Mulling over LEE LOFASO to ALL 10 Sep 2006

G'day Lee,

 LL> "All evil is an attempt to eliminate evil."
 LL> - James P. Carse

 LL> Five years ago, on 9/11/2001, an evil mastermind
 LL> sent terrorists on a suicide mission of pure evil,
 LL> hijacking four passenger airliners and slamming
 LL> them into the WTC Twin Towers in NYC, the Pentagon,
 LL> and a field in Pennsylvania, leaving over 3,000
 LL> innocent men, women and children dead.

 LL> In retaliation, President George W. Bush ordered
 LL> an invasion of Afghanistan, and later Iraq.

 LL> Everybody knows that terrorists are evil.

Except, perhaps, when they are feted as "freedom fighters"
as in Afghanistan in the 1980s (Brave Mujihideen vs Evil Soviets).

 LL> Everybody knows that President Bush has declared
 LL> a "war on terror".

 LL> But is it evil to fight evil with evil?

Depends on the circumstances. E.g. if someone robs
me, it is appropriate for me not to take revenge,
but to forgive. If I murder someone, the family 
might forgive me, but the State will be justified
in punishing me - "wield the sword" - execute etc.

 LL> Or is it better to turn the other cheek, and
 LL> say "Hit me again!"

I doubt the US Administration would last too long
if it did nothing, but terrorists have "got away"
with quite a bit. E.g. when the Bali bombings killed
88 or so Australians, there was grief, sympathy for
the Balinese who would suffer due to loss of trade,
anger towards the culprits, but no reprisals, apart
from Indonesian justice against the surviving culprits.

My feeling is that the West will be forced to respond
with massive military might - Islam cannot be appeased,
and will, if possible, use nukes & the like if it can
acquire them (ex-Russian, Pak, Iran, N Korean etc)

 LL> Well, first one must figure out what evil is.
 LL> And if one understands what evil is, then from
 LL> whence did evil come from?  In other words,
 LL> what is the origin of evil?

 LL> Is it possible that good can come out of evil?
 LL> After all, we all know that evil men can do good
 LL> things.  And we know that good men can do evil
 LL> things.  Or is it that good is evil and evil is
 LL> good?  What is good to one man might be evil to
 LL> another.  And what is evil to one man might be
 LL> good to another.  So how do we really know what
 LL> is good and what is evil?

 LL> We say that God is good.  But define "good".
 LL> We say that Satan is evil.  But define "evil".

 LL> Maybe God/Satan are the same Person.

Maybe not. Lucifer was the most brilliant creature,
but rebelled, and tricked humanity into rebellion.

 LL> Kind of like a god with schizophrenia.
 LL> Or at least a god with a multiple personality.

 LL> One day He is good.  Another day He is evil.
 LL> Or perhaps a bit of both each and every day.

 LL> War is a game played by man.  One side tries
 LL> to win, and declare the other side the loser.

 LL> Religion is also a game played by man.  Except
 LL> no side tries to win, but rather to extend the
 LL> game indefinitely to no end.

I don't know that it is a game played by man; rather,
it is Satan at work deceiving man with a number of
religions that will deceive & lead ppl astray.
(False Christs & false prophets - eg Mohammed)

 LL> What happens when man mixes war with religion?
 LL> Man is playing an infinite game in an finite game.
 LL> In that light, how can such a game ever end?

There is a time coming when there will be no more war;
it is not infinite. In the short term, of course, there
will be wars and rumours of wars, and Jesus' advice to
us is not to be troubled by it. (Human efforts to bring
about a lasting & just peace will fail)

 LL> Perhaps President Bush should rename his "war
 LL> on terror" as being "The Forever War".  Just
 LL> like Joe Haldeman's book of the same name.

Perhaps he would be better to focus on those who
are using terror as a means to an end, and what
the end is. He is doing much better lately, acknowledging
the Caliphate sought by ObL & friends, oppressive Sharia 
law etc.

 LL> In any event, that is my rant of the day.

 LL> All comments welcome.

I haven't answered all of your rant, but others might
have some more to throw in. :)

Cheers, Steve..

---