naraburns nihil supernum
11mo ago
(text post)
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Israel-Gaza Megathread #1
This is a megathread for any posts on the conflict between (so far, and so far as I know) Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as related geopolitics. Culture War thread rules apply.
This is a key question for determining the moral severity of the terrorist attacks
No, it isn't. Intentionally targeting civilians is morally wrong. You don’t get a free pass to murder Pol Pot's children just because he has done similar things in the past.
You don’t get a free pass to murder Pol Pot's children just because he has done similar things in the past.
"Free" pass? Not really, it's already been paid for in blood. With additional promissory value if it convinces him to stop after he's had his own medicine.
I think this "free pass" rhetoric conceals the role of the speaker, and the authorities that the speaker seeks to persuade to act, in war crime discourse. It should be one matter whether in our beliefs, the murderer of Pol Pot's children ought to be assigned the same metaphysical quality of evil or expectation of supernatural punishment as Pol Pot; it's quite another matter whether you (@Gdanning) and the government that represents you get to "withhold the free pass" (by slapping around the murderer, probably also reaping some totally coincidental benefits in the process) if previously you chose to grant the free pass to Pol Pot.
quite another matter whether you (@Gdanning) and the government that represents you get to "withhold the free pass" (by slapping around the murderer,
You seem to be referring here to whether consequences are imposed for immoral actions. But that is not the issue. The issue is whether the action is immoral or not. By "free pass", I meant a moral free pass -- because, again that was the subject of OP's claim -- not a practical free pass. People get away with immoral acts all the time. That does not render them any more or less immoral. It used to be perfectly legal to forcibly rape one's wife. Hence, husbands were given a free pass -- they were not "slapped around" by the state, to use your terminology. But that says nothing about the morality of those actions.
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Notes -
No, it isn't. Intentionally targeting civilians is morally wrong. You don’t get a free pass to murder Pol Pot's children just because he has done similar things in the past.
"Free" pass? Not really, it's already been paid for in blood. With additional promissory value if it convinces him to stop after he's had his own medicine.
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I think this "free pass" rhetoric conceals the role of the speaker, and the authorities that the speaker seeks to persuade to act, in war crime discourse. It should be one matter whether in our beliefs, the murderer of Pol Pot's children ought to be assigned the same metaphysical quality of evil or expectation of supernatural punishment as Pol Pot; it's quite another matter whether you (@Gdanning) and the government that represents you get to "withhold the free pass" (by slapping around the murderer, probably also reaping some totally coincidental benefits in the process) if previously you chose to grant the free pass to Pol Pot.
You seem to be referring here to whether consequences are imposed for immoral actions. But that is not the issue. The issue is whether the action is immoral or not. By "free pass", I meant a moral free pass -- because, again that was the subject of OP's claim -- not a practical free pass. People get away with immoral acts all the time. That does not render them any more or less immoral. It used to be perfectly legal to forcibly rape one's wife. Hence, husbands were given a free pass -- they were not "slapped around" by the state, to use your terminology. But that says nothing about the morality of those actions.
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