The Exception

No, such people aren't made like that. The real master to whom all is permitted storms Toulon, commits a butchery in Paris, forgets an army in Egypt, wastes half a million men on his Moscow campaign, and gets off with a pun at Vilna. And when he dies they dedicate monuments to him. So it follows that all is permitted. No, it's clear, such people are made of bronze, not flesh and blood!

- Raskolnikov Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"To every rule let there be an exception." These words the goddess spoke on the first day in the life of the universe, and her voice still echoes today through creation. Now what is the nature of this most curious rule? Would it apply to the ethic in question? That is that even this rule should have an exception, and occasionally there are rules that should not be broken? I ask this in relation to many things, maybe first on the list would be killing and war. Is war the exception to the commandment thou shalt not kill? The most curious case of this particular rule being broken I believe, is Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. You may remember this character for his theories about the exceptions and the rules. He believed himself to be the exception in matters of life and death. That is, if he could create some greater good with a terrible deed, he may not only effect that good, but further demonstrate himself to be an exceptional being. You may also remember that he came to a terrible end, as much a consequence of an accident as because he was not up to the original intent. In this case he had to kill to protect himself from the repercussions of his action. An innocent standing by became a collateral death. It haunted him to the extent that he was broken by it, only to be rescued by a pious woman who secures his salvation with her own devoted forgiveness.

It occurs to me that we as a nation are in the throes of just such a transformation in relation to Afghanistan and Iraq. Regarding the latter we, I believe, are deep in the agonies of self conscious realization of the terrible sin we have committed. All our plans best laid have been misdirected, and met with the realities of a resistant world. If only the minds in think tank chambers had considered the risk to our collective sanity when they sought a greater good by breaking sacred rules. Not only have we killed those who stood in the way, but we have killed very many who could not get out of the way. It seems this is a pattern formed in this modern world, of nations sacrificing their souls to effect greater goods that never seem to be the consequence anyway in the end. In Afghanistan more blood will be shed, and no greater greater good is to be had in that land than in the other. Instead we will only reap more anger and resentment. Soon the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan will all but cease to exist. Or at least much of what exists to the north of it, will exist equally to the south. Can we then as a nation further bankrupt ourselves to pursue with ever more high priced weapons and priceless human lives, those who threaten us from that mysterious land? Is there not instead an alternative?

What would the world be like if some rules applied without exception? Would there be fewer gruesome examples of mans inhumanity to man if as a nation we lived by an exceptional creed? If certain rules applied to all, equally, and without aberration. If those who were guilty were civilly treated and sanctioned in ways that did not violate our oath. Would not there be a degree of fairness that bound us together as an exceptional nation? I understand the need in the world we are emerging from for might to prevent the malign from trampling the meek. Although, it is hard to find examples of our use of force to prevent such atrocities. Rather we have most often used force to defend our financial interests, or our interests in other people’s resources. I propose that it is now that the transformative power of peace can be an alternative to our failed foreign policy of dominance and force. May our aspirations to equality, assuring every person the respect they deserve, enable the inspirational uniqueness of each one of us to be freely expressed at liberty, and let justice prevail when human nature does not compel us to do good. This I do believe would be the true exception to the rule, and it may even restore our sanity in time.