We are democrats, republicans, independents, hardcore religious, atheist. We are gay, straight, bi, transgender, asexual, and undecided. We are promilitary, anti-military, anarchist, polygamist, monogamists.....you name it, someone is it!
And, for the most part, every single person will say that they are doing what's right.
I'll give you a working example:
When I was deployed to Iraq, the second time, I went on a convoy. While we were dismounted, a firefight broke out, and long story short, I ended up getting shot-twice.
The guy who shot me was killed in the firefight.
Do I hate him for what he did to me? For 12 rib breaks/cracks and partial paralysis of my left arm? Do I hate him for trying to end my life?
How can I? He was doing the right thing. At least in his mind.
Like I was trained that extremist like these were the enemy, trying to destroy our way of life, he was trained the exact. Same. Thing.
And his family will hate us, for killing him when they believed he was doing Gods biding. I can't blame them for hating us.
To him, and his fellow soldiers, we are the enemy. We are infidels needing to be cast from this earth..... Or something like that.
Either way, he believed, in his heart of hearts, that he was doing the right thing. And he WAS doing the right thing. Because, why would he give his life if he didn't believe he was doing the right thing?
Why would anyone risk their life for something they didn't believe in?
Would you fly a plane full of people into a building just because you woke up bored? We may not agree with what happened on 9/11. In fact, it still makes me nauseous to think about, but to the people who were behind it, they believed beyond a shadow of a doubt they were doing what God intended them to do.
Those people who protest at military funerals, even if I want to bash them in the face with the buttstock of my weapon, somewhere, in their twisted minds, they think they are right in their actions, and who am I to tell them that they all flipping morons who should rot in hell? They are just going to tell ME the exact same thing.
(because I am in the military)
I put Hitler in the title, so let me get to him. Keep in mind that I in no way agree with what he did, and personally think he was fucking insane.
But, the guy must of thought, in some corner of his mind, that he was helping the world by exterminating an entire race.
If he thought, with all his being, that the Jewish were what is wrong with society, then in his mind he was doing the right thing.
Same goes for slavery.
And every single war in history. In war, both/all sides are fighting for their beliefs! We don't have to agree with any of our enemies, but think about it.
The Japanese, during WWII, had kamikaze pilots. The core of their military/society was Honor. And what better way to honor your family and country than dying for their cause? Even if that means flying into enemy ships, because enemy ships have enemy soldiers, who deserve to die....as it is their belief.
I'm not just talking about big world events, either.
There are a lot of debates about raising kids these days:
Breast feed-bottle feed
Spankings-timeouts
Cloth diapers-disposable
Cosleeping-crib sleeping
Vaccines-no vaccines
enabling-strictness (toddlers/autism)
Every parent believes like hell they Are doing what is right for their kids. And will defend their choices viciously! And 80% of these kids will grow up to be productive members of society! And they didn't all come from the same exact background. Because, no matter how adamant you are about breast feeding, cloth diapering, attachment parenting.......there will be a bottle fed, disposably-diapered, ignored kid that grow up to be just as successful as your kid! You know how I know?
My wife was kid #1, I was kid #2.
And you all are #3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, etc! All raised differently, all (hopefully) thriving adults.
Because, for better or worse, our parents believed they were doing the right thing!
And I reserve the right to not judge people for doing what they truly believe to be the right thing!
I get your point of view and agree that everyone who fights for something firmly believes in it, otherwise it sin't worth being considered. I think there are a lot of people who become complacent about policies that they don't believe in too, but who keep following them because they feel weak or they don't want to rock the boat. It takes a strong person to realize reflections of yourself in your "enemy" ... and an even stronger one to stand up to aspects in your life that are not serving the best interests of your nation, faith, etc. So, yeah, good essay. Thanks for stating so eloquently what I sometimes feel, but, sadly, I think I would have been the type to get gassed under Hitler's reign for standing up to the status quo. But that is how I roll sometimes :)
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