THE NECESSITY OF A DOUBLE MORAL STANDARD

We see people using double standards in our world all the time. For example, you have recently witnessed the indignation of Muslims because the Pope cited a 14th Century Byzantine emperor who said Islam was evil and inhumane. In some places, the protestors even burned American flags, being that—as everyone is aware—the Pope represents America. It is odd we did not see the Muslim masses protesting the evil and inhumane behavior of terrorists on Nine Eleven. They did not burn a Saudi Arabian flag, the country of origin of those terrorists. They did not burn the flag of states that support terrorism either. This is an example of the kinds of “double standards” people should avoid.

On the other hand, there is a necessity for a double moral standard I think completely justified. There are good and bad people in the world. Certainly, there are degrees of difference in both categories, but for our purpose, it does not matter. We should all agree that common criminals who have long records are bad people. They have committed their lives to evil. We should also agree that terrorists are bad people. They do not fight fair. They do not wear uniforms to avoid identification. Forget about facing the enemy and fighting with dignity. Furthermore, they are mercenaries represent no country in particular. We could not negotiate peace with them, even if we wanted to, because we would not know whom to contact. Finally, their favorite method of operation is sneaking around to maim and kill innocent civilians. In other words ladies and gentlemen, as regards terrorists, we have hit the bottom of the barrel (or close) when identifying bad people.

Somebody once asked Confucius whether we should repay malice with kindness. He said something to the effect that if we do that, then we would have nothing appropriate with what to repay kindness. Therefore, what we should do is repay malice with justice, and kindness with kindness (Wei-ming, 1993, p.141). I agree wholeheartedly, but go further in the development of this concept. We should not use the same rules when treating or judging bad people as we use when treating or judging ordinary citizens. Ordinary citizens can make mistakes and break the law, but they do not have a record of being committed to evil. My brand of justice believes that cruel and unusual punishment is proper for those who are unusually cruel.

God be my witness, my first philosophy was and is Christian. I wish all the good people of the world the best, and I would treat them the same way. Their religion, nationality, ethnic group, etc. etc., makes not difference to me. If you are a good person, may God bless you and all those you love. May you enjoy the blessings of living under a good government, one that worries about your welfare! May you enjoy the fruits of a good education and a good job! May all your dreams come true! If you were here in front of me right now, I would give you a big embrace because I do love you. However, however, however, there are many in the world separating our kind, those of us who want to live in peace with one another, and those of us who want to build rather than destroy.

We have to break the barriers that separate us. Religion is one of those barriers. That is the reason I wrote Ercian Testament. Do I respect Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? The answer is twofold, yes and no. Yes, I respect the right of every human being to seek God, and that includes every Jew, Christian, and Muslim. No, I do not respect the claims of supremacy and direct authority from God whether in reference to the Jewish prophets, to Jesus as Messiah, or to Muhammad as God’s prophet. I do not respect those claims because they are the source of all the conflict among these religions. My suggestion is, believe what you want to believe as long as you are humble and honest enough to call it beliefs and not knowledge. Become proligious and open yourselves to love all good human beings. If you do so, the Earth will witness an era of prosperity never imagined.

Politics is another barrier. We need a democratic world. No human being should be condemned to live under a totalitarian regime. For forty-seven years, the people of my country of origin Cuba have suffered under a terrible dictatorship. When will it end and who will end it? There are no weapons on the island, except those in the hands of the tyrant and his army. Venezuela and Bolivia are copying Massa Castro, the owner of the plantation retaining the name of Cuba, the name it had when it was a free and sovereign country. Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales are making big promises, appealing mainly to the poor. Those who believe them are trading freedom for measly handouts, selling their souls to two crude, incompetent, and ignorant leaders.

Neither these buffoons nor any other head of a nation has the right to violate our inalienable rights. The time has come to end all the oppressive regimes in the world and replace them with democratic republics. Why democratic republics, someone may ask? They should be our choice because democratic republics are fair systems of government. Free elections give people a voice as to who governs them; and in principle, democratic republics watch out for the welfare of all citizens including minorities. To top it off, there is (guess what?) freedom, allowing people to live their lives and pursue their goals as they see fit, without the government intervening every two seconds.

If I lost you with my tangential thinking, I am sorry, but I had to show you what is at stake for the human race here. It is going to be either a free democratic world, or one governed by despots (includes theocrats), or one in which we will all suffer due to the continual fighting between the two sides. Therefore, those on the side of democracy have to be realistic and flexible with their moral principles. We do need a double moral standard.

Who would want to torture a good human being? Not another good human being, I am sure. However, when dealing with terrorists, we should use whatever methods are at our disposal to deny them the blood of our innocent. If the CIA obtain intelligence an attack is in the works and they have prisoners believed to have information about the plot, I give them the authority to torture or do whatever they have to do to prevent the butchering of the good people of my country. Even if the information obtained under such conditions turns out to be unreliable, at least we gave it our best shot, besides making somebody pay for supporting the uncivilized means and ends of terrorism.

What is torture? Was it not torture for those people in the World Trade Center? What was it like for those above the flames? Take your pick, choose between burning alive or hitting the concrete floor after throwing yourself from a window one hundred stories high. Was it not torture for their families watching this crime against humanity at home? Is it not torture for those families now, living without one or more loved ones? Knowing all this, there are still those who think we should treat terrorists as human beings. They are not human. They are namuh, the inverse of a human. So that you know the Ercian definition, the Namuh are beings with human bodies but without a human soul, in other words, beings without a conscience.

Since relationships in the world are like two-way streets, we cannot always do unto others, as we would have them do unto us. If there is no reciprocity, we should not continue following that Christian rule. That is the reason for my second philosophy, Ercian Philosophy, one that complements and supersedes my Christian philosophy. For my part, as an Ercian, not only am I willing to go down to their level (in my dealings with terrorists or Namuh in general, not with innocent people), I am willing to go below their level.

When someone threatens our families and our way of life, we should turn into Mother Bear. Let us inflict damage wherever we have to, in order to save our cubs. Yes, it is unfortunate we have soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we did not start this war. Terrorists started this war on Nine Eleven. We should fight them wherever we find them and wherever good intelligence tells us they could be hiding.

A good number of people feel we did not have to invade Iraq, but we did. Now, there is no turning back. Look at it this way: we are getting rid of a butchering dictator, Saddam Hussein, and we are trying to bring democracy to that country. If the experiment fails, it is not the fault of democracy as a system of government. We can lay the blame on the ignorance of those who choose authoritarianism over freedom, those who prefer a theocracy or some other repressive regime instead of our good and blessed system. May God not have mercy on their souls! Do not forgive them Father, just because they do not know what they are doing. You and Mother gave them brains. They should learn how to use them, or pay for their negligence.

Bibliography: Wei-ming, T. (1993). Confucianism. In Arvind Sharma (Ed.) Our Religions (pp.141-227). New York: Harper Collins Publishers.