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I am back from Europe. Photos come later.
It was fun trip. Spent good time with friends. Europe is a beautiful place. I love to go there! But to stay? Maybe not... My retirement place is still New Zealand.
This is more of a blog of my return flight. I watched the Qatar Debate on the issue,
"This House believes that torture is only acceptable under legal supervision " (May 28th , 2007)
It was an interesting show, long and really insightful but two things cropped up for me.
One, under this issue, the underlying question is really does the ends justify the means? Do we or should we perform actions that are conventionally regarded as wrong? Do we have a right or a duty in fact to do a wrong in order to make a right? Should we use the ends to justify the means?
Personally, i believe we should not allow torture under any circumstances. We cannot forsee the future, why should we stand for allowing a current wrong to potentially right a future error. Even if the action would lead to a good future, if the action was wrong, we should not perform it. Hence, if we were to ask if murder is wrong, i'd say yes even if we were to murder the worse person on earth. (State sanction murder is not murder in my opinion).
The second issue that arose was the responses of the debaters. Each and everyone of them lost their cool, albeit for a moment or so, and voices were slightly raised. Yet if these people were professionals on television losing their cool over issues that they were passionate about, and i can assure you they were passionate about their stand, what more us? What more me who is no where near a professional debater or a public speaker. How much more grace do i need when i flare up at friends when i try to press my point? I think a lot more.
To my friends, when i argue and if i ever lose my temper, i apologise. Because i believe that my stand is right, and i am passionate about it. However, too many times i allow my emotions to crowd my thinking and my actions. That is unacceptable.
Anyway, less serious stuff, Europe is lovely. Photos later.
I am back from Europe. Photos come later.
It was fun trip. Spent good time with friends. Europe is a beautiful place. I love to go there! But to stay? Maybe not... My retirement place is still New Zealand.
This is more of a blog of my return flight. I watched the Qatar Debate on the issue,
"This House believes that torture is only acceptable under legal supervision " (May 28th , 2007)
It was an interesting show, long and really insightful but two things cropped up for me.
One, under this issue, the underlying question is really does the ends justify the means? Do we or should we perform actions that are conventionally regarded as wrong? Do we have a right or a duty in fact to do a wrong in order to make a right? Should we use the ends to justify the means?
Personally, i believe we should not allow torture under any circumstances. We cannot forsee the future, why should we stand for allowing a current wrong to potentially right a future error. Even if the action would lead to a good future, if the action was wrong, we should not perform it. Hence, if we were to ask if murder is wrong, i'd say yes even if we were to murder the worse person on earth. (State sanction murder is not murder in my opinion).
The second issue that arose was the responses of the debaters. Each and everyone of them lost their cool, albeit for a moment or so, and voices were slightly raised. Yet if these people were professionals on television losing their cool over issues that they were passionate about, and i can assure you they were passionate about their stand, what more us? What more me who is no where near a professional debater or a public speaker. How much more grace do i need when i flare up at friends when i try to press my point? I think a lot more.
To my friends, when i argue and if i ever lose my temper, i apologise. Because i believe that my stand is right, and i am passionate about it. However, too many times i allow my emotions to crowd my thinking and my actions. That is unacceptable.
Anyway, less serious stuff, Europe is lovely. Photos later.
posted by W | Sunday, June 15, 2008
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