Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)

Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)
Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Anonymous v Westboro: Unappointed Arbiters, Justice, And The Dangers Of Repaying Evil With Evil

As usual, Nathan is spot on, and very helpful in forming a well-rounded view.

3 comments:

Nathan said...

Thanks Ben.

Pedro said...

Nathan's words do a great job of exposing all the nasty stuff that goes on between 'warring factions', for want of a better phrase, and it certainly reignites the love your enemy doctrine.
But come on. This is 2012 and people getting lower than scraping the bottom of the barrel.
All this 'love them, god will do the rest' stuff has no bearing on anyone but the people bandying the sentiment about.
The bile these so called 'christians' are spewing out to the general public is also laying the foundation for future generations to build on the same diseased beliefs.
That should not be allowed to continue. I believe that and these people have NOT touched me in any way.
IF they did however, my retaliation would be very hard to contain as I imagine any parent could relate to.
The world is full of shit people. Fact. Lets make an effort to get behind people who are willing to make a stand against them.
If you don't like what they are doing and they are a force that relies on public support, then don't get behind them.
So they have some draconian themes going on.
Doesn't a piece of damning scripture get all 'fire and brimstone' on people's butts?!

Somehow this makes for a good example if you ask me.

Hey 'anonymous', can you send a message to those anti gay activists while you're at it? Oh and maybe pay a visit to all those Catho priests who took it upon themselves to destroy the lives of so many....

You have my blessing...

Nathan said...

Pedro,

I don't think it's just "love them and God will do the rest"... I'm pretty sold on the idea that loving them is something they hate.

Watch Westboro's interview with Russell Brand.

Plus. It's Biblical. The Bible says that when you love your enemy, like I'm suggesting we should with Westboro - it "heaps burning coals on their heads"...

I think it does this because it, not that Westboro needs it, discredits them by the power of the counter example.

The smaller we can make the Westboro guys feel, the more we can make them question whether what they are doing works to achieve their purposes, the less of a pain they're going to be in the long run.

So I think loving them is, precisely, making a stand against them. And I think it undermines their approach to the world in a way that Anonymous doesn't. Anonymous just confirms their siege mentality. They thrive on being hated. They think that if they're hated they're doing their job properly.