Stardate 20020623.1410

(On Screen, mirror): One of the reasons I don't like discussions of "just war" is that it is like trying to ride a bicycle on dry sand.

Pearl sends me this article printed in the UK which attempts to use the concept of "just war" as a basis for yet another argument for moral equivalence, this time between the Israelis and the Palestinians. By a rather adroit sophistry, Matthew Parris tries to claim that first, the fact that someone is willing to die for their cause means that their cause is worthy of respect, and thus that when a Palestinian kills Israeli civilians with a suicide nail-bomb that it's OK because they are willing to die doing so.

It's OK to riddle a five-year-old girl's body with nails as long as the guy who sets off the bomb willingly dies in the blast.

The problem with his argument is the assumption that we must honor someone who is willing to die for their cause, and should consider their cause to be more noble because of their sacrifice. I'm afraid not. It's true that some causes are worth dying for and those who die for such causes are noble. It's also true that some causes are not worth dying for, and those who die for them anyway are deluded fools.

We cannot judge the righteousness of a cause by the dedication of its followers. There are just too many examples of people who have been so seriously seduced by despicable cults that they will do anything for it. For instance, a few years ago about five miles from where I live, a group of people committed mass suicide on the orders of their cult leader because he told them that they were going to hitch a ride on a space ship which was hiding behind a comet which happened to be passing through the solar system at that time. Shall we honor them for that? Of course not; there was nothing noble in those deaths. It was just a tragedy, a complete waste.

By the same token, the willingness of Palestinians to kill themselves so as to slaughter Israelis lends no nobility to their struggle. I can and do despise the suicide bombers because of what they do and who they do it to, without reference to why they're doing it.