philosophy-obooko-mind0016

Hebrews are instructed to exterminate all Amalekites,
men, women, and children.
In her book, "The Nazi Conscience", Claudia Koontz
quotes from Freud's "Civilization and its Discontents":
"If (the Golden Rule of morality) commanded 'Love thy
neighbor as thy neighbor loves thee', I should not take
exception to it. If he is a stranger to me ... it will be hard
for me to love him." (p. 5)
Note - The Rule of Law, Discrimination, and Morality
In an article titled "Places Far Away, Places Very near -
Mauthausen, the Camps of the Shoah, and the
Bystanders" (published in Michael Berenbaum and
Abraham J. Peck (eds.) - The Holocaust and History:
The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the
Reexamined - Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana
University Press, 1998), the author, Gordon J. Horwitz,
describes how the denizens of the picturesque towns
surrounding the infaous death camp were drawn into its
economic and immoral ambit.
Why did these law-abiding citizens turn a blind eye
towards the murder and mayhem that they had witnessed
daily in the enclosure literally on their doorstep? Because
morality is a transaction. As Rabbi Hillel, the Talmudic
Jewish sage, and Jesus of Nazareth put it: do not do unto
others that which you don't want them to do to you (to
apply a utilitarian slant to their words).
When people believe and are assured by the authorities
that an immoral law or practice will never apply to them,
they don't mind its application to others. Immoral acts