[dilvish]

If we committed genocide we arguably wouldn’t. That’s the problem with your logic. You’re saying they should have genocided the Cylons because they tried to do it to them. Of course if committing genocide it the kind of act that earns a species genocide will then had they released the virus they would have after the fact earned the genocide done to the humans.

One should always ask questions when one is about to start killing. That’s what separates us from the animals, the ability to understand what we’re doing and figure out if that’s what should be done.

[fr_freak]

If we committed genocide we arguably wouldn’t. That’s the problem with your logic. You’re saying they should have genocided the Cylons because they tried to do it to them.

First off, the Cylons are not some other culture or race; they are machines, built by humans, who then tried to kill their builders. That was the fun of the original Battlestar Galactica, nobody had to think twice about killing a machine, and the machines were evil for having tried to kill all of the humans. The new BSG started with the same premise, but couldn't stand to have that moral clarity.

Second, the decision whether to wipe out the Cylons or not wasn't some arbitrary consideration of one race toward another. The Cylons, having killed billions of humans already, were seeking to eliminate the remaining 40-something thousand. The remaining humans were in a desperate struggle just to survive. The virus would have ensured that survival, and otherwise they were looking at eventual extinction. Only a self-loathing, lefty freak would argue that people under such conditions should ponder the question as to whether they have the right to do this. That is a fundamental difference between a leftist brain and a conservative brain. A conservative brain understands that all things always have the right to defend themselves, to try to survive. Whether they can or not is a different question, but that they have the right to try is assumed.