Maybe we do need to recognize the humanity of the enemy.

Submitted by Peter J. Herz (Taiwan), Jan 6, 2005 at 22:05

Hollywood cannot be trusted simply because it cannot portray a bad guy without utterly dehumanizing him. Re all the accolades the Saudi being deported from the USA and the indicted Briton get, we do need to recognize the humanity of the enemy--and that our own humanity is deeply flawed, too. The law of God was given and governments bearing the power of the sword were established to keep sinners from destroying themselves; not to allow some to self-righteously declare themselves holier than thou.

After all, re Nazis, Reinhold Heydrich was an accomplished violinist and played Mozart when he wasn't figuring out the best way to exterminate Jews. Hitler wanted to be an artist. Goebbels hoped to be a playwright. The Germany that made Hitler chancellor was also the best-educated country in Europe, and part of its rivalry with France was over who got to be the source of Europe's trends.

Come to think of it, Mao Zedong was the product of a wise and ancient culture; while Pol Pot descended from what was once the most gifted of all Southeast Asian nations.

The unhappy fact of the matter is that we're all born in Original Sin--or, with the yetzer hor'a. Maybe the white hat only indicates the person who's better at restraining it.

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