I found the two non-political articles on the front page of the March 5 Perspective very interesting because of the contrast between the individuals featured in the stories. Ron Grossman’s analysis of Adolf Eichmann’s autobiography (“The moral of the story was missed by its author”) made the point that it is far too easy to excuse inhuman actions with intellectual rationalization.
The other article, “The trials, and rewards, of good old-fashioned lawyering,” reported on attorneys defending individuals under the sentence of death in Illinois. That article demonstrated that the human intellect can be a positive factor when combined with a strong moral sense.
The juxtaposition of articles about a man who took part in the state-sanctioned murder of millions with an article featuring individuals striving to preserve the lives of individuals condemned by the state demonstrated both the evil and good that can come from the human intellect.
If a single conclusion could be reached from these two articles, it is, perhaps, that true humanity is achievable only when intelligence is used with a sense of justice that recognizes the humanity of us all.
