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diff --git a/faith/post-war.rst b/faith/post-war.rst deleted file mode 100644 index e64b41a..0000000 --- a/faith/post-war.rst +++ /dev/null @@ -1,160 +0,0 @@ -Smashing of Death Eaters? -######################### - -:date: 2019-04-21T20:19:39 -:category: faith -:tags: review, HarryPotter, blogComment, justice - -(my comments on “`Canon and the Moral Dimensions of Killing in -War`_” thread on reddit) - - - -.. _`Canon and the Moral Dimensions of Killing in War`: - https://www.reddit.com/r/HPfanfiction/comments/bf4n17/canon_and_the_moral_dimensions_of_killing_in_war/ - -This is no question of agreeing and disagreeing with me. What I wrote -was not exactly my opinion (which I specifically emphasized), but what I -consider the prevalent notion among Europeans. Discussion here is very -different from the one in the States (I lived there for five years -studying for law-related PhD), because the basic milieu is given by the -European Convention as “no” for the capital punishment, which is -obviously the opposite of the normal in many US states. - -Considering my personal opinion, I have a legal education, so I spent -many hours discussion pro- and contra- of the capital punishment. My -conclusion of these discussion is that I understand a lot of reasons for -it, but in the end I am mildly supportive of ECHR, mainly because of -possibility of mistake. From the Harry Potter universe, if the mistake -of Sirius Black happened in the world with the capital punishment, there -would be probably no way how to rectify the mistake (or whatever it -was). However, I am not much fanatical against it, and for example I -have no problems with capital punishments for Nazi criminals given in -the Nuremberg trials. - -I am a Christian (not a Catholic) and I respect a lot of the current -pope, but I think his declaration that the capital punishment is -eternally against the Gospel, is completely crazy. Not only it makes all -great Catholic theologians (including couple of Doctors of the Church) -opposing Gospel (which is mildly disturbing even to me), but I cannot -imagine myself standing in the courtroom and accusing all those who -voted for the capital punishment for Hermann Göring et al., that they -are standing against the justice. I am not sure what I would vote for -(and I am very glad I don’t have to make that decision), but certainly I -could very much understand and approve decision of those who thought -these monsters deserved to be hanged (in time when in the most countries -there was an automatic hanging for one intentional murder). - -That’s for capital punishment. Concerning the morality of the killing in -war, I think it is slightly more problematic than what I understand you -suggest. I am not an expert on law of war, but if I recall correctly the -legitimate goal of the war effort is to eliminate war-making power of -the enemy with preference for preserving life and health of the other -side (for example by capturing enemy soldiers and putting them in the -POW camps, where they should be treated humanly). Thus, aerial carpet -bombing of both England and especially of Germany in the later phases of -the Second World War are highly problematic, not mentioning endless -number of war crimes committed by both sides on the Eastern Front. - -I would highly disagree with your assessment of the First World War. - -1. I am highly suspicious of motives of any large power in the - war (both French, Russians and to large extent British were - very much willing and happy to enter into the war; Belgians et - al. might be truly pure victims of the war), and I think the - Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles (War Guilt Clause) was - just a piece of unjust anti-German propaganda hiding own - French partial guilt for the war. - -2. Concerning the different results between the First and the - Second World War. I really don’t think the difference was - because Germany and Austria-Hungary was not sufficiently - smashed. You know certainly your German history better than - me, so you should know the state of the Germany after the - First World War, and I think it is correct to say that both - Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were completely destroyed - (Austria-Hungary literally, the other two were mostly - non-functional for years, and especially in Italy there could - be evidenced a clear link between the collapse of the - government and rise of Fascism). - -3. I believe a way more important than the level of smashing was - exact opposite: after the First World War destroyed countries - were mostly left to their devices (whether the similarly - ruined France and Britain were even able to help defeated - countries is another question, but certainly there was no will - to do so; if I recall correctly, the Keynes’ book had a little - impact on the treatment of defeated), but immediately after - the Second World War there was huge effort, first by UNRRA - later by the Marshall Plan, to get all countries of Europe - including the defeated ones to the functional state as soon as - possible (and the true perpetrators of the war were actually - punished, contrary to the First World War). Thus you had the - hyperinflation of 1920s in Germany, but the Wirtschaftswunder - of 1950s. That I think made the difference. - -Now, back to the Harry Potter universe. I think the problem of smashing -of the Death Eater ideology is the different situation than after the -Second World War. First of all, this was civil war and more than the -true war, The Second Blood War was more law enforcement action capturing -criminals. Yes, criminals were proportionally almost as powerful as the -official government (which was captured by them), but still I think the -fit result of the conflict was just punishment of all criminals -(including collaborators and propagandist for the essentially racist -ideology), not large scale killing of all Death Eaters and their -friends. Tom Riddle fled from justice (which is quite ironic: he didn’t -flee from the death in the end, but he did so from justice) in the same -manner Adolf Hitler did, but whether the large scale criminals like -Lucius Malfoy, Yaxley, Dolores Umbridge, etc. deserved the Kiss by a -dementor (that’s probably the magical equivalent of the capital -punishment, right?) is an interesting question. Aside from the morality -of plea bargains (in case of Lucius Malfoy), which is another very -complicated question, we actually don’t know what was the result of the -Shacklebolt’s regime. There is not much (if anything) in the canon -describing the post-War resolution. Epilogue is nineteen years later, -and the situation may changed then a lot. - -I would hope there was some effort of dedeatheaterization or something -like The Truth and Reconciliation Commission á la post-apartheid -Southern Africa, which are more fitting answers to the post-civil war -situation, but again the canon doesn’t say anything. There are some -lovely fanfiction stories on that theme: - -- `Annals of Arithmancy by White_Squirrel`_ it is has finished - with both of these: dedeatheaterization and The Truth and - Reconciliation Commission. Yet, still the results are not quite - completely satisfactory. - -- `Escape by SingularOddities`_ and especially `Mr - and Mrs Percy Weasley by SingularOddities`_ (both of which are - AU) deal with more realpolitik situation where the post-War - government has to balance its relatively weak political - position with efforts to re-establish the normalcy. - -- `Grave Days by Northumbrian`_ and his universe (which - is probably the most canonical postwar fanon) don’t deal with - the situation much at all: some people are punished, most - important Death Eaters (sans Lucius Malfoy) are killed at - Hogwarts, and some went to Azkaban for life, but mostly - government is not significantly damaged and works as it - should now back under the management of good people. - -- `The Weight of the After Paperyink`_ the (unfinished) story is - mainly focused on the international criminal court organized by - ICW, mostly about the psychological readjustment and PTSD from - the Carrows treatment of students. - -.. _`Annals of Arithmancy by White_Squirrel`: - https://archiveofourown.org/works/15287883 - -.. _`Escape by SingularOddities`: - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11916243 - -.. _`Mr and Mrs Percy Weasley by SingularOddities`: - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12373273 - -.. _`Grave Days by Northumbrian`: - http://www.siye.co.uk/siye/viewstory.php?sid=128596 - -.. _`The Weight of the After Paperyink`: - https://archiveofourown.org/works/8449852 |