B. O. D.

Trey Smith

Here’s a summary of the Western media discussion of what motivated U.S. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales to allegedly kill 16 Afghans, including 9 children: he was drunk, he was experiencing financial stress, he was passed over for a promotion, he had a traumatic brain injury, he had marital problems, he suffered from the stresses of four tours of duty, he “saw his buddy’s leg blown off the day before the massacre,” etc.

Here’s a summary of the Western media discussion of what motivates Muslims to kill Americans: they are primitive, fanatically religious, hateful Terrorists.

Even when Muslims who engage in such acts toward Americans clearly and repeatedly explain that they did it in response to American acts of domination, aggression, violence and civilian-killing in their countries, and even when the violence is confined to soldiers who are part of a foreign army that has invaded and occupied their country, the only cognizable motive is one of primitive, hateful evil. It is an act of Evil Terrorism, and that is all there is to say about it.
~ from Discussing the Motives of the Afghan Shooter by Glenn Greenwald ~

Let's be honest. All of us suffer from giving B.O.D. -- benefit of the doubt. When someone we like or love does something wrong, we are more likely to excuse their actions or try to "understand" them than we are if those actions are committed by those we don't like or love.

We see this dynamic in US politics all the time. If the US President of the opposition party does x, it represents a power grab and an assault on the hollowed Constitution. If the US President of your party does x, it is justified by the circumstances, in line with Constitution and in no way a power grab.

Greenwald makes much the same point viz-a-viz Americans and Muslims later in his column.

There is, quite obviously, a desperate need to believe that when an American engages in acts of violence of this type (meaning: as a deviation from formal American policy), there must be some underlying mental or emotional cause that makes it sensible, something other than an act of pure hatred or Evil. When a Muslim engages in acts of violence against Americans, there is an equally desperate need to believe the opposite: that this is yet another manifestation of inscrutable hatred and Evil, and any discussion of any other causes must be prohibited and ignored.

And we all know this plays out in our personal lives as well. If a neighbor child does x, we are fit to be tied and wonder out loud why his or her parents don't rein in that child. However, if our son or daughter does x, we ask others to be patient and not to jump to conclusions or overreact.

For me, this is one of the reasons Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi harp on the concept of impartiality. Both understood that humans tend to favor some things or people over others and, when we invest ourselves in things and others, we tend to grant them B.O.D., even when it's not warranted. This creates a system -- both societal and personal -- that is not even-handed or fair. Where justice is lacking, injustice reigns.

When we adjudge life in an impartial manner, we can go one of two ways: 1) No one receives the benefit of the doubt or 2) Everyone does. Take your pick.