Daniel Pearl and Moral Equivalence

Judea Pearl, the father of slain Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl, has a stunning review of A Mighty Heart in the latest issue of The New Republic. The words of the elder Pearl are a welcome corrective to the rampant moral relativism that renders America and our enemies the same.

“Moral relativism died with Daniel Pearl, in Karachi, on January 31, 2002,” Mr. Pearl writes. “There was a time when drawing moral symmetries between two sides of every conflict was a mark of original thinking. Today, with Western intellectuals over-extending two-sidedness to reckless absurdities, it reflects nothing but lazy conformity. What is needed now is for intellectuals, filmakers, and the rest of us to resist the dangerous trend and draw legitimate distinctions where such distinctions are warranted.” Amen. I’d say Mr. Pearl’s words should also be heard by the gorgeous actress who plays his daughter-in-law, Angelina Jolie, whose public comments on the film were well-meaning but entirely morally-muddled.

He concludes: “My son Danny had the courage to examine all sides. He was a genuine listener and a champion of dialogue. Yet he also had principles and red lines. He was tolerant, but not mindlessly so.” Bravo.

Read what I wrote in The Boston Phoenix when the paper posted the video recording of Pearl’s execution by clicking here.