The trouble with ethics is that what starts out simple turns out to be much more complicated when all the messy facts of real life are mixed in. Here is the tale of two men for your consideration.
Man 1: This man killed two other men. It was during an armed conflict but he did not kill them in battle or fearing for his life. They were men who stood before him bound and, in cold blood, he shot each of them in the back of the head.
Man 2: This man killed 30, including a 12 year old boy. Also during an armed conflict, he planted a terrorist bomb. He blew up a marching band that was marching along playing for the locals. He killed many of the band and quite a few locals including the 12 year boy.
Have a think about these two acts of violence and decide what you think about the two acts relative to each other then click on continue reading to put a more complete context.
Man 1 was a German soldier who executed the two Italian men in retaliation for deaths of a German even though the men in question had nothing to do with the death of the German. Before you get too indignant reflect on how the deaths in Iraq may, in part, be retaliation for Sept 11, 2001 even though Iraq had nothing to do with that event.
Man 2 was a member of the Italian resistance. In desparate circumstances they resorted to these terrorist acts as the only weapon they had against the overwhelming superiority of the facists and their German allies. Before you feel too much of a swelling of pride at how he faught and conquered in the face of a far superior force think about how you would have felt if I had said that he was a member of the Iraqi resistance fighting against the invasion of the US in his country.
By way of interest, Man 1 is imprisoned for life and Man 2 is a hero.
And a final question for you to ponder. How does whether your side won or not effect how ethical your behaviour was?
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