Kimmel’s tweet was the ultimately expression of the moral relativism that has taken hold in parts of our society. He said “ISIS isn’t necessarily evil. It is made up of people doing what they think is best for their community. Violence is not the answer, though.” This is an organization that burns people alive, tortures prisoners, enslaves and rapes girls, and destroys art and historical artifacts in the name of acting for the “best of their community.”
Kimmel later said that “The tweet was stupid. I’m sorry, . . . I deplore the evil acts of ISIS. I do not defend their acts.” Yes it was stupid but I cannot imagine how one actually assumes such a position in the first place. There is a tendency to treat all values as relative and the reject the concept of foundational “truths” that underlie Western Civilization like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equal rights, and due process. There is a resistance to saying that those who would deny basic rights are wrong and, yes in the case of ISIS, evil. Whether they believe that they are right is immaterial. They are fighting to deny rights to women, other religions, journalists, political dissidents and the like. Hitler also thought he was right and “helping his community.” Does that make him or ISIS any less evil?
I understand that everyone on occasion will send out a stupid or unintended tweet. However, this tweet reflects a more fundamental problem of creeping relativism that is coming into vogue in the West. The values of free speech and other rights define not just Western Civilization but human rights. Countries like Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, and others have fought to convince people that different cultures are allowed to define human rights in different ways. Thus, Saudi Arabia and Iran can claim that beating and killing nonbelievers is “right” according to their values and laws. ISIS is the most extreme form of that perverse and relativistic perspective. There are truths that transcend borders . . . and tweets.
Source: Fox News