Man seeks dominion over all that he encounters. I suppose it is a natural tendency for us to aspire towards mastery of our surroundings. But this should not include other human beings. Every day more and more are pressed into service – by deception or by force. Others, though not so firmly imprisoned, are made to feel as if their lives are worthless. I have seen the ways in which men persecute women. Heard the cruel words hurled at those who come here from other lands. Watched as those who believe or act differently are made to suffer...
We discuss such things often – watching as we do from the spires of Masyaf. What can be done to stop this? To encourage tolerance and equality? Some days we speak of education, believing that knowledge will free us from immorality. But as I walk the streets and see slaves sent off to auction – my heart grows cold. When I see the husband hurl abuses and stones at his wife, insisting she exists only to serve him – my fists clench. And when I see children torn from their parents so that another man might profit – sent off to suffer beneath the desert sun and die...
...On these days, I do not think that dialogue will make a difference. On these days, I can think only of how the perpetrators need to die.
Commentary: I have heard Al Mualim explaining that there are those men do evil out of ignorance, fear and delusion. Those who do so out of ignorance or fear can be saved but then those who are deluded beyond all saving must be killed. I hope this is not true. I would like to think that all men can be saved through education. If everyone understood one another and more importantly understood the folly of competition or outright war, then would we all get to live in a world where peace outweighed suffering? Altair reveals a certain weakness in the justness of the Assassin cause. Shaun Hastings points it out as well. The Assassins kill people. They don't try to redeem the person or change them, they murder them.
I often wonder what sort of thing the Assassins and Templars could unite under. Given their differences in regards to the question of whether the illusion should be dispelled or used to control, there isn't a lot I can imagine would give them common cause. One thing though would be that both groups recognise the world is wrong and both groups have a common enemy: mankind itself.
Evil is essentially born of a mass of ignorant people. People who either choose ignorance or have it inflicted upon them. The Assassins and Templars (in theory) are people who think for themselves and desire a better world, filled with a majority of good people. But they live in persecution from the masses who fear their defying the status quo. The Assassin's deal with this by maintaining distance and inducting those who choose to realise the truth themselves. All the while, they assassinate those persons who would hold back mankind by forcing an illusion upon them. It is the Assassins' realisation that one can only come upon the truth by their own understanding and so they await the day all mankind choose the truth.
The Templars, on the other hand, believe the masses incapable of seeking the truth by themselves. Even if they are presented with knowledge, they will reject it or misinterpret it for their own devices. The only way towards a just world, is by blinding all mankind with a benevolent illusion. In order to corral mankind towards this state of obedience, one will have to use whatever means necessary. Propaganda, coercion, persuasion, mind control. Its all fair game in the pursuit of a new world order where all people will live in peace and at peace under the guidance of an enlightened minority.
I suppose in each case both groups can agree: those who make this world a terrible place; they are the true enemy.
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