The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Sceptical Essays, chapter 1: The Value of Scepticism
A License to Kill: The "Moralists" and Our Complicity in the Middle East
Bertrand Russell once observed in his Sceptical Essays:
"The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell."When people label others as "evil" and position themselves on the side of "divine justice," they are capable of unimaginable cruelty. Is the tragedy unfolding in the Middle East today not the very hell created by this "license to kill" disguised as morality?
According to recent reports, including those from NTV News, the military offensive by the U.S. and Israel against Iran has intensified, with the death toll within Iran now exceeding 1,300. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have expanded their target list to include energy infrastructure, and there is no end in sight to this escalation. As numerous civilians?including children?perish, the Japanese government and Prime Minister Takaichi have remained conspicuously silent, failing to even voice criticism regarding potential violations of international law.
The Hypocrisy of "Justice" and the Rift Within America
It is said that roughly 25% of the U.S. population identifies with Christian Evangelicalism, a group whose worldview is deeply rooted in the belief that they will be saved during the "Last Judgment." For many of them, supporting specific political agendas is an expression of their faith, fueled by a profound sense of moral superiority.
While it is clear that President Trump relies on this core base, cracks are beginning to appear. Some supporters, particularly those within the "MAGA" movement who favor a non-interventionist stance, have begun to label the current attacks as "evil and grotesque."
The "Silence" of Vice President Vance
This prompted me to ask a question: Why does Vice President JD Vance seem so quiet? In Japan, experts frequently claim that he has not spoken out on the issue at all. I decided to ask an AI (Google Gemini) for a deeper analysis.
The AI provided a perspective that rarely surfaces in the Japanese media. According to its analysis, Vance is far from silent. While avoiding flashy, public performances, he serves as the "theoretical backbone" for the Trump administration, working behind the scenes to justify its policies to the skeptical, non-interventionist base. He is not merely standing by; he is playing a crucial, quiet role in smoothing over internal rifts and providing the religious and ideological backup for the administration’s aggressive decisions. It became clear to me that if we rely solely on Japanese news, we miss the true structure of this crisis.
Can We Remain Mere "Spectators"?
The Japanese government seems dangerously naive, constantly pulled along by U.S. actions. Prime Minister Takaichi and the administration have maintained their silence, seemingly assuming that being "protected by the U.S. military" is enough to keep Japan safe.
But what is the reality? With support units currently deploying from U.S. bases in Okinawa and Nagasaki toward the vicinity of Iran, the situation is no longer a "foreign affair." If these support units facilitate attacks on energy facilities and push Iran to the brink, Japan is effectively providing logistical support for these operations. Logically speaking, this makes Japan a participant in the conflict.
Why are the Japanese government and the public so indifferent to the reality that we are becoming complicit in this "hell"? We are being drawn into a vortex of destruction without even acknowledging that we are "at war." We are falling into the very "moral blindness" that Russell warned us about?a blindness that may ultimately lead to our own ruin.
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