SirJohn may be long in tooth, but I am not so old as to have given Hitler a green light for the murder of the Jews or to have owned slaves.
I do not believe in "collective guilt." I have quite enough faults and sins of my own, thank you very much, without needing to heap on myself those of certain European leaders of the 30s or slaveowners of the 1800s.
Look, I am not being dense here; I fully understand the author's point. The use of "we" can be an effective rhetorical device to underline an argument, and no doubt I've slipped into that a time or two. But we need to be careful, because this kind of fuzzy thinking is just one step short of liberalism (such as the group guilt concept of "social justice" and other oxymorons) or worse.
Sir John,
I am fully aware of the trap that collective guilt has gotten us into. That is not what I am hearing here. It is more a matter of collective unconscious, it you will.
I agree that it is not helpful to extrapolate from the general to the specific. I certainly feel no guilt for Auschwitz or for slavery and I stand foresquare against Muslim fanatics. Our society, however, has been late to all of these parties.
By society I do not mean government. You might enjoy a discussion of that fine distinction at "Freeper Investigation: Original Intent and Constitutional Jurisprudence": http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1487129/posts?page=119#119
As a society we remain guilty of the fuzzy thinking that tolerates a culture of death.
I know that you were not being dense, based on the simple but hearty content of your original post.
Once again, your post is thought provocking.
Thank you, I like your thoughts.