Hatred for the U.S.? Evil is as evil does

[Norm Bixby <normbixby@HOTMAIL.COM>]

Published Thursday, September 20, 2001

Hatred for the U.S.? Evil is as evil does

Let's get something straight.

The events of Sept. 11 did not happen because we did something wrong. Or
because we somehow ``deserved'' them.

In recent days, I've heard that argument or variations thereof from several
friends and dozens of e-mail correspondents. This must be what ``they'' feel
like when we bomb ``them,'' says one. Perhaps they acted out of deep hurt,
says another. Maybe this is necessary payback for American arrogance, says
yet another. And then, of course, there's the ever-reliable Jerry Falwell,
who said on The 700 Club last week that the attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon represent God's verdict on gay rights, feminism,
abortion and the ACLU.

In a word, no. To all of the above, to all the tortured reflection and moral
distress: no. Hell no.

I'm not naive. I understand that my government has sometimes dirtied its
hands in foreign affairs. For that matter, it has done the same in domestic
affairs. So I recognize and accept that some people might have legitimate
reason for animosity toward this country.

But guess what? For all our faults, we don't drive planeloads of
noncombatants into buildings filled with same. We don't willfully rain
carnage upon civilians. And we don't dance in the street when innocents die.


MILITARY TARGETS

When forced to take up arms, we attempt to limit our military actions to
military targets. Yes, innocents sometimes die regardless of our best
intentions. But for all our transgressions, we don't sanction the murder of
those who have neither the capacity nor the intention to harm us.

That's what our enemies just did. And no matter how righteous your cause
might be, when you support it by means of wanton slaughter, you forfeit any
claim to the moral high ground. Last Monday morning, I suspect that most
thinking Americans would have been willing to at least listen to the
grievances of those in the Middle East who feel wronged by us. Last Tuesday
morning, that became impossible.


DEMOCRACY AT WORK

So the claim that there might be some sort of moral equivalency between us
and them is misguided at best, offensive at worst. Not that I don't
understand where it's coming from. Our willingness to engage in unsparing
self-examination and ruthless self-criticism is one of our finest traits.
Our natural inclination is to try to take ownership of the problem, in order
that we can take ownership of its solution. But that reflex is useless here.
I mean, what are we to think? That if we outlawed the ACLU and sanctioned
the oppression of gay people, if we felt our enemy's pain or tried to be
less ``arrogant,'' we could ensure that no one will ever steer a plane into
one of our buildings again?

This is, of course, foolishness. What happened last week did not happen
because of any social movement in this country. It did not happen because of
any failure of sensitivity. And with all due respect to the Rev. Falwell, it
did not happen because God hijacked a plane.

Last week happened, pure and simple, because certain religious extremists
hate us. They hate us because our foreign policy has been supportive of
Israel. They hate us because we helped repel Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in
1991. But in the larger sense, they hate us because their children want blue
jeans, Britney Spears videos and the chance to be like Mike. They hate us
because we consume bacon and beer. They hate us because American women wear
bikinis and speak their minds. They hate us because we are the biggest, the
wealthiest, the most influential, the most powerful. They hate us because we
are not them and, moreover, because they are not us. They hate us because
they think the deity requires it. They hate us because.


RESPONSE TO HATRED

So the only question worth asking is: What should we do in response to their
hatred? Should we let it change who and what we are? Should we be infused
with wondering and self-doubt?

You already know my answer. From where I sit, there's nothing about our
enemies that deserves to be dignified by our moral distress.

We are right and they are evil. End of story.


Leonard Pitts Jr.'s column runs in Living & Arts every Thursday and
Saturday. Call him toll-free at 888-251-4407.

leonardpitts@mindspring.com






© 2001 The Miami Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miami.com/herald



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