Logic | Teen Ink

Logic MAG

By Anonymous

     January 31, 2006 was a momentous day I will not soon forget. A good friend called to ask if I would join him for coffee. It was on this day that I came to respect an ideal that I otherwise would have given no thought to because of my opinionated nature, and for this, I will always be in his debt.

He was ready to ship out to Iraq and wanted to say good-bye. Smiling and lighthearted as always, his carefree grin slipped for just a moment when I could not help but ask the cynical question that had been bothering me.

“Do you really think using a gun to silence these people is going to make the world a safer place?”

He looked at me with almost sympathetic eyes and nodded not in approval or disapproval, but in what seemed to be contemplation.

“You know,” he began, taking a sip of his soda, “I thought about that. I sure don’t want to have to kill anyone, and I don’t want anyone to kill me, but there are some really bad people over there doing bad things to really good people. I’m not saying it’s right to kill, but you can’t just do nothing. I’m just trying to help good people in the most effective way I know.”

There was silence as we both reflected on what the other had said, and despite our different beliefs, we learned that we were both trying to see the same world become a better place. He taught me that at the end of every day we are individuals, and as such we have our own reasons and justifications for doing what we do. It was unquestionable to me that occupying Iraq was wrong, and it was unquestionable to him that occupying Iraq was right. We both had our reasons. The wisdom lies in understanding that although our methods may differ, we both share the same goal to make the world a safer, more secure place. We’re both just trying to help in the only way we know how.

In the 1700s, a standout political philosopher named Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” True as this may be, when we stand against something that is immoral or wrong, we must also ensure that our actions don’t commit another wrong in the process. Murder in the name of righteousness is still murder, and the lesser of two evils is still evil. I have nothing but the utmost respect for men or women who put their lives at risk to help another person, but an act of violence should never be used to achieve a positive solution because in the end it can never really offer one.



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This article has 19 comments.


Sparaxis GOLD said...
on Mar. 13 2017 at 4:30 pm
Sparaxis GOLD, Saint Marys, Georgia
13 articles 1 photo 307 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you keep on picking on me, I'll mess up again. This time, on PURPOSE."

Dude, would you want a psycho terrorist organization come to your country and disembowel (or worse) everyone in it? Some of those lives lost aren't innocent.

Sparaxis GOLD said...
on Mar. 13 2017 at 4:28 pm
Sparaxis GOLD, Saint Marys, Georgia
13 articles 1 photo 307 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you keep on picking on me, I'll mess up again. This time, on PURPOSE."

Especially when it comes to preventing someone who does much more evil deeds than murder from taking over the planet for a bad reason.

on Mar. 4 2016 at 7:45 am
WriterExpert7 GOLD, Lahore, Other
19 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"What I am looking for is not out there, it's in me." ~ Hellen Keller

"To overcome evil with good is good, to resist evil by evil is evil." ~ Muhammad (P.B.U.H) Very well written, by the way.

Patriot said...
on Feb. 1 2016 at 9:26 am
There are very few things in this world that are black and white, morally speaking. There are obvious evils, like murdering and stealing, but there are specific situations where good DOES outweigh the evil. Osama Bin Laden was responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and he was finally slain many years after the fact in retribution for the lives lost. This is still killing, but logic dictates that this is a just action for his crimes. There are exceptions in almost every case, but when an abstract concept like evil is involved, there is no one correct answer.

mplo said...
on Dec. 31 2015 at 10:17 am
I don't think that the horrific 9/11 attacks on United States soil had so much to do with Israel, as it did the fact that the United States government has spent over half a century supporting extremely right-wing repressive regimes around the world, and toppling governments abroad that do not tally up with U. S. interests, and sooner or later, somebody was bound to respond. 9/11 also happened due to failure on the part of the United States government to share/exchange information with our allies regarding threats of attack by Osama Bin Laden. The G. W. Bush Admn. knowingly ignored former POTUS Bill Clinton's warnings of threats to attack the United States by Osama Bin Laden, and deliberately cut anti-terrorism funds for the FBI, therefore tying the FBI's hands. 9/11 happened because, given the fact that many, if not most other countries, had been hit by terrorist attacks, and the United States was bound to get hit sooner or later, which happened.

on Jun. 10 2012 at 9:07 pm
Caleb.Andrews, London, Other
0 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Multi vad, putini pricep.

You are describing a perfect world. There will always be someone wanting money and power, but there also will always be someone wanting money and power who is willing to take it by force. This is why war is necessary. If the good do not fight, the evil will; and if the evil fight unchallenged, they will win.

on Apr. 1 2012 at 6:13 pm
MiaUnwritten GOLD, West Palm Beach, Florida
11 articles 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Let the eyes seek what the mind cannot
Let the eyes judge what the mind cannot
Let the eyes believe what the mind failed to"

Ego is my opinion, wars are never necessary but words can't shut down the action either. I know that war is not worth blood spilling whether people are good or bad,Talking won't do anything either. Why not, for just once, we just sit and silence ourselves to take our time and see what the world has become. What is the reason for war anyway? Is the reason worth the blood of people that are loved and are waited back home? No reason is worth killing. People need to just grow up and stop the fighting. Lots of money is wasted on war, why not just use that money to pay for other stuff that are just more important.

on Feb. 17 2012 at 10:49 am
The_Earl_of_Zerces PLATINUM, Waukesha, Wisconsin
36 articles 0 photos 106 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
-Sigmund Freud

They attacked us because Osama bin Laden was mad at how the US was occupying Saudi Arabia, especially after we funded all those Israeli forces that would go on to terrorize Arab homes and families.

on Jun. 27 2011 at 11:51 am

@teacat 

Yes it is. Yes. :D


on Jun. 26 2011 at 4:51 pm
teacat749 BRONZE, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
4 articles 0 photos 151 comments

Favorite Quote:
We do not quit playing because we grow old. We grow old because we quit playing.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes

whatIreallythink:

Isn't that a line from "Sunday Bloody Sunday"? I LOVE THAT SONG! It has such a strong message! I think U2 is a very perceptive group.


rockyraccoon said...
on Jun. 17 2011 at 9:40 pm
rockyraccoon, Fort Wayne, Indiana
0 articles 0 photos 54 comments

Favorite Quote:
today tommorow next month next year all look remarkably gray.

war is never plesant but sometimes its nescesary.

human6 GOLD said...
on Apr. 28 2011 at 8:12 pm
human6 GOLD, Fasd, New Jersey
12 articles 0 photos 132 comments

Favorite Quote:
If you cannot convince a fascist aquaint his head with the pavement-trotsky
The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world, here, in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.“ durry

very good very well thought out and written 

on Apr. 15 2011 at 11:03 am
Contemplator SILVER, Lake Park, Minnesota
5 articles 0 photos 67 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is a rainbow in your mouth! Open it up and show the world.
This is just like ice cream without the cream.
I'm as stiff as a dried out twig in the middle of winter.
Who lit the forest fire; the match, or the man holding the match?

Many more lives will be lost if we don't do anything. We live in a corrupt world. How can we make this corrupt world better by using uncorruptive ways? We honestly don't have options.

on Nov. 11 2010 at 8:17 am
Phantom_Girl GOLD, Ft. Carson, Colorado
14 articles 0 photos 279 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If it comes out of the lion's mouth...it will be on the test."
-Mr. Bala

Very interesting and thought provoking.

on Jul. 25 2010 at 5:55 pm
GodsStudent BRONZE, Abc, Other
2 articles 0 photos 21 comments
Woah. This is something you really take the time to think about. Great job writing it, I will contemplate it some more now :)

on Mar. 3 2010 at 12:18 pm
so many are lost, but tell me, who has won?

No one can win when lives are lost.

on Feb. 1 2010 at 3:51 pm
HeyYouILoveYourSoul, Indianapolis, Indiana
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you rotate the 'M' in McDonalds it becomes an 'E' for EMPIRE!" -- jk

"To find your life, you must lose it." --JESUS

Totally agree.

on Jan. 27 2010 at 3:54 pm
Anne Powdris SILVER, --, New Jersey
6 articles 0 photos 35 comments
I agree. All those innocent lives being stolen every day-- and the U.S. believes it is helping. At least that's what the citizens believe. How is it helping, when it goes there to destroy houses and families? Sure they're poor, sure they have a bad economy, sure not everybody is treated equally, and surely they have corrupt rulers! However, is the U.S. faring any better? I do not believe so. There must be another reason the U.S. army is still filling in Iraq and Afghanistan-- a cause that they would benefit from.

on Sep. 20 2009 at 7:11 pm
Carolina SILVER, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
8 articles 3 photos 32 comments
Wouldn't it be better to prevent these people from killing and torturing innocent people by going to war? Would you rather have them attack our nation again?