But I despair because there's no excuse for this ignorance.
Fear. Of the nebulous, angst-filled, "is the world going to open up and swallow me/does God hate me/[pick your weird thing here]." Fear of change, fear of not knowing that the Absolutes Are, fear of losing their major grounding in the universe.
Fear of being wrong, and losing the social face that comes with being wrong. Fear that questioning one aspect of their beliefs in the world makes all of them invalid, and means that they'll lose something.
Which is not an excuse, because, well, I don't make excuses. These people are ranged on the other side of a war from me, and I will do what I need to, to make damn sure me and mine are safe. I'm not a pacifist, and my religion doesn't call for turning the other cheek.
But it does call for being a sneaky bastard, defining your goals, and getting what you actually want, and for strategy focused on that desire to be the driving force behind the tactics I choose to employ. And what intelligence and information I use to adapt those tactics.
And for that, I really, really need to understand my enemy. Not because this understanding makes him right, or is magic, but because then I know which battles to pick, and how to fight them.
For instance, there are definitely people and groups with whom the "this is the tyranny of the majority over a minority and you? you are ALSO a frigging minority in the eyes of the majority, and they think you're subhuman TOO" will work with.
And then there's groups and people it won't. But one's gotta know which group one is dealing with when.
no subject
Fear. Of the nebulous, angst-filled, "is the world going to open up and swallow me/does God hate me/[pick your weird thing here]." Fear of change, fear of not knowing that the Absolutes Are, fear of losing their major grounding in the universe.
Fear of being wrong, and losing the social face that comes with being wrong. Fear that questioning one aspect of their beliefs in the world makes all of them invalid, and means that they'll lose something.
Which is not an excuse, because, well, I don't make excuses. These people are ranged on the other side of a war from me, and I will do what I need to, to make damn sure me and mine are safe. I'm not a pacifist, and my religion doesn't call for turning the other cheek.
But it does call for being a sneaky bastard, defining your goals, and getting what you actually want, and for strategy focused on that desire to be the driving force behind the tactics I choose to employ. And what intelligence and information I use to adapt those tactics.
And for that, I really, really need to understand my enemy. Not because this understanding makes him right, or is magic, but because then I know which battles to pick, and how to fight them.
For instance, there are definitely people and groups with whom the "this is the tyranny of the majority over a minority and you? you are ALSO a frigging minority in the eyes of the majority, and they think you're subhuman TOO" will work with.
And then there's groups and people it won't. But one's gotta know which group one is dealing with when.