our minds to inconsistent paths. We need to be able to act in the short term, but maintain the long-term vision. The Enlightenment is our long term vision, we just gave up on it when the world seemed so dark. We ourselves seemed dark, and to be consistent we tried to justify our horrid acts as glorious. We fought great evil on the side of great good...my ass. To fight is evil. Sometimes you have to, but you can't ever forget which way the compass is pointing.
Reed
Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------