killing voldemort/ dumbledore cold & calculating?

[Scott]

No: HPFGUIDX 14344

Hi you guys! 
I didn't need a plastic red nose to participate in red nose day... 
*loud hacking coughs and seezes ensue*

Amanda wrote:
"I've been following this thread with interest. I think that Harry may
indeed kill Voldemort, but I think there will be a vital difference 
from killing as V. and the DeathEaters do it---Harry will understand 
the burden he has taken on by taking another life. He will understand 
it and decide that not killing Voldemort would hurt too many people.
This is similar to what a lot of soldiers in WWII had to go through, 
the ones who weren't content with excusing their actions as "under 
orders."

--As a society we have accepted the idea of "fighting fire with 
fire". Therefore it's no suprise that the theme of "fighting evil 
with evil" or "giving someone a dose of their own medicine" is as
common as the situtations in which it arises. But I agree with Amy 
(?) that it is a dangerous message to send in the HP books. I think 
it would be counter productive to the whole message of the series.  

The way I see it if Harry uses AK to kill Voldemort then he is 
stooping to Voldemort's level and is therefore no better than the 
evil he is destroying. Then again I am strongly against violence of 
any kind. I'm not saying that Voldemort SHOULDN'T be destroyed but 
just that I think it would be counter productive to show Harry doing 
it and then be lauded as a hero. (Even if he personally feels guilt.)

Amanda wrote:
"They understood they were personally responsible for the deaths they
were causing, but also understood the bigger picture and judged that 
the price they paid was worth the larger goal."

--It's really a tough moral question. I understand this reasoning, 
but I'm not sure I personally agree with it. Even though one might 
look at the big picture it's still disturbing. I don't think I could 
(or would) end the life of another human no matter what the 
circumstances. If I did my guilt would most likely be worse than any 
physical reprecussions, and the same goes for Harry.  If the "larger 
goal" is to end evil, or a particular evil, then how is using evil 
(killing) ever going to stop it, or even slow it down?

Amanda wrote:
"It will be a choice of Harry's, I think, and the choice will not be 
whether or not to be a killer, but rather whether or not to act to 
save others. It will be a difficult choice if saving others involves 
killing. But by that time, I believe Harry will have matured into a 
person who could face that choice as a real selection of options, not 
a foregone conclusion."

--I agree that by the time Harry has to make a decision of this 
importance and magnitude he will have matured enough to make it 
wisely. I'd say that's what Dumbledore is doing- preparing him to 
learn how to make decisions and act on his own. I think that makes 
Dumbly calculating as Caius said but not exactly coldy calculating as 
he does it with Harry's best interest in mind.

Also here's an alternative thought. What if someone shows Voldemort 
love. Dumbly says that Voldemort cannot understand love. (Is that b/c 
he's never experienced it or b/c he has forgotten it in his road to 
Evil Overlordship?) If Harry were to forgive Voldemort despite his 
past actions what effect would it have?

Scott