Would You Kill Bin Laden

The classic philosophy thought experiment...a train is going down the track...

A while ago I wrote a post would titled You Kill The Fat Man. It is a fun philosophy thought experiment using the classic scenario of a train is rolling down the tracks and you can save many lives, but you have to kill one peep to do it. It's good stuffs that makes you think about morals and ethics. Check out the link cause it takes you to a site (Philosophy experiments dot com) and there it will measure how moral and ethical you are. Really, it's fun and it's good stuffs.

So, Barry (that is the Prez) gave the order to "go in there and git 'em" and they succeeded. In the aftermath there are many questions concerning capture v kill, did he have a gun or not, and even, who cares dude killed ours and now it is revenge time*. There are many articles saying that it is not in good Christian faith to celebrate someone's death, not even your enemy, The Vatican chimed in as did,  Rowan and Pittsburgh Steeler Rashad Mendenhall. But what do you think kind and gentle, good looking and very sweet reader. What would you do?

Did assassinating, errrrrr, I mean trying to capture and then killing, in self defense because you thought you were in danger, Osama Bin Laden increase the sum total of maximum happiness. Does this make the world a better place, or...did it satisfy something in you-whether it is bonehead revenge or an evolutionary trait. How, as a supposedly Christian nation, did we rejoice in a fellow humans violent death (and some of us want to see the photo's). Is it ever just to  kill?

A dog...jumping out of a plane. that is American awesome. Just saying.

OBL has killed many and if the heroic (and yes, I do think that they were heroic) Seal Team 6 did not go and do their thing, he would have done so again. So back to the train scenario. A train is going down the tracks bla bla bla...and you can save many lives, but you have to kill one. Would you do it? Is there any doubt that dude would kill again; I think it was just a matter of time. So this was cool, right?

What about if it is true that torture was effective in getting the information to get dude. Then torture is OK, right. What is a little human pain compared to saving hella lives. Well, if we are to believe that the American brand of Christianity is all peaceful-n-stuff, then no.We are directed to love thy enemy and turn the other cheek, but wait, only in certain cases.  It is not right to kill and it is not right to torture. God and JC are all good all the time and so are the followers. Well, yes and no.

Matt 10:34 "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."

I don't doubt that Christianity is a source of good for many peeps and that is a good thing, but I can't deny that it is also a source of many bad things, and much harm (feminism and GLBT).  JC was all about love, but that was only if you loved his dad, if you didn't, then he would kill you. Straight up. So the nation's response is both shocking and "I'm not surprised" at the same time. I think I had both feelings. On one side it was "hell ya" and on the other side it was "well, dam, he is a human." 


So does that make the torture used OK because it was effective in finding and killing dude and dude was going to kill again. If we were in the presidents position would you/me have ordered the risky combat maneuver, and if it failed, then there would be political and media hell to pay. What about pulling the trigger, or doing the torture or doing something to support the torture, being connected somehow. Is it moral and ethical-all of it. By supporting it on any level, or celebrating it, or OK-ing it, are you/me, Christian/Atheist, justified in what looks to be...an execution.,


Go do the thought experiments. They are really fun.

* For the record...I would kill him. There, I said it...but I'm still a liberal. Aaaaaaaaaaa..... 


* WYKtFM

Update May 6th. how could I forget that whole Same Harris/torture thingy. Sam is, wrongly, getting blasted because he spoke philosophically about torture in End of Faith. He never said let's go do this or that torture is OK by him (in fact he said the opposite). What he did do was speak philosophically about torture. Read this article, read his book(s) and then laugh at his critics that are going all straw question and answer.. Deff Sam doesn't deserve the criticism.