The end of law

Nothing is true, all things are permitted

-Hassan i Sabah-

"We came out victorious in a war in which big Arab armies were defeated." said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah - just as I predicted. Al Jazeera quotes his declaration that it was a "strategic, historic victory" that might rather be called a standoff by an impartial observer. There are of course no impartial observers in this matter and the truth, up to a point, is what is proclaimed by the loudest voice. Is this a case of David overthrowing Goliath or a case of the little guy with a bloody nose getting up off the barroom floor and declaring victory after the heavyweight champ with bruised knuckles went back to finish his beer? All things are permitted.

The David and Goliath comparison that Hezbollah likes to invoke can of course, also be seen as virus Vs. host, or any number of scenarios that vary according to which side one sees as just. But let’s envision a world where Hezbollah had sufficient men and materiel to do what they claim to be doing. Wouldn’t that include the death of some 7 million Israelis and the return of squalor and Sharia to a Palestine once again dominated by foreigners seeking empire?

On the other hand, what about the world in which Hezbollah did not exist, or at a minimum gave up the “Death to Israel” goal. Would there not be a prosperous and progressive Lebanon to serve as an example to other nations in that region where prosperity and quality of life seem to vary inversely in proportion to fanatical religiosity and theological law?

The inscrutable opinion of God notwithstanding, a world that thought less about who believes in which invisible tyrant from outer space might look more like a world in which Palestinians of all ethnicities might be participating in a thriving economy, sending their children to universities and sipping strong coffee under the warm, secular sun.