Of all the judgments we make of others—race, religion, nationality, political affiliations, social standing, etc.—perhaps the most excoriating is moral judgment. We can become highly condemnatory when we deem others to have committed a gross moral transgression. Of late, we have often seen banner-waving groups loudly denouncing those whose activities have not met their standards of what they consider morally correct. The situation in the Middle East has evoked this to a significant degree, with the ‘Free Palestine’ cause bringing crowds onto the streets in a passionate fervour of rage. The situation in Iran has also brought out many people on both sides of the argument. Extinction Rebellion, a cause campaigning against environmental damage, is another example, with its vigorous direct action here in the UK. This has been less prominent recently, perhaps overshadowed by the war concerns, as have the LGBTQ+ Rights campaigners and the opposing “Anti-Woke” movement. But they all share the same basic driver: moral outrage.
All such protesters consider themselves to be occupying the high moral ground, and their opponents contemptible reprobates worthy of nothing but censure, or worse. All too often, things can turn ugly, with violence erupting. It can even lead to serious situations in which certain groups are deemed so reprehensible that they must be eliminated. They effectively become ‘dehumanised’ and are subjected to the most terrible forms of aggression. We saw this in Germany during WW2, where specific ethnic groups were the victims of unspeakable atrocities. This kind of behaviour has been repeated many times since then, most recently among the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, the Darfuris in Sudan, the Yazidis in Iraq and Syria, the Uyghurs in China, the Rohingyas in Myanmar, and so on.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/the-high-moral-ground/
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