"Relativism Died on January 31, 2002"

From Amy Hal @ http://str.typepad.com

There's an interesting article in The New Republic written by Judea Pearl, father of Daniel Pearl, the journalist who was beheaded by terrorists in 2002. (You may have seen the video of this monstrous act on the internet. If you did, you will not have forgotten, though you may wish you could; I only heard the audio, and the screams still haunt me.) In the article, Pearl speaks out against the troubling moral relativism (which is, as he says, "the logic of tolerance taken a step too far") that made its way into A Mighty Heart--the recently released film about Daniel's death.

The evil of his son's death made clear to Pearl the danger--and even impossibility--of making tolerance one's guiding ideal:

I used to believe that the world essentially divided into two types of people: those who were broadly tolerant; and those who felt threatened by differences. If only the forces of tolerance could win out over the forces of intolerance, I reasoned, the world might finally know some measure of peace.

But there was a problem with my theory.... Any person who claims to be tolerant naturally defines himself in opposition to those who are intolerant. But that makes him intolerant of certain people--which invalidates his claim to be tolerant.... [T]here is no such thing as unqualified tolerance. Ultimately, one must be able to expound intolerance of certain groups or ideologies....

Pearl urges filmmakers and thinkers everywhere to have the courage to step outside the accepted norm of finding moral equivalence between all cultures (in particular, between the terrorists and those who fight them):

Danny's tragedy demands an end to this logic. There can be no comparison between those who take pride in the killing of an unarmed journalist and those who vow to end such acts--no ifs, ands, or buts. Moral relativism died with Daniel Pearl, in Karachi, on January 31, 2002.

There was a time when drawing moral symmetries between two sides of every conflict was a mark of original thinking. Today, with Western intellectuals overextending two-sidedness to reckless absurdities, it reflects nothing but lazy conformity. What is needed now is for intellectuals, filmmakers, and the rest of us to resist this dangerous trend and draw legitimate distinctions where such distinctions are warranted.

You can register for free at The New Republic to view the full article, "Moral Relativism and A Mighty Heart. Back to Focus."