We, as liberals deep-seeded in our empathy for the meek, are much better (usually) at recognizing nuance, seeing the "gray", and understanding what is motivating people to do harmful things to others beyond "they're bad" or "they're evil".
Sometimes though, especially when some on the liberal side of matters are frustrated/angry/etc with how their own country or people are acting in a particular case, this empathy leads to the making of excuses, "look over here", and downright naivete over bad behavior.
So, here's a brief rundown of what, though it may exist, does NOT justify behavior or actions that people of all civilized cultures and creeds accept are "bad", including murder, robbery, rape, mutilation/wounding, destruction of property, and other similar acts.
(for the sake of this diary, we're assuming all of the above are proven and true, not "well did he kill the other guy in self-defense or in a war zone....if it was self-defense, then it wasn't murder...so let's not fill the commentary full of hypotheticals.)
What doesn't justify bad action behavior:
1. A group you belong to did something offensive
2. A group you belong to did something recognized as "bad".
3. The person/people/group on the receiving end of something "bad" did something that offended those who afflicted them with the "bad."
4. Anything that happened in the past, or that is happening in the present, that doesn't directly affect the life and safety of those who committing a "bad" act.
5. Anger, justified or otherwise
6. Racism, bigotry, or poor emotional control either by those committing something "bad" or from those who are on the receiving end of it.
7. Monetary or other tangible benefit
I'm sure, as my fellow liberals, you will all embrace the above, and may wish to include others that I may be forgetting. While we may disagree on the decisions on whether something was "murder" or "self-defense", for example, once that's decided, I think the list rings true.
Put another way, when it's time to think, communicate and act like civilized adults who embrace secular democracy or democratic republican/parliamentarism, we should strive to think less like this:
and more like this: