A necessary evil

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I was watching the movie Kingdom of heaven, you know this historically "accurate" movie, this week-end and the movie's Balian character got me thinking. I will put all concerning the movie as a spoiler in case someone who hasn't seen it wants to watch it.

Spoiler

The story takes place in the christian kingdom of Jerusalem. The king has been able to broker a peace with the muslim leader Saladin, whose forces vastly outnumber his. But all is not well in the kingdom. Two christian templars leaders, Guy and Raynald, continue to harrass the muslim forces to ignite a war. Worse, the king is about to die from a disease and his sister (his heir since he doesn't have children or brothers) in married to Guy, one of the Templars. Once Guy takes over the throne, the king is sure he will go to war with Saladin, destroy his kingdom and carry thousands to thier deaths.

So you have this guy Balian, a baron who believes in honour and will be a perfect knight to God to attone for his sins. Great. The king hatches a plot. They get an audience with Balian and the king ask him "if we were to arrest Guy as a criminal and execute him, would you marry my sister, inherit the throne and keep the peace with Saladin?"

Balian's answer : "no, I cannot. That would make me appart of an evil act (the execution of a man). My conscience is worth more."

So, the king dies from disease, Guy takes over........goes to war with Saladin, the Jerusalem kingdom is destroyed and thousands die.

Was Balian's decision just? Does the evil of killing one man to avert disaster count as a "necessary" evil?

Is there such a thing as a "necessary" evil, or is it lazyness in not finding a perfect solution?

And what is responsibility? If you know someone will commit a crime and you let him go, knowing he will commit a crime, does that make you appart of the blame as well, or is it squarely on the shoulders of the person actually doing the crime?

 

Was the sister ugly?

 

I thought she was pretty enough. Which is all the more stupid considering

Spoiler

Balian slept with her while she was married to Guy. So the high and mighty guy commited adultery. And they were both in love with each other...

 

There were several reasons I stopped watching this and turned back to gaming whilst it was on TV.

"Necessary Evil" is a ridiculous term in and of itself. It's simply a way of demonizing something you don't like whilst accepting it's something you have to do. It's excusing an unpleasantry on an external concept to nullify responsibility for your own actions at worst - at best a hideous exaggeration

Balian was selfish to his own cherry-picking of morality, he was not a just man as he had no code of honour that he followed faithfully and instead of admitting he was more concerned about his own skin dressed it up as some religious decision. A simple waste.

As to responsibility, people are responsible for their own actions. I can persuade and bend others views to be more akin to mine if it is necessary, but I cannot begrudge them for having their own views and opinions. If a persons actions are a threat to me or my aims then it is my responsibility to intervene for myself. If a persons honour dictates they intervene for the benefit of another then that is also their duty.

If I do not give money to a man who then goes on to steal from another that makes me no more of an accomplice than refusing to detain someone for fear they will do similar.

 

Sometimes there are no good solutions to problems, let alone perfect ones. It's a human misconception that things can always be fixed, and that there always has to be a reason for everything.

 

Well, he was an idiot, to turn Eva Green down!?
That woman has eyes deeper than the ocean! #drool#

But the thing is, it wasn't just about Guy's execution, but all who were loyal to him.

 

@ Gaear : While what you say is sometimes true, some solutions are better than others. There are often a win-win solution that pops up, without warning. The question is often "Should I choose now or wait until a better avenue opens up?

@ Darion : They did mention though that they would execute all of Guy's followers who would not bend the knee to the king. Given that you can view Guy's actions as treason to the king and morally unjust, people who won't bend the knee to the king would be considered criminals legally and morally to the same extent as Guy.

 

Both. Because, no matter how you look at it, not everyone can come up with a "perfect" solution to a particular problem.

You mean what is the scope of responsibility? If it's not stated explicitly (like if you're in a government position or something) then imo it's up for you to decide. You can choose to hold yourself partly responsible for someone else's crime, if that's what you want. There are no rules when it comes to these things. Like I'm a selfish being, so I probably wouldn't blame myself if it was just some stranger. It also depends on the crime.

The movie wasn't too bad. Wouldn't watch it more than once though.

 

Dude, it's just a broken dichotomy.