At 10:14 PM 8/8/2004 -0500 Dan Minette wrote: >> >>And dropping bombs on Saddam Hussein's armies was not evil. >> > >> >So, the action of killing conscripts of Hussein, many of whom are there >> >because they had no choice, in inherently an acceptable action? > >> You are changing the subject. Not once have I ever said that it was >> "inherently acceptable", I merely said that it was *not* "inherently >> evil." > >but you also said: > >The killing of innocent people is an objective evil. (True) > >So, the logical conclusion is that you believe that the soldiers in >Hussein's army are not innocent because they accepted their conscription >instead of death or torture. Is that it?
Yes, I do not believe that they are "innocent." I think that even you would describe them as having chosen the "lesser evil", would you not? In which, case, they are still engaging in evil. >You don't consider them victims >of Hussein too? I think that I would also consider them victims. Without fully thinking through the implications of this just yet, this would suggest to me that conscription in in a totalitarian state is a particularly insidious form of evil, as it corrupts the innocent into becoming agents of oppression. JDG _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
