I can't help it. In the 60's we were taught to "question authority," but I think I was born to question popular opinion. Hence my probably foolish need to wonder how we who aspire to be tolerant and understanding choose to apportion those qualities of mercy.

When someone commits a hateful, despicable act, we usually respond by asking what it was in that person's life that drove him to such desperate measuresWas the school shooter the victim of bullies? Did the man attack his former workplace because he had recently been firedWas the Islamic terrorist driven over the edge by his country's repressive policies and grinding poverty, or by American bombings, or by Hollywood's aggressive immoralityWas the abuser himself abused as a childWhy do they hate usWithout justifying ill behavior, collectively we seem to feel a need to understand, to mitigate, even to excuse the otherwise inexplicable actions of our fellow human beings.

Except.

I'll admit to have been having far too much fun with our 10 grandchildren to catch more than a few, fleeting references to recent newsWhat I hear disturbs me almost as much as the events themselvesSuddenly there seems to be a class of actions and ideologies—and a thousand times worse, of people—from whom we are withholding any attempt at understanding.

That the ideologies of white supremacy and Nazism are heinous I will heartily agreeBut I will not, I cannot, condemn them more than a hundred other appalling ideologies that our society seems much less anxious to repudiateIt isn't honest, it isn't fair, and it isn't right.

Posted by sursumcorda on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at 3:18 pm | Edit
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Hello Linda: I'd like to see a list of the other appalling ideologies you have in mind before I say anything.



Posted by Diane Villafane on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at 4:01 pm

I think everyone can fill in the blanks well enough for himself, and it will be more meaningful that way.



Posted by SursumCorda on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at 8:31 pm

In case you really are at a loss, Diane, one I can think of (that is basically the same as slavery) is the human trafficking that is widespread even in America today.



Posted by Joyful on Wednesday, August 23, 2017 at 5:41 am

Human trafficking is an ideology? I thought it was a product of money-making greed!



Posted by Diane Villafane on Saturday, September 02, 2017 at 1:55 pm

All morally-accountable actions are a product of ideology. Human trafficking could not exist without an ideology that views its victims as subhuman, just as the Nazis' ideology did with their victims.



Posted by SursumCorda on Saturday, September 02, 2017 at 2:08 pm

An ideology is anything people use to justify their actions. First comes selfishness, which produces greed, and then comes the act of human trafficking. An ideology is then created to justify the act. Unless you want to say that selfishness is an ideology in itself...



Posted by Diane Villafane on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at 6:32 am

No, I believe the ideology comes first. All our actions spring from the view we have of the world.



Posted by SursumCorda on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at 6:53 am
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