Yes, Ideas Do Matter, as One Couple Found Out—Tragically, the Hard Way

You may have heard of the American couple who biked around the world a couple of years ago, only to be murdered by ISIS terrorists. The couple believed that 'Evil Is a make-believe concept', and set out to prove it. But as they travelled through territory near Afghan border, ISIS members stabbed them to death.

I’ve been thinking about this episode. I actually agree with their sentiment that most people are decent human beings. That doesn’t mean evil doesn’t exist. But what is the source of evil? 

Let’s define our terms. What is the standard by which good and evil is determined? There is only one legitimate standard--human life and the requirements of human flourishing, qua human being. Simply put, human life is fundamentally individual, and each individual possesses a rational faculty and free will all his own. However much value we get out of social interaction with others, in the end each of us is a complete independent entity--an end in ourselves. The only way for the individual to flourish is to be free to use his rational faculty and free will--to live by the judgement of his own mind--in pursuit of his own values. So the right thing--the good--is to leave others free from physically coercive interference.

But not everybody believes individual freedom is right; i.e., moral. These ISIS murderers truly believe they are doing right--by doing God’s work. Likewise, Nazi or Communist regimes were and are driven by a moral vision they believe is “right”--a collective moral vision that subordinates the individual to the collective, or group. Because both collectivism and theocracy subordinate the individual to a “higher authority,” they are contrary to the individualist requirements of human life, and thus can both be objectively defined as evil. 

Yes, evil exists--and it is driven by inhuman ideologies. The lesson: Evil is certainly not “make-believe”. Ideas are the engine of history and of human action. The source of evil is the ideas that lie behind it. If this couple had taken the time to understand the ideas behind ISIS, they would still be alive today. It’s not like the threat is not well known. Even the 911 Commission recognized “the ideology underlying jihadist terrorism." 

It may seem distasteful to point this out, given the tragic deaths of this idealistic couple. But certainly, no disrespect is intended. It is their misplaced idealism that got them killed. This must be recognized to head off other couples meeting the same fate. Ideas matter.

Related Reading:

Philosophy: Who Needs It by Ayn Rand (from the book of the same title.)

The War Between Enlightenment and Fundamentalist Political Islam—and the Choice All Muslims Must Make

Great Islamic Thinkers Versus Islam—Andrew Bernstein for The Objective Standard

The Evil of Whitewashing Islam—Craig Biddle for The Objective Standard

A Welcome Recognition of the Islamist Threat from a ‘Mainstream’ Source