In the news I heard today about the loss of “innocent life”. It made me think: what is innocence? Are trees innocent that we cut down? Is a cow innocent that we slaughter for food? Are children innocent by their very design, even if they kill classmates? Is there really virtue in innocence (which stems from the latin word of “not knowing”).
Is innocence something we’re born with and that gets “taken from us?” Or is the very curiosity we are born with a clear indication that NONE of us is designed to be INNOCENT. Does innocence refer to chosen ignorance – like the German Nazi’s who knew but didn’t dare to speak up against concentration camps – or like Americans who finance violence around the world with their tax money but are blissful ignorant as to the consequences?
If only the loss of “innocent life” is tragic, is the killing of people that lost their innocence acceptable? What if they lost their innocence by being victimized (hurt, raped, threatened, robbed)?
Is God (the universe, the creative cosmic intelligence etc…) innocent? Having ultimately created and knowing all violence, sadism and cruelty, can be assume the creator as innocent? Can we ever be more or less innocent as God?? How then can we ever be guilty?
Can we blame a First grader for being in First grade and being limited in knowledge? Is it our duty to constantly inform ourselves about what goes on in “our names” and accept responsibility? Are we innocent if we chose to look the other way – or irresponsible? Are we just too exhausted and boxed into our prefab lifestyles that we feel we can’t make a difference anyway? The Classical Greek Tragedy states that we are all guilty by birth. Just by arriving on this planet we must kill to survive. We are designed to take the life of plants or animals in order to eat. The very air we breath we must take away from the next. Who is innocent now??
Could it be that the very concept of innocence is a pointless fabrication…?