I'd say thinking like this, is what allows horrific atrocities to occur.
And you're absolutely right about that.
But I can't help it, I just know that you have to be a much worse person to invade someone's home and shoot terrified children in front of their parents, than to even intentionally drone a house with civilians that you can't even see. Even SS men were going insane because of all the atrocities they had to commit - the gas chambers were introduced in order to make executions more humane (for them, confirming that this is what allows atrocities to occur).
Like, its morally worse on some individual level between the butcher and his prey. But for us on the outside its no different and shouldn't be treated as such.
Ah, I think we agree. But regardless if the net effect is the same, it bothers me more if the bestial kind of killer gets away with it than the 'clean' one. Maybe it's irrational, I don't know.
Its completely rational, because as you said its a huge shadow on the perpetrator's morality and humanity that they can do that and we should want them punished for being so heinous.
But, the guy who can push a button and accomplish the same net end is almost eviler. Because he is so detached from the situation he isn't even giving human life the intimacy it deserves when it takes it. He can laugh in complete safety while he murders dozens, whereas the butcher is taking a risk everytime he does it and having to look at the horrors he leaves behind.
Its a normal reaction to the situation to think like you do, but I think that once we detach ourselves from gut instinct we can evaluate it to be a lot different than our minds think.
And you're absolutely right about that.
But I can't help it, I just know that you have to be a much worse person to invade someone's home and shoot terrified children in front of their parents, than to even intentionally drone a house with civilians that you can't even see. Even SS men were going insane because of all the atrocities they had to commit - the gas chambers were introduced in order to make executions more humane (for them, confirming that this is what allows atrocities to occur).
Ah, I think we agree. But regardless if the net effect is the same, it bothers me more if the bestial kind of killer gets away with it than the 'clean' one. Maybe it's irrational, I don't know.
Its completely rational, because as you said its a huge shadow on the perpetrator's morality and humanity that they can do that and we should want them punished for being so heinous.
But, the guy who can push a button and accomplish the same net end is almost eviler. Because he is so detached from the situation he isn't even giving human life the intimacy it deserves when it takes it. He can laugh in complete safety while he murders dozens, whereas the butcher is taking a risk everytime he does it and having to look at the horrors he leaves behind.
Its a normal reaction to the situation to think like you do, but I think that once we detach ourselves from gut instinct we can evaluate it to be a lot different than our minds think.