The Moral Relativism of the Boston Globe: Killing of Innocent and Guilty Equated

April 18th, 2006 7:57 AM

Hope springs eternal, and thus it was with some optimism that I read the opening lines of this morning's Boston Globe editorial, The Tel Aviv Atrocity, regarding the latest barbarism in which "an Israeli woman was torn apart in sight of her two young daughters and her husband." Was the Globe really about to unequivocally call for those who target civilians to be brought to full justice?

No, the Globe wasn't, and call me naive for even thinking they might. To the contrary, it was more of the same moral relativism and outright falsehood we have come to expect from the MSM and in this specific case, the Globe, otherwise known as the Boston farm team of the NY Times.

Consider the Globe's words:

"It is in the nature of a vendetta that both sides try to justify as retaliation acts that otherwise would stand as sheer murder. The code of the blood feud assumes that every member of the enemy's camp may be slain in the name of avenging the honor of one's own clan, tribe, or nation."

When has Israel ever targeted innocent Palestinian civilians? And is the Globe calling 'sheer murder' the killing of terror master minds? By that standard, has the US committed 'sheer murder' in the Globe's eyes by going after the Al-Qaeda leaders who organized 9/11?

Once again, the MSM's moral relativism rears its head. On the one hand, we have Palestinian suicide bombers killing as many innocent Israeli civilians as possible. On the other hand are Israeli military operations that specifically target people who strap explosives to teenagers and send them out to their deadly work.

Yet in the Globe's world view, this is apparently an indistinguishable 'vendetta' in which both sides are equally to be condemned.

And so, while the Globe does 'boldly' call for the crime to be denounced by the UN and others, it is quick to warn Israel against any retaliation, which it describes as "a descent into the inferno of a vendetta." For that matter, the Globe warns against cutting 'humanitarian' aid to Hamas.

Let's assume that instead of in Israel, it was in Boston that month after month, year after year, innocent civilians were being blown to bits before their children's eyes by the agents of a foreign enemy. Would the Globe be so blasé in warning against retaliation? Come to think of it, perhaps the answer is 'yes.'