The Distinctions of Innocence

And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 1: 17-18

What does it mean to be innocent? Truly innocent? We throw the word around so much without taking the time to actually look at what it may mean and what implications those meanings may hold. Personally, I never liked the word. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'd never been innocent. Innocence, for me, has connotations of naivete, which may be charming to some but is anathema to me. To my mind, innocence has always meant seeing the world through a veil, self-imposed or not, because of an inability or aversion to the harsh realities of life. Far from a virtue, it is the source of self-righteous pontification and its assorted ilk.

I have been criticized for challenging people on their mostly strongly held beliefs. Mea culpa. Mea Maxima Culpa. But here I draw a distinction. I am not in the habit of telling children that Santa doesn't exist or that the idea of the Tooth Fairy has macabre implications. Nor do I derive any sense of pleasure shredding another's belief structure. I challenge to measure- to take stock of a person. Once I do that, I can treat them accordingly and in a manner that befits their mentality. I will challenge a child if he is particularly precocious but only insofar that I may stretch his mind and expose him to new frames of logos. At the same time, I may not choose to challenge an adult because I see how tenuous their grip on reality and sanity really are. Then, of course, there are the times where I do need to intellectually cuff someone though I find that more an example of my lack of character than their lack of cognitive ability. That's not to say I don't experience a sense of visceral pleasure when I put down my intellectual pimp hand down on some fool (particularly if he's Communist). I do and deliciously so but I'm always a little ashamed of my behavior after. Really. I promise.

Innocence is not a virtue and love and/or admiration for it is the source of so much of the misunderstanding and destruction we see in the world today. The only arena where the word has any real meaning at all is the US legal system. Here, a pronouncement of innocence is equivalent to freedom. When a accused man cries, "I am innocent!" what he really means is the he wishes to remain free. But outside of this instance, innocence means nothing. Jill Carroll, the kidnapped journalist, has been decribed as innocent and a lover of the Iraqi people and way of life. She may be all these things. Insofar as she is an American citizen, I believe that we must do all we can to rescue her short of capitulating to the demans of her captors. But she is nothing special and her parents proclamations of her innocence show them to be tremendously out of touch.

First of all, I'm going to believe that Jill Carroll is a professional. She went to Iraq knowing the risks especially working for a publication like the Christian Science Monitor. She was not like the prototypical dumb tourist who goes to Yellowstone National Park and tries to feed the bear. To the bear, you are food, whatever your intentions. To a Muslim fundamentalist Jihadist, you are a target, whatever your disposition towards them. For her parents to say that she is innocent is to draw a meaningless distinction. More importantly, it is implying that others who may be kidnapped may not be innocent and may deserve what they get. Is a journalist who goes to Iraq seeking fame and fortune any more innocent that a young Marine who finds himself there for reasons of duty and an inability to pay for college solely because the journalist is a journalist? Are journalists naturally more "innocent" than Marines? Put another way- do Marines deserve to live less?

Innocence is the sine qua non of victimology- the Masada of the pathetic and tragically weak. The very concept- in common modern usage- is nothing less than an excuse for powerlessness. Though there may be something to be said for the innocence of a child, there is nothing more disgusting than a man who refuses to put down his childish ways. And that's what it really comes down to. The cult of the Innocent is populated by emotional children who have not yet the spine to face the world on its terms and must concoct some Jacksonian fantasy of their own. Harsh? Yes. Guilty as charged.