And, on a somewhat similar topic to my last post, is there such a thing as collective guilt? Is it acceptable to mete out suffering and death to people, simply because they belong to the same nation, or the same ethnic group, as others you feel have done you wrong?

Plenty of people think it is acceptable, and most nations act as if they think it is when they go to war, even though collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Convention, since all wars involve death and suffering for non-combatants. What makes no sense at all, though, is to condemn the ‘killing of innocents’ by the other side, but defend and condone it when it’s done by your own.