We went round and round on this after 9/11.
We understandably object to referring to these guys as brave or courageous, since courage is considered a virtue and we dislike assigning any virtue to these guys.
Yet courage is defined as, “The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.”
Nothing there about the rightness or wrongness of the cause in which courage is employed.
The Waffen SS was one of the most evil organizations in history. Nobody ever realistically denied their courage. The world would be a much less dangerous place if evil men were always cowards.
While there are some senses of the word “courage” that do not apply to these guys, the most common ones certainly do.
suicide bombers are often on drugs.
no courage involved
This is beyond human comprehension to attibute any possible redeeming social value to assassins and/or homocide bombers! The word assassin speaks for it'self in that it starts with two complete asses and reminds me of this coward loving writer!!!
It ain’t courage or bravery, it’s indoctrination and brainwashing.
That wasn’t courage; it was fanaticism.
I often find myself in agreement with Dalrymple, but not here. To my mind, courage can only be manifest in a selfless and virtuous act; courage is a sacrifice, or a potential sacrifice, so that good may vanquish evil. Assassins and suicide bombers, no matter how reckless, no matter how fanatical is their belief in their evil cause, or their eagerness to die for it, can never be courageous. Their goal is only to inflict misery and fear. A zealot who dies for his cause is not courageous because he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies. A hero wants to live to see a good cause triumph, but is prepared to die to deny evil a victory.
Incredibly silly arguments.
I'd wager he blew himself up to keep from getting torn to pieces by the crowd.
It’s an idiotic point of debate.
>> and above all then to blow yourself up just to make sure that you have succeeded. <<
Suicide does not take courage; it is the ultimate cowardly act. Courage is being willing to risk what you desire to keep.
this is the same thinking as Bill Maher regarding the ‘courage’ of the hijackers who flew the planes into the World Trade Center compared (per Maher) with the cowards in the US military who merely drop bombs from several thousand feet in the air.