Imagine a scenario, you're in an army and your platoon has successfully raided a village and captured some civillians. Your commander has ordered you to rape and then kill a civillian (a war crime, for sure) whom you know to be innocent, but just so happens to be on the wrong side. Should you obey the order?
On one hand, you could reason that it's outright morally wrong to do so and refuse. The problem with that is that you will be shot in the head, and probably someone else will do it and, perhaps, more violently than necessary.
On the other hand, you could do it without being more violent than necessary, hence sparing the victim from unnecessary trauma AND your own life.
In short - 'If you don't do it, someone else will, with worse consequences.' In this case, is it perfectly moral to make a decision with a better, although bad, outcome?
This problem with taking the path with the better outcome is that the act is still clearly wrong, although seemingly the moral thing to do. For example, you'd probably still be tried for war crimes and found guilty despite your good intentions. How do you justify that this is a moral decision? In my opinion, we can say that the action itself is wrong, but the person in this circumstance is blameless. Or could this be just another means of justifying the unjustifiable?
Alternatively, if you refuse to carry out the order, is preserving your integrity more important than saving lives and relieving people of suffering? I hope to hear your opinions.
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2 comments:
in war life is cheap.and the logic is it is either them or you.
i guess it comes to a point of when situation of the bigger or lesser evil, there are our own consequences and sacrifices to be made. firstly, our own self. secondly, other people.
i suppose it's our own conscience, principle and self-justification. if you choose not to do it and maybe other people do, at least it's one person less of misdeeds.
in this case, the victim will not be spared. but perhaps it's the decision on how an individual can spare the person.
why even be in an army in the first place? stick to deskjob!</I
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