... is NOT another man's freedom fighter.
Or he could be. But just because he's a freedom fighter does not make him not a terrorist. As a lot of us have had numerous occasion to say since 9/11 and even before (of course, before 9/11, no one was listening--or so it seems), there IS such a thing as committing evil acts while fighting--or thinking you are fighting--for a good cause.
As I was saying in a comment on another post on this site, I have taken to coming out and clearly saying that "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is not a morally defensible position.
It wasn't when Ronald Reagan said it, and it isn't today. When The Gipper used it as excuse for his foreign policy alliances, it gave us Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a man that, if I am told right, when The Gipper and Pakistan's Mard-e-Momin (Gen. Zia) started patronising him, already had a record of throwing acid in the face of a fellow student at Kabul University who had the audacity not to wear a veil.
"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" seems to imply that if a person who is otherwise committing a terrorist act does it for a valid cause like fighting for freedom, it is okay, or at least less “evilâ€Â. Even if someone commits an act of terror, or other heinous act for my personal, social, or national benefit, it is my moral, religious and legal responsibility to call it out as exactly that. An evil, yes, evil, indefensible act. And then it is my duty to either stop it, denounce it, or at least recognize it as such. I believe says it is a sign of how strong one's faith is to either put it right with one's hand, speak against it, or at the lowest level of faith, to know it is evil in my heart.
This is not to say that "suspect" minorities should be early and often with their condemnations. Condemnations should not be demanded. But we shouldn't feel it inappropriate to condemn and call a spade a spade because it might *seem* like we're caving. Or, worse, because it might be a "brother" (sisters are nicer ;)) that did something. Isn't Islam one of those religions that says to be truthful in witness, be it against a brother? Isn't Islam the religion that says one should help an aggressor or a transgressor by stopping him or her from committing such transgresions?
Nice post!
Why thank you!
This interesting post reminds me of my very healthy 90 year old father, a veteran of the Normandy landing during WWII, who utterly despises people like Rev. William Sloan Coffin, Benjamine Spock, and Jain Fonda (of "I ain't fond a Hannoi Jane" bumpersticker fame) for their "consorting" with the enemy in North Vietnam.
Rev. Coffin passed away recently. During the last years of his life, the media and academia bestowed rewards on him for his moral courage in crawling out upon an unpopular limb for what he believed was right.
When I mentioned these awards to my father, he became livid, and exclaimed "Why Rev. Coffin is a traitor!"
I pointed out to my father that George Washington was declared a traitor by the King of England. I google searched and found the actual proclamation from the king.
Sometimes we commit a great wrong in our efforts to do right. And other times, good results from our wrongful intentions.
The Biblical midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, lied to the Pharoah, who had commanded them to kill the Jewish infants, saying "the women are too lively, and give birth before we can arrive."
The midwives told a lie. Lies are considered sinful. Lies to the ruler or government are considered sedition or treasonous. But that scriptural passage goes on to say that God rewarded the two midwives for their lie.
The brothers of Joseph came to Egypt to ask his forgiveness for their attempted murder of him, and subsequent sale of Joseph into slavery. Joseph answers, "You intended evil, but God transformed your evil into good." What Joseph meant was that his brothers' treachery lead to a long chain of events which eventually placed Joseph in a position of great power, and enabled Joseph to save his family from famine.
Idres Shah has a marvellous "teaching story" about causality. Someone comes to the Mullah Nasrudin and exclaims, "I believe firmly in cause and effect." So, Nasrudin points in the distance to a convicted killer being led to execution. Nasrudin asks, "Then what is the cause of this man's execution? Is it the person who sold him the knife, or the bystanders who made no attempt to stop him, or the fact that he was apprehended?"
In the book of Proverbs, by Solomon, it is written "there are ways which seem good to a man, but the end thereof is death."