Today's news is that Taliban gunmen killed over 130 -- probably over 140 -- CHILDREN at a Pakistani school earlier today. I'm not going to read the reports. It's just too depressing.
I'm torn between wanting to stomp them out completely, and realizing that our misguided and miscarried efforts to stomp them out in the past are exactly what has allowed them to continue to attract young men capable of carrying out these atrocities.
It would be wonderful to find and torture to death the sickoes in the Taliban leadership who have twisted their religion to the point where their followers have come to believe that this is the sort of thing their god wants to see. Unfortunately, last time we tried that, we tortured some of the wrong people to death.
Somewhere, somehow, hearts and minds are going to have to change.
If we have to have religions -- and maybe we do -- then let's get all of them to agree on at least one simple principle:
Yes, we'd have to give up the death penalty, we'd have to give up wars, and we'd have to give up drone strikes. We might even have to give up some prime-time TV. But maybe some good would come of all that.
Seriously, maybe we can start a campaign with a view toward getting the no-kill principle adopted into every single religion in the world, including atheism and secular humanism.
The counterargument is as follows:
So instead, let's just start small:
I'm torn between wanting to stomp them out completely, and realizing that our misguided and miscarried efforts to stomp them out in the past are exactly what has allowed them to continue to attract young men capable of carrying out these atrocities.
It would be wonderful to find and torture to death the sickoes in the Taliban leadership who have twisted their religion to the point where their followers have come to believe that this is the sort of thing their god wants to see. Unfortunately, last time we tried that, we tortured some of the wrong people to death.
Somewhere, somehow, hearts and minds are going to have to change.
If we have to have religions -- and maybe we do -- then let's get all of them to agree on at least one simple principle:
Anyone who violates that commandment will go to hell, no matter what faith he follows, and no matter what the excuse.Thou shalt not kill another human being.
Yes, we'd have to give up the death penalty, we'd have to give up wars, and we'd have to give up drone strikes. We might even have to give up some prime-time TV. But maybe some good would come of all that.
Seriously, maybe we can start a campaign with a view toward getting the no-kill principle adopted into every single religion in the world, including atheism and secular humanism.
The counterargument is as follows:
So instead, let's just start small:
Thou shalt not kill a child.
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