How We Become Like the Enemy

Evil is the perversion of human perfection; it is the mind turned in on itself to hurt, harm, demean, and destroy other people, along with their possessions and their most valued symbols. If we take Good as the natural human condition, then Evil is its antithesis, and Heroism its opposing force. But that triad represents multiple facets of human nature. This terrorist attack on U.S. sovereignty represents a new level of creative evil in which human intellect serves the basest motives of violence and destruction.

It is imperative not to underestimate the power and catalytic force of this new enemy, and we have to change our perception of this attack as "senseless violence." Of course, this tragic destruction of lives and property does not make sense to us because it is incomprehensible that any individual or group would engage in such evil deeds. But calling it "senseless," "mindless," "insane," or the work of "madmen" is wrong for two reasons. It fails to adopt the perspective of the perpetrators, as an act with a clearly defined purpose that we must understand in order to challenge it most effectively. And such negative labeling also lulls us into thinking it is random, not comparable to anything we do understand, and making us disrespectful of the high level of reasoned intellect behind these deeds, however distorted or diabolical it may be.

Constructive efforts at preventing future similar acts of international violence best begin with attempts to understand not only the Who question, but the What question as well. Our national leaders will seek out those who orchestrated this destructive attack against our nation and eventually bring them to justice. But even if the identifiable terrorist leaders were to be eliminated, would that stop future terrorism? It is unlikely, unless we know what are the root causes of the hatred against America; unless the ideological, political, and social bases of the mentalities of the next generation of potential terrorists are more fully appreciated and efforts to change them are engaged.

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