Ghost of a flea: The moral courage not to apologize

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October 09, 2008

The moral courage not to apologize

Theodore Dalrymple considers False Apology Syndrome (hat tip to Agent Bedhead). My favourite example of this kind of exhibitionism is John Paul II's apology for the Crusades. Dalrymple awesome power: Activate!

Let us examine briefly the apology for the Crusades as an example of the whole genre. It is not exactly a new discovery that the Crusaders often, perhaps usually or even always, behaved very badly. It is not in the nature of invading armies to behave well, even when discipline is strong, morale is high, and control of the foot soldiers is firm; it is no secret that these conditions did not exist during the Crusades, to put it rather mildly.

They were, however, rather a long time ago. The Crusades were an attempt to recover for Christendom what had been lost by force, with all the accompanying massacre, pillage, and oppression that the use of force in those days implied. No one, I think, expects an apology from present-day Arabs for the imperialism of their ancestors, either as a matter of moral duty or political likelihood. We are all born into the world as we find it, after all; we are not responsible for what went before us.

That said, I would be quite happy for various Islamic parties to apologize for their contemporary imperialism. By contrast, the West needs "the moral insight and courage" not to apologize for things we have not done, for the successes we have achieved or for the manifest moral superiority of our way of life. Manage this simple duty to ourselves -- and to the hundreds of millions of people currently enslaved by a high-tech, Dark Ages bondage -- and all else will follow.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at October 9, 2008 07:47 AM

Comments

Yeah, sorry about sending this to you.

Oh, and sorry for, um, saying that I'm sorry.

You know what I'm saying.... and sorry about that too.

Posted by: agent bedhead at October 9, 2008 10:56 AM

My gut reaction is that I think it's good for an important organization like the Catholic Church to distance itself from the ugly behaviour that was done in its name.

We are born now and exist now but we step into organizations that have existed for a long time. And it's good to clarify the relationship of the people who are currently running the ship to the organization's past.

In what way is the organization the same and in what way different.

Look, you're suggesting the war itself was not unjust but the behaviour of the warriors often was. Apologize for the latter then.

Posted by: Canadian Headhunter at October 12, 2008 06:14 PM

Dalrymple suggests the behaviour of Crusaders was brutal - as per the times - and you may infer from this he believes such behaviour to have been unjust.

My position is quite different: More brutality now, please.

Posted by: Ghost of a flea at October 12, 2008 06:18 PM

Ghost of a flea

October 09, 2008

The moral courage not to apologize

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