I’m reminded of a discussion I once read from a fiction writer regarding the concept of Evil when portraying an antagonist in a story: historically, very few verifiable evil people have considered themselves to be evil. In their minds, they are simply Right; and anyone who disagrees with them is Wrong. This is why we have never seen any actual group identifying themselves as The League of Villainy or the Brotherhood of Evil or some other such nonsense. No – really evil people are the ones who cloak their intentions behind a veil of righteousness and seek to use the law, legal force, or legal authority to force others to do things or live their lives as the Evil Ones see fit.
We must all remember that Law is never about asking nicely, Law is about force – passing a Law means legally depriving individuals of their right to make a choice. And that, at its heart, is what the Gun Bigots want: to use the force of Law to deprive others of the right to live their lives differently. There is no “Gun Control”, only “Gun Owner Control”. What the leaders of the Gun Bigots want does not fit the definition of insanity, but it does cross the line over the definition of Evil.
BLoving
December 10, 2017
Comment to Question of the Day: Are Gun Control Advocates Insane?
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
“No – really evil people are the ones who cloak their intentions behind a veil of righteousness and seek to use the law, legal force, or legal authority to force others to do things or live their lives as the Evil Ones see fit.”
A better description of Felonia Von Pantsuit has never existed.
I liked, “They’re only insane if you think they believe what they say.”
I think I understand the gist of it, but words mean things and it’s a nonsensical sentence– What you believe has nothing to do with the question. You cannot make people insane by believing them.
So how do we fix the statement?
“They’re insane if they believe what they say.” If they understand that they’re employing lies for the purpose of controlling others, if they understand that their quest for more power is destructive to liberty and prosperity, yet want the power anyway, then no, they’re not insane. It works. Don’t knock it.
So answer to the question is another question;
“Do they know what they’re doing?”
Jesus says no, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. I say that the authoritarian leaders know what they’re doing, and that their followers are dupes. It’s that age-old question of isolating the perpetrators from the duped. The Christian response to that, in turn, would be that the perpetrators are themselves the dupes of a greater evil beyond our world.
All of that, in turn, brings to the forefront the issue of whether the authoritarians (currently the mortal enemies of liberty and of America) can be rehabilitated. If so, how? If not by us, by whom? If not at all, what do we do with them?
And that in turn will lead to the concept of “convert or die”. I see two alliances, both trying their best to appeal to…..(well that’s an interesting question right there. Appeal to the other side I suppose, but more often preaching to their own choirs)….and both holding a black bag hidden behind their rhetoric. In that black bag is a “convert or die” ultimatum.
Personally, for the interim, I’d settle for “leave me the fuck alone or die”. I no longer feel the need to convert authoritarians, nor do I believe I could if I tried alone. So long as they fuck off I can tolerate them, but then I know that they aren’t capable of minding their own business.
An authoritarian living “peacefully” next door is a ticking time bomb. A ruse. He’ll assume his role as predator at some point. So where does that leave us?
I don’t know. Can you tell us?
No. I’m asking. I don’t see a resolution. History is a repeating series of periods of short-lived peace (while the predators attack elsewhere), stand-offs, conflict and outright war and conquest.
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