The First Equivocation

OK, so it's late 2007, and I am just starting posts. My goal for this blog is to be able to post my opinions without rant, and to give a forum for those who might be interested in what I have to say about everything. (That sounded really smart; I just defined what a blog is -- I am sooo going to disappoint!)

This blog is called Facets of Equivocation, because I have not met many people who are able to actually take the time to see what the world truly is and how humanity behaves. No one individual or group can be totally dismissed as all-good or all-evil. Each has different characteristics that I liken to facets on a crystal or gemstone. Some facets are more prominent than others, and when looking at this stone, they stand out more. Others tend to concentrate on the other facets, finding something worthwhile in them. All together, the facets make a whole, and it is the whole that we can judge.

My favorite example is Thomas Jefferson. To many, he is known as one of the American Founding Fathers, and the writer of the Declaration of Independence. As our third President, he acquired the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon, thereby setting the stage for American western expansion. Many see him as an American legend, a gentleman and a scholar.

Others see him simply as a slave-owner.

So how do we judge this man? Was he good? Was he evil? Is it possible for some to overlook the facet of his patriotic achievments and accept that his slave-ownership was reprehensible and hypocritical? Is it possible for others to overlook the facet of his slave-ownership and concentrate on the other facets of his life and personality? And therein lies the problem: there are those who cannot look at all facets and have to rush to summary judgments of good and evil without actually putting any thought as to context. (Bill O'Reilly, I'm look at you.)

My personal philosophy is that those who we consider to be evil do not themselves see anything wrong with what they do. At the same time, it must be understood that any attempt at understanding the reasons behind awful acts is not tantamount to excusal. There are evil deeds; it's just that evildoers rarely believe themselves to be actually evil.

No, this isn't some stupid Nazi/Klan/Marxist/Al-Qaeda apology statement. My hope, however, is that through education and the sharing of objective information, we can learn all the facets of our lives.