catapult magazine

Did anyone happen to catch the Frontline special tonight about how people’s religious beliefs were altered after 911? I was glad to see acknowledgment of the role religion played both in the attacks and victims’ responses.

You can check it out now at www.pbs.org

And I’d like to nominate it as the best television program of 2006. It was a work of art, not just a tv moment.

The interviews with theologians and religious leaders were so thoughtful and to the point. One of my favorite commentaries came from the Iraqi atheist who responded to the point Bush made shortly after the 9/11 attacks that America had experienced evil on that day. This was a controversial statement for many because the term "evil" has fallen out of favor in many academic circles, but surprisingly many of the people interviewed seemed to agree with Bush’s claim. I thought this look at evil by an atheist was very well spoken, even Calvinist! http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/faith/interviews/makiya.html

Another interesting moment on the show last night: A host of NPR recounts a conversation with Putin, who was in New York visiting the World Trade Center site. The interviewer asked about the use of this word "evil". He said when Reagan used "Evil Empire" to talk about the Soviet Union, he understood it to be good rhetoric, good politics. But when Bush called the terrorist acts "evil", Putin said he didn’t go far enough. "We are as dust to them", Putin said, talking about the terrorists. The evil of the attacks was the radical dehumanism of America. I appreciated that many of those interviewed warned that evil is a power that all people must be constantly on the look-out for. I also was struck by comments by a Jewish holocaust survivor who listed acts of evil she witnessed. Her testimony was so authoritative, it defied any clever academic from trying to deny its existence (an attempt I have witnessed even in the face of Sept. 11).

I’m one of those clever academics who is a bit wary of using this word to describe 9-11. Were the barbarians who sacked Rome evil, or were they just the people who sacked Rome?

Many consider as evil the economic system imposed on the rest of the world by the United States. From that perspective, the world trade centre would be considered evil, and destroying it would be good. Also I’m tempted to call the response of the Bush administration ‘evil’ but I won’t because I don’t like the word much. Let’s say misguided and counterproductive, which is also how I would describe the 9-11 plot.

What’s the point of designating something as evil and how do you do it?

"Misguided"? Surely we can use words a bit stronger than that. Evil does exist in the world. Supreme acts of aggression and violence seem evil to me. At the very least we can dub it "sinful" correct?

One can either see 9-11 as an attack by evil fanatics on innocent civilians or one can see it as an attack by well-meaning fanatics who were attacking an evil economic system in the best way they knew how. Then there are any number of positions between those two.

I do believe that the world economy as we know it is unjust (evil I suppose), so I support efforts to make the world more just. Unfortunately these hijackers thought this was the best they could do. Isn’t there something to the argument, though, that the world trade center was a legitimate target because of the high percentage of people who bear responsibility for unjust economic relations? Sure there were good janitors and firefighters who died, but what about the EVIL people in there who worshipped mammon and mammon only?

Attacking a faulty economic system may be totally just, Dan. I think we’d both agree that slaughtering a couple thousand people, whether innocent or guilty, is sinful. Yes, I believe that those responsible thought they were doing what was right, but how many major transgressions have been done in the name of God? George Bush believes he’s doing what is right and just as well. I don’t agree with him either.

Right on Norbert, I totally agree with that. So what’s up with the use of the word evil? What does it mean? Seems to me like it means "really really really bad". But then what’s the point of using it? Shock value?

I don’t know Dan. What is the origin of the word "evil". I don’t like the death penalty. May I call it "evil". I don’t like it when people propone the death penalty. May I call George Bush evil because he supports it?
I think the word "evil" starts to lose some of it’s meaning because of it’s misuse and overuse.
I think we’ve moved to a different category than [i:f3b936c227]Television [/i:f3b936c227]now.