The American Cause

Aristotle noted four types of causes for any given effect: the material, formal, efficient, and final cause. Had he lived in the 21st Century, he would have learned of a fifth kind of causation: the American Cause.

The American Cause is modeled in the thinking of the Angry Left. According to the Angry Left, one can take any given thing and go back however far one needs though a chain of cause and effect until, somehow, it lands at the feet of the United States. Added to this startling claim is the even more startling claim that the American Cause somehow always and only results in evil.

This week's starring example of the American Cause comes from The Christian Peacemaker Teams. Four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams were kidnapped by jihadist terrorists in Iraq recently, and we pray for their safety and freedom. We also pray for the group's intellectual health. On their website, CPT states "We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. governments due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people."

CPT appears to be saying the United States can be blamed for a kidnapping carried out by terrorists--terrorist whom we are trying to kill. If this is intellectual nuance, it is lost on me. The only consolation is that if indeed the United States is responsible for every bad thing and can easily undo it, making people like CPT go away should be easy.