Some Things are Simply Wrong - Essay Example

Lenn Goodman proposed in his essay Some Moral Minima the view that there are situations and actions perceived by a population as moral, which another population perceives to be immoral. There is no such thing as generalized goodness or the badness of certain actions or who committed the act. Some would generalize another group’s capabilities and values just because of a single person’s actions or opinions. An example that was cited in the paper written by Goodman (2010) was about mass murders.

According to the author, “The answer lies in the intent, not just the scale of the crime. Clearly, more dreams are broken and more futures cut short when more lives are taken.” However, murder is still killing a human being. It is taking another person’s life, which is not and will never be justified no matter how heinous the crime the guilty party is capable of committing. One murder or one genocide will never make one wrong be right. A mistake will never be corrected by another mistake.

There is no such moral justification about the saying “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” The only thing that can be concluded if such takes effect is that either people would be toothless or blind. Yet, do those actions make the world a better place? Do those people receive justice as the culprits were punished by the same actions which they have committed against their fellows? Another point of debate in the essay would be discrimination. The only time that discrimination will take place is when people view difference either in the physical body or in religious belief that each and every person has as a hindrance in having connections with them or understanding them.

Discrimination is truly a wrong matter that sadly exists. Between the two situations previously tackled, one can conclude that a discriminating point of view can result in a massive murder or annihilation against fellow humans. Goodman (2010) further stated that: Yet, for those who confuse power with violence, indiscriminate or discriminating violence is a source of power, a self fueling juggernaut that gains momentum with the escalation of its demands. A power built on violence will, as history shows, and logic explains, inevitably burn itself out.

One can disagree with Goodman via the phrase “indiscriminate or discriminating violence is a source of power.” A reason for this is that there is no such thing as “indiscriminate violence.” What occurred to the Jews during the Holocaust was a murder brought about by religious discrimination. There are people who are continuously being killed and maltreated just because of the color of their skin or their religious belief. Because of the terrorist attacks during the earlier part of the 21st century, Moslems are tagged as terrorists even if they are not.

Generalizing a whole population because of a group’s action is immoral as it is being judgmental even to those innocent civilians. Terrorism was also an issue that Goodman elaborated on. Following the earlier discussions, inculcating fear has been proven to be the most effective way to show a person’s most despicable thoughts. The author expressed, “terrorists explode the values they claim to fight for. Their victims’ blood blurs and blots whatever ends were meant to justify the carnage (Goodman, 2010).”