Opinion: The damage that evil causes is forever out of proportion to the consideration that spawned it, ebruenig writes. The New Zealand attack and the fundamental thoughtlessness of evil.
The New Zealand national flag is flown at half-staff on a Parliament building in Wellington on Friday. By Elizabeth Bruenig Elizabeth Bruenig Opinion columnist focusing on politics, religion and morality in public life. Email Bio Follow Opinion columnist March 15 at 9:14 AM On Thursday evening, news of mass murder in New Zealand reached the United States.
But the purported shooter appears to have left a variety of digital artifacts behind, including an apparent live-streamed video of a portion of the crime, pictures of the weapons used, and a long, detailed manifesto explaining his rationale for the murders. The manifesto — which I won’t quote on general principle — is an especially bizarre piece of debris, as it seems to have been custom-tailored to make a particular group of extremely online right-wing users laugh, while stunning and horrifying the confused, oblivious media. It is littered with oblique references to memes, sarcastic asides and episodes of apparent satire — despite the fact that the attack it aims to explicate was extremely real.
In the coming days and weeks, this strange facet of the manifesto will likely be marshaled as evidence for any number of arguments which are feasibly true: that online nihilism, and the meme-ification of killers such as the 2014 Isla Vista, Calif.
But I kept thinking about evil itself, and an observation about it I’ve mulled before: Among all the different expressions of evil — from the carefully planned and executed and colossal to the impulsive and rash and small — what binds them together is their fundamental thoughtlessness. Above all else, evil is unreflective, shallow, empty. The damage that it causes is forever out of proportion to the consideration that spawned it.
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
'Terrorist attack,' New Zealand PM, at least 40 dead - NZ mosque attacksNew Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says country placed on its highest security threat level after shootings at two mosques in Christchurch kill at least 40 people and seriously wound 20 others. Three men and a woman taken into custody.
Baca lebih lajut »
New Zealand police: 4 in custody after deadly attacks on Christchurch mosquesNEW: Australia PM Morrison says an individual taken into custody after deadly attacks on Christchurch mosques is an Australian-born citizen.
Baca lebih lajut »
LAPD beefs up patrols around mosques after deadly New Zealand terrorist attacksLos Angeles police are beefing up patrols around mosques after at least nine people were killed in mass shootings targeting at least two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.
Baca lebih lajut »
40 dead after attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand'It is clear that this is one of New Zealand’s darkest days,' Jacinda Ardern added.
Baca lebih lajut »
Islamic world reacts with disgust at New Zealand mosque attacksPolitical and Islamic leaders across Asia expressed their disgust at the deadly ...
Baca lebih lajut »
At least 40 dead in terrorist attacks on two New Zealand mosquesAuthorities are responding to a mass shooting at a mosque in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, according to a witness and local news reports.
Baca lebih lajut »
49 dead after terrorist attack targeting mosques in New ZealandUpdate on Christchurch mosque attacks: • 49 dead • Man in late twenties charged with murder • Dozens injured • New Zealand threat level raised from 'low' to 'high'
Baca lebih lajut »