AndreusMaximus
Master
Not quite; in my mind there's 3 types of organization/bureau/institution/group:It's like the gun owners version of ACAB.
1) One that exists primarily to do good things - police fall into this category IMO, which is why I believe it's inherently foolish to say all cops are bad; the bad ones exist IN SPITE of the purpose and goals of their institution, not because of it.
2) One that exists primarily to do evil things - very few institutions or groups throughout history have fallen into this category (hence, Goodwin's Law, mostly because it's hard to find any group that is almost universally considered the epitome of evil in the way Nazis are)
3) One that exists to do some good and some evil things - the ATF falls into this category, IMO. Saying that everyone who is a part of such an organization is doing evil by being involved with it is a matter of judgement based on how grave the evils being perpetrated are, and you can't get someone off the hook just by saying that they don't personally participate in the bad things; they're still supporting the organization as a whole. I would argue that the wrongs done by the ATF are egregious enough that anyone working for them is doing wrong. That doesn't mean I will direct indiscriminate vitriol and hatred towards them, but I will recognize them as an agent of tyranny, even if they don't personally involve themselves in the dirty work, so to speak.