“Regardless of what our foe deserved, our revelry in such base things harms ourselves – harms our own humanity and empathy, and that will have wider effects on ourselves and our community than intended,†wrote Houston Humanist minister D.T. Strain in his blog. “This is why we no longer drag murderers through the streets or hang them in public exhibitions – because of the kind of people that makes us.â€
I actually agree with this. We're evolutionarily wired to feel pleasure when retribution is inflicted upon evil doers... but they are dumb wires. Our internal punishment/reward architecture isn't sophisticated enough to get it right, all of the time. We'll often feel that same intoxication when retribution is doled out on insufficient evidence, or in disproportion to the crime.
And if we let it, that architecture can drive us right down the path towards a justice system that is little more than an enterprise of drunken pleasure-seeking, by way of retribution. In our zeal to get our fix, we'll hurt lots of innocent people - and ultimately ourselves.
I definitely share and understand the intoxication of victory here. I can't help but think about how bad ass it would have been to be on the team that killed him, and to go through life knowing that it was you who got him. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a New Yorker right now, or a person who lost someone in the attacks. And I don't necessarily think any of it is wrong - we just have to be careful with those feelings.
That’s right, love the murder-espousing, America-hating, disgusting, horrible terrorist that was responsible for the deaths of thousands.
Love him. Want the best for him. I doubt many humanists/agnostics/atheists would go that far. (And why would they? Outside of Christianity, it doesn’t make sense.)
And here's where I disagree, partly. I do agree in that there's not much of a reason to
love your enemy on atheism. I do agree that there's not much reason to love
everyone, as you love yourself, as Jesus commands - even those you havent met. I'm not really sure what love entails in that sort of context - if it means showing enemies and strangers compassion, then I can get on board. If it means showing no preference for your own kin or friends over strangers, then no, I cannot.
But in any case, is there reason on atheism, to hate the sin and not the sinner, so to speak? Even when its somebody like Osama? Absolutely. In fact, there's every reason to. I really think that evil (actions that harm the well-being of oneself, and others), is ultimately the result of ignorance. If one truly understood what sort of lasting, and fulfilling feelings of well-being they were missing as a result of certain choices, they would really have no rational reason to choose them. If one believes that truly evil actions are the result of such misunderstanding, then one can't help but feel the stirrings of pity, sadness, and I daresay compassion for the evil doers, rather than hate... because they ultimately harm themselves.
