We still think intentions matter -- like children.
A common response when realizing that someone has been hurt by our actions: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." I know it's just a reaction with very little forethought, but I think it's also revealing. We want people to know that our intentions are good, or at least, not mean.
Why am I poking at this innocent habit, you may ask? Because the stubborn illusion of innocence is killing people and the planet. Or rather, the felt need to defend innocence, in the form of good intentions, in the face of overwhelming evidence, is deadly.
Every thoughtful person observes in themselves contradictory motives and desires. And history is filled with examples of people and nations perpetrating great harm when trying to accomplish great good.
The immature need to convince ourselves and others of our good intentions results in blindness. We are so busy, like children on a playground, defending our honor, that we can't acknowledge, much less learn from and mourning our personal and national crimes.
Our cultural imagination, therefore, is stuck with ideas of punishment, usually for the other, and has barely begun to realize the possibilities of restorative justice, for ourselves and our enemies.
Let me go first and admit, confess that my intentions are not good, not pure, they are mixed. And being mixed means that the results of my words and actions are mixed, and when people are hurt, I'm partially responsible, no matter how pure I thought my intentions.
A common response when realizing that someone has been hurt by our actions: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." I know it's just a reaction with very little forethought, but I think it's also revealing. We want people to know that our intentions are good, or at least, not mean.
Why am I poking at this innocent habit, you may ask? Because the stubborn illusion of innocence is killing people and the planet. Or rather, the felt need to defend innocence, in the form of good intentions, in the face of overwhelming evidence, is deadly.
Every thoughtful person observes in themselves contradictory motives and desires. And history is filled with examples of people and nations perpetrating great harm when trying to accomplish great good.
The immature need to convince ourselves and others of our good intentions results in blindness. We are so busy, like children on a playground, defending our honor, that we can't acknowledge, much less learn from and mourning our personal and national crimes.
Our cultural imagination, therefore, is stuck with ideas of punishment, usually for the other, and has barely begun to realize the possibilities of restorative justice, for ourselves and our enemies.
Let me go first and admit, confess that my intentions are not good, not pure, they are mixed. And being mixed means that the results of my words and actions are mixed, and when people are hurt, I'm partially responsible, no matter how pure I thought my intentions.
