Comment by senderista
Comment by senderista 20 hours ago
"If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I would have the guts to betray my country."
--EM Forster, "What I Believe"
Comment by senderista 20 hours ago
"If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I would have the guts to betray my country."
--EM Forster, "What I Believe"
There are situations when you genuinely must betray your country to protect your friend, or vice versa.
For example, if your country is a multiethnic empire that is unsustainable as a single entity without compulsion and forced assimilation, and your friend happens to be an ethnic minority in it.
The problem here is that Forster is relativising the good.
I am not betraying my country by refusing to follow laws or decrees that require that I engage in intrinsically evil deeds. I am not loyal to my friend if I do evil things he asks me to do.
Our loyalty is to the objective good of our country and our friend. Otherwise, there is no such thing as loyalty.