# is apolitical amoral? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 22, 2000, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-apolitical-amoral/46883 "2000-12-22T18:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-apolitical-amoral/46883/1 "2000-12-22T18:17:19Z")
I presume many great people have weighed in on this one, but the issue has new currency for me today. Another teacher in the building brought in as a speaker (ostensibly about the geography of South America) a member of the special forces team that trains Columbian police in techniques of drug interdiction, including, to use his words, assassinations. The teacher who made the arrangements still appears to see nothing wrong with it, and a colleague who viewed the presentation was appalled, but said nothing, in deference to a number of attendant issues. But the teacher who originated the presentation claims to be apolitical. I wonder if it is not amoral to allow such a biased - and ugly - point of view into the schools. Is it immoral to be apolitical? ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-apolitical-amoral/46883/2 "2000-12-22T18:36:34Z")
I don’t get it. So this guy trains people in how to kill other people for a living. Did he talk about geography, or did he teach the kiddies how to use a baretta? Even so, schools are supposed to teach things… (When am I ever going to use a grenade launcher when I grow up, anyway? Is this gonna be on the test?) ---
**Author:** ![dublos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@dublos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dublos)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-apolitical-amoral/46883/3 "2000-12-22T19:02:37Z")
> [@](#): > > a colleague who viewed the presentation was appalled I think that being upset by the persons occupation is certainly be understandable, but whether or not it was appropriate for him to be a speaker really depends on the contents of his speech. If he gave a speech that was approriate to the intended subject of geography, and maybe some cultural background of the place, why should his occupation be a factor? -Doug ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-apolitical-amoral/46883/4 "2000-12-22T19:08:29Z")
> [@](#): > > **amoral** (â-môr´el, â-mòr´-) _adjective_ > > 1. Not admitting of moral distinctions or judgments; neither moral nor immoral. > 2. Lacking moral sensibility; not caring about right and wrong. (_The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition_. 1992, Houghton Mifflin Company.) Do you find it amoral or immoral? As **dublos** said, what was the subject matter of the presentation? Did the guy talk to the kids about assassinations? Or about geography? Very, very few people are apolitical (non-political), though some claim to be. But whether or not your colleague has behaved immorally is irrelevant to his political views or lack therof. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-apolitical-amoral/46883/5 "2000-12-22T19:21:52Z")
I would say that politics and morals are strictly linked…politics, meaning legality and its various actions/requirements, is just a group morality. What, you think we punish murderers just because there’s a law on the books? Now, if we’re talking politics as in inner-office politics, or party politics, or some other such thing I still say there’s a ton of morality implied. However, being apolitical might not mean amoral…it might mean that one is apolitical because his/her morality is not something he/she feels is enforcable or appropriate to impose on others. Ever meet hippy existentialists? Man, it ain’t _right_ man, everyone should be left alone. But, I find morality in economics too, so maybe I’m not the right one to be commenting 😃 ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-apolitical-amoral/46883/6 "2000-12-22T19:35:49Z")
Sorry. What I meant was that the teacher is likely not apolitical, his own assertions notwithstanding, but that apolitical != immoral. Read my previous sentence as: > [@](#): > > But whether or not your colleague has behaved immorally is irrelevant to _what he claims as_ his political views or lack therof. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-apolitical-amoral/46883/7 "2000-12-22T20:02:17Z")
noted and agreed