Marietta/On Children and the Other

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 169512

Eggplant:

> Again and again I see the same defense, not just of Marietta but 
for
> Snape too, that it's OK to do evil things as long as you're 
sincere;
> personally I think sincerity is a vastly overrated virtue. I'll 
pick
> someone insincerely right over someone sincerely wrong any day.  

Magpie:
It's not "okay" to do anything just because you're sincere. It has 
nothing to do with making it "okay." It's acknowledging that other 
people have their own points of view and their own experiences 
different from your own and you have to deal with that whether you 
like it or not. Everyone isn't secretly walking around knowing that 
you're right and everything you know is what they know, so they must 
be wrong, because you never can be wrong, and if they're disagreeing 
with you it's to be evil. Some of us think part of the lesson here 
is that it's better to have that understanding and act accordingly 
than to get off on beating your breast about how evil the other 
person was and how much punishment they deserved after the fact, all 
while still refusing to have any understanding about them, or what 
you might do better next time.

This kind of thread ought to be proof of that in itself. Many things 
that you have set out as truths that are so self-evident that not a 
single jury in the world or person in the world would disagree with 
you on, do not seem that way to me. I wouldn't assume that if you 
were in a book you'd be one of the good guys. 

Alla:
So, suppose Malfoy decides that being with DE and Lordie Voldy suits
his fancy better. Does that mean that Trio should applaud him and
accept his choice? I mean, applaud probably is the wrong word, but
you know what I mean.

Are they still obligated to think that he is a wonderful person to be
considered you know, tolerant?

Magpie:
I don't think tolerance ever has to do with thinking someone is a 
wonderful person or with applauding all their choices. As a reader I 
know I would still have compassion for him, since I alredy do. But 
you don't have to like anyone. Ginny Weasley is on the right side, 
but I can still hate her just as you can hate Draco--I don't applaud 
all her choices.

But it's still better, imo, if you can have some understanding of 
the other person, even if you dislike them--though I think 
understanding the person often makes it harder to hate them. (Not 
always, but sometimes.) I hope Harry makes some strides in this 
direction. I mean, it wouldn't be so great if we had Harry just 
allowing the inferior people to help out with Voldemort while still 
mentally seeing them as a different breed than his friends and 
himself. There are always going to be people he doesn't like and 
even people he can't respect because of their beliefs, but I think 
he can still gain more understanding than the kind he has now. 
Again, I'd think the list makes that clear. We don't all have the 
same reactions to the characters or to individual actions. If we 
were in the books ourselves we'd bring those different points of 
view with us. 

-m