Most Dangerous of the Species

The Tyranny Implicit in Secular Liberalism

We are all familiar with the rubric "the end justifies the means".  It comes into play when the goal sought is regarded as absolute, so important that all else must be given away, if necessary, to achieve it.  In recent human history we have seen many horrific examples: for example, the starving and extermination of 17 million Ukrainians at Stalin's orders was necessary to achieve the success of communism in the Soviet Union.  The gulags were justified by the glory of the future communist paradise about to come to pass.

We see a similar pathology operating in fundamental Islam: the killing of innocents is ostensibly justified by the glory brought to Allah.  Allahu akbar is much more than a mere slogan: it is an end which justifies murder in the strict Islamic mindset. 

Modern liberalism is a working demonstration of the type.
  The "rights" of a woman over her own body are so absolute that even a babe conceived in her womb must be sacrificed to this greater "good".  Because liberalism proceeds on the assumption that the Living God does not exist, all its causes and principles can potentially be elevated to be absolutes, to which all else must bow.

Global warmism is another example.  The goal is absolute: saving the planet and all life.  Therefore, sacrifices--both willing and unwilling--must be made.  The rectitude of the "end" justifies all kinds of lies, deceit, smears, obfuscation and unethical behaviour.  These perversions are justified by the seriousness of the alleged danger humanity faces.

Here is a classic example of the perversion of the "end justifies the means" at work (published in Watts Up):

Statement by The Heartland Institute on Gleick Confession

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Anthony Watts

(Received via email direct from Heartland president Bast in advance of their website posting, see Gleick’s statement/confession here – Anthony)

FEBRUARY 20, 2012: Earlier this evening, Peter Gleick, a prominent figure in the global warming movement, confessed to stealing electronic documents from The Heartland Institute in an attempt to discredit and embarrass a group that disagrees with his views.

Gleick’s crime was a serious one. The documents he admits stealing contained personal information about Heartland staff members, donors, and allies, the release of which has violated their privacy and endangered their personal safety.


An additional document Gleick represented as coming from The Heartland Institute, a forged memo purporting to set out our strategies on global warming, has been extensively cited by newspapers and in news releases and articles posted on Web sites and blogs around the world. It has caused major and permanent damage to the reputations of The Heartland Institute and many of the scientists,  policy experts, and organizations we work with.

A mere apology is not enough to undo the damage.

In his statement, Gleick claims he committed this crime because he believed The Heartland Institute was preventing a “rational debate” from taking place over global warming. This is unbelievable. Heartland has repeatedly asked for real debate on this important topic. Gleick himself was specifically invited to attend a Heartland event to debate global warming just days before he stole the documents. He turned down the invitation.

Gleick also claims he did not write the forged memo, but only stole the documents to confirm the content of the memo he received from an anonymous source. This too is unbelievable. Many independent commentators already have concluded the memo was most likely written by Gleick.

We hope Gleick will make a more complete confession in the next few days.

We are consulting with legal counsel to determine our next steps and plan to release a  more complete statement about the situation tomorrow. In the meantime, we ask again that publishers, bloggers, and Web site hosts take the stolen and fraudulent documents off their sites, remove defamatory commentary based on them, and issue retractions.
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For more information, contact Jim Lakely, communications director of The Heartland Institute, at 312/377-4000 or jlakely@heartland.org.

A self-righteous liberal is one of the most dangerous of the human species.