The Morality of Politics

I do not think of myself as an astute follower of the political scene. I look at the NY Times every morning on line, but just predominantly focus on the Middle East. I read the editorials which probably give me a slanted (liberal?) view of the American political scene. Describing myself as a somewhat liberal, middle class, northeasterner, I am more inclined to favor the Democratic point of view (excuse me Zach). The Times continually decries the Republican stance which borders on obstructionism, not having a plan of their own, but doing everything they can to stop the Democrats. Their goal, according to the Times, is to bring themselves back into power rather than doing what is best for our country. I'm sure if I watched Fox News, I would get a different picture.

So, being a teacher of Bible, morality is an area that I feel more at home in than politics. Would I classify the actions of the Republicans as immoral? No. It might not be sound governing, but it is not immoral. The issue in the news today (other than Harriton) is the killing (choice of terminology is obviously important--calling it murder implies one thing, assassination another) of the Hamas operative. Was he killed on the field of battle? Since Hamas has taken the fight to inhabited areas, killing a member of Hamas in a city rather than on the battlefield might be acceptable. The United States military forces are involved in a war. We use drone missiles to attempt to kill our enemies. No one calls this immoral. Since Hamas still declares that its intentions are to destroy Israel, is every member of Hamas a combatant and can justifiably be killed?

I find it fascinating how Mossad is being portrayed through this episode. On the one hand, some have called them incompetent. Allowing all the members of the team to be photographed, using fake passports from friendly (?) European countries, and stealing the identities of people in Israel itself does not look professional. On the other hand, even though all these people were photographed, within hours of the killing, they all disappeared off the face of the earth. They accomplished their mission, were not caught, and there seems to be no trace. Or, maybe it wasn't Mossad. Look for a movie very soon.

I am thinking now of a funny Woody Allen movie, Love and Death. The movie is a spoof of the great Russian novels like War and Peace. In a deeply philosophical part of the movie, Woody Allen and Diane Keaton discuss the subjectivity of morality. I admit that I happen to be very subjective in my views of morality. It is very simple, though. I am right.