Danger: Good Intentions ahead!
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Partly true, as very few people would willingly admit that they are evil for the love of evil. Even the Nazi’s purged the Jews for the safety and security of the Aryan race. No matter how convoluted or extraneous the excuse, very few people do evil without some sort of good intentional excuse that they have used to rationalize their actions as justified or necessary for the greater good of what they hold most important - whatever that may be.
But do excuses excuse? Can evil be assuaged by adept postulations? Can we ever rightly rationalize evil? If there is a choice between two evils? So the argument goes. But does not two evil necessitate a situation in which the two evils arise? No choice arrives from within a vacuum. For instance, two evils: Lie about harboring Jews during the holocaust, or hand the Jews over to die. Two evils. One most certainly a greater evil. But were there steps before such an evil scenario arose? Yes. Many. Hitler was listened to. Hitler was elected. Hitler was allowed to arm Germany (against the peace treaty). Hitler was allowed to retake the Rhineland (against the peace treaty). Hitler was allowed to conquer Austria (outright war). Hitler conquered the Sudetenland (outright war). Then Hitler invaded Poland. Then and only then did France and Great Britain object and go to war.
Point? Many steps that the German people could have intervened. Many points in which the European world could have stepped in and stopped it. Did they know about the evils of the Holocaust. No. It hadn’t started at that point yet. But Germany’s leader, Hitler, had shown himself to be aggressive and he broke the Treaty of Versaille on multiple levels on multiple counts. Hitler was allowed to take control at each point in this history. Evil never rises it’s head from within a vacuum. It comes in gradients. Gradually.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
~ Edmund Burke
Good Intentions + Bad Ideas = Bad Actions
Good Intentions + Bad Actions = Bad Outcomes
Hitler had good intentions. He brought Germany out of the worst depression the world has ever seen. The German people had good intentions in electing Hitler, but Hitler had some bad ideas. They were written in Mein Kampf for all to see. But his good intentions blinded these bad ideas and led to a massive cover-up of bad actions to which people who lived within the same town as the concentration camps claimed they had no idea what was happening right next to them. They had no idea the ash that blew their way wasn’t made by a log of wood.
We must be vigilant. Good sounding ideas are not good enough. They must be true. If it is hard to tell, just look at the outcomes. “And by their fruit you shall know them.” (Matthew 7:16)
Jared Williams
But do excuses excuse? Can evil be assuaged by adept postulations? Can we ever rightly rationalize evil? If there is a choice between two evils? So the argument goes. But does not two evil necessitate a situation in which the two evils arise? No choice arrives from within a vacuum. For instance, two evils: Lie about harboring Jews during the holocaust, or hand the Jews over to die. Two evils. One most certainly a greater evil. But were there steps before such an evil scenario arose? Yes. Many. Hitler was listened to. Hitler was elected. Hitler was allowed to arm Germany (against the peace treaty). Hitler was allowed to retake the Rhineland (against the peace treaty). Hitler was allowed to conquer Austria (outright war). Hitler conquered the Sudetenland (outright war). Then Hitler invaded Poland. Then and only then did France and Great Britain object and go to war.
Point? Many steps that the German people could have intervened. Many points in which the European world could have stepped in and stopped it. Did they know about the evils of the Holocaust. No. It hadn’t started at that point yet. But Germany’s leader, Hitler, had shown himself to be aggressive and he broke the Treaty of Versaille on multiple levels on multiple counts. Hitler was allowed to take control at each point in this history. Evil never rises it’s head from within a vacuum. It comes in gradients. Gradually.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
~ Edmund Burke
Good Intentions + Bad Ideas = Bad Actions
Good Intentions + Bad Actions = Bad Outcomes
Hitler had good intentions. He brought Germany out of the worst depression the world has ever seen. The German people had good intentions in electing Hitler, but Hitler had some bad ideas. They were written in Mein Kampf for all to see. But his good intentions blinded these bad ideas and led to a massive cover-up of bad actions to which people who lived within the same town as the concentration camps claimed they had no idea what was happening right next to them. They had no idea the ash that blew their way wasn’t made by a log of wood.
We must be vigilant. Good sounding ideas are not good enough. They must be true. If it is hard to tell, just look at the outcomes. “And by their fruit you shall know them.” (Matthew 7:16)
Jared Williams
