Reply #51: Maybe it's semantics, but I think it's still important [View All]

[FiveGoodMen]

Reason does not equal justification.

A justification would mean that the action was, well, justified.

A reason simply talks about cause and effect. If bombings don't happen for a reason, then they're just random events and you can't do anything about them. You can't gauge their likelihood, and you can't stop them. You can't stop them because they 'just happen' for 'no reason'. Therefore, you can't identify who will try to carry them out -- how could you ever guess when they happen for no reason?

It's a bad idea to shut down conversations about cause, effect, and prevention, just so you can better express outrage. Bombings may not be justified but they do happen for reasons and it makes sense to figure out what those reasons are.