RE: What Would You Do?

I will give my answer to my previous post with an explanation. Thank you Jewish Atheist and Stacey for your input.

I started this blog with the intention of expressing my rational, intellectual side. What I noticed, however, is that my emotions seem to have control of my fingers as I type. It occurs to me that this is the only avenue available to me to freely express my love for the Jewish people - my family. In person, among the people I know, my feelings may not be welcome, but in this virtual world, I can share my feelings freely, and people who are so inclined can share with me the pride, joy, grief, and sadness that I feel on a daily basis toward our Jewish brothers and sisters.

And so, on to the question. What would I do? I hate Mohammed Atta (may his evil name be erased). I am a good Jewish boy, squeamish about killing and violence, but I don't think that I would have a moment's hesitation in pulling that trigger.

I feel good about hating the evil Atta. No guilt, no soul-searching, no hand wringing. Do you know why I feel good about my hate? Because what we love and what we hate betrays our most basic values.
I hate evil. Not the christian evil. Not a dark unseen force in the world. I hate the evil that is the sum of a man's actions. A man is the cause of his own actions, and so evil actions make the evil man.
This evil man, used his G-d given intelligence, his divine capacity for understanding, in the service of egotistical maniacal hatred. He used it to destroy G-d's crowning achievement - men and women who use their abilities for good; who work and provide services for others; who take care of their families. He used it to destroy those who give charity, and who volunteer their time for others. He used it to destroy immigrants who work hard to send money to their families abroad. He used it to destroy the innocent lives of the citizens of this great country.

And don't think for a minute that his evil actions were separate from his hatred of the Jews. Jews attract the most evil of every generation. They hate our goodness, our compassion, our self-restraint, and most of all, they hate our absolute devotion to basic human values. The United States was attacked not because it provides a haven for us, but because it shares our values.

Mohammed Atta hated Jews so much, he could not stand the idea of a country as great and powerful as this that shares these values. He needed to destroy the greatest manifestation of goodness in this world, because the mere existence of goodness would expose his life as a lie.