Monday, June 27, 2005
Just Who is Evil
I read some stuff today comparing President Bush, the whole Bush family actually, to Nazis. I have no love for the policies of either Bush administration, but calling them Nazis isn't really fair. Nor is it really acurate from a political standpoint. Some will say that we are living under a facist regime. That's pretty harsh, try telling that to someone who lived in Germany in the 30's and 40's. I'm sure they'd have something different to say about it.
And it's not fair on the other side either. Calling the Democrats Communists isn't acurate. It isn't nice, it isn't necessary and it isn't productive. Post WWI Germany fell under fascism under the guise of the National Socialist party (Nazis) led by Adolph Hitler. The fascism practiced by Germany in those years falls to the extreme right of the political spectrum, and while it's true that the Republican party occupies an area right of center in the same spectrum there is no comparison. Likewise, post WWI Russian fell into Communism under (among others) Josef Stalin. Communism occupies the extrem left of the political spectrum, and while the Democrats fall left of center on that same spectrum, there is no comparison. In truth, todays Democratic party has much more in common with the Republican party than it has with Communism. The same is ture of the Republicans who have more in common with the Democrats than they do with any fascist political movement.
Perversly, the Nazis and the Russian Communists of the 30's and 40's, though about as far apart as possible politically, have one thing in common. They were led by evil. Hitler was evil, Stalin was evil. Both caused the deaths of millions, not just because of the war they caused, but because they actively killed their own citizens. Think about that for a moment. No matter how much you dislike a Republican or Democrat in office today, do they advocate the death of citizens? Don't use the abortion argument on me. No politician on the left is saying that unborn babies have to be killed. Nobody is advocating the rounding up of pregnant women and forcing them to have abortions, like Jews, Gypsy's and homosexuals were rounded up and killed by Nazis and Russian Communists.
We had a judge named Greer from Florida in the news recently. He ruled that a feeding tube could be removed from a brain dead woman. People called Judge Greer evil, he was kicked out of his church, he received death threats, a man was arrested for putting a $50,000 "bounty" on Judge Greer. In my own church, a pastor preached that he wished God would strike Judge Greer dead. Judge Greer did not kill Teri Schiavo, Teri Schiavo was already dead, her body just hadn't figured that out yet, probably because her brain had been dead for 14 years. Did Judge Greer deserve to be labelled as evil when all he did was uphold the law, when all he did was follow the existing law of the land allowing her legal guardian to make the decision if she shoud be kept alive or not?
Today in Wichita, Kansas a man named Dennis Rader calmly plead guilty to the brutal killings of 10 people, giving quite a few details that I'm still not comfortable thinking about. He will go to jail, most likely forever but since his crimes were commited when Kansas did not have the death penalty, he will live.
So I ask you who is evil, Judge Greer or the BTK Strangler? Will Pastor Thomas Beaverson of Zion Lutheran Church in Rapid City, South Dakota preach this Sunday his wishes that Dennis Rader be struck dead by God since the State of Kansas won't kill him? I don't know because I won't be there, I decided I couldn't go back to that church.
Is Dennis Rader receiving death threats? Is some whack job offering $50,000 to anyone who kills the BTK Strangler? Has Dennis Rader been kicked out of his Lutheran Church?
All I'm saying is be careful throwing around hurtful terms. Maybe my standard of 'evil' is high, but from what I've read, Judge Greer is a credit to our society. Comparing him to pure social malevolence, using the same term for both men cheapens the term. There is true evil out there people, we got a peak inside of an evil mind today. Remember that the next time you want to call someone evil.
BOJ
And it's not fair on the other side either. Calling the Democrats Communists isn't acurate. It isn't nice, it isn't necessary and it isn't productive. Post WWI Germany fell under fascism under the guise of the National Socialist party (Nazis) led by Adolph Hitler. The fascism practiced by Germany in those years falls to the extreme right of the political spectrum, and while it's true that the Republican party occupies an area right of center in the same spectrum there is no comparison. Likewise, post WWI Russian fell into Communism under (among others) Josef Stalin. Communism occupies the extrem left of the political spectrum, and while the Democrats fall left of center on that same spectrum, there is no comparison. In truth, todays Democratic party has much more in common with the Republican party than it has with Communism. The same is ture of the Republicans who have more in common with the Democrats than they do with any fascist political movement.
Perversly, the Nazis and the Russian Communists of the 30's and 40's, though about as far apart as possible politically, have one thing in common. They were led by evil. Hitler was evil, Stalin was evil. Both caused the deaths of millions, not just because of the war they caused, but because they actively killed their own citizens. Think about that for a moment. No matter how much you dislike a Republican or Democrat in office today, do they advocate the death of citizens? Don't use the abortion argument on me. No politician on the left is saying that unborn babies have to be killed. Nobody is advocating the rounding up of pregnant women and forcing them to have abortions, like Jews, Gypsy's and homosexuals were rounded up and killed by Nazis and Russian Communists.
We had a judge named Greer from Florida in the news recently. He ruled that a feeding tube could be removed from a brain dead woman. People called Judge Greer evil, he was kicked out of his church, he received death threats, a man was arrested for putting a $50,000 "bounty" on Judge Greer. In my own church, a pastor preached that he wished God would strike Judge Greer dead. Judge Greer did not kill Teri Schiavo, Teri Schiavo was already dead, her body just hadn't figured that out yet, probably because her brain had been dead for 14 years. Did Judge Greer deserve to be labelled as evil when all he did was uphold the law, when all he did was follow the existing law of the land allowing her legal guardian to make the decision if she shoud be kept alive or not?
Today in Wichita, Kansas a man named Dennis Rader calmly plead guilty to the brutal killings of 10 people, giving quite a few details that I'm still not comfortable thinking about. He will go to jail, most likely forever but since his crimes were commited when Kansas did not have the death penalty, he will live.
So I ask you who is evil, Judge Greer or the BTK Strangler? Will Pastor Thomas Beaverson of Zion Lutheran Church in Rapid City, South Dakota preach this Sunday his wishes that Dennis Rader be struck dead by God since the State of Kansas won't kill him? I don't know because I won't be there, I decided I couldn't go back to that church.
Is Dennis Rader receiving death threats? Is some whack job offering $50,000 to anyone who kills the BTK Strangler? Has Dennis Rader been kicked out of his Lutheran Church?
All I'm saying is be careful throwing around hurtful terms. Maybe my standard of 'evil' is high, but from what I've read, Judge Greer is a credit to our society. Comparing him to pure social malevolence, using the same term for both men cheapens the term. There is true evil out there people, we got a peak inside of an evil mind today. Remember that the next time you want to call someone evil.
BOJ
# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 8:15 PM 
