Saturday, July 23, 2005

Terror inspired religiosity

Expect a change of focus in this blog gradually away from my personal broodings about the relations between culture and politics of Iran and onto issues related to terrorism and terror inspired religiosity.

Like it or not, this global plague isn't going to go away anytime soon.

The recent events-- from the despicable massacre of those defenseless children seeking sweets while playing with what little they have to the upsurge in the number of Iraqi civilians and police and other military personnel being butchered on a weekly basis and the mounting numbers of American casualties, to the bloody strikes on the ordinary working men and women in London and those tourists in Egypt, Arab and others -- have reminded us (yet again) of the callousness with which some of the upper and middle class spoiled brats of Asia conduct their affairs.

And their utter disregard for human life. These Salafist miscreants are ruthless in their quest to wreak havoc on all that most of us cherish about civilized life.

And as a non-Muslim "multicultural" Brooder--and to the countless victims affected by these atrocities-- I'd like to repeat my message of a couple of weeks ago. For what they're worth: I offer my sympathies, condolences and also my apologies.

I mean, somebody has to apologize here. It might as well be me. I am so profoundly sorry.

In an ideal universe—that is a universe presided over by an omnipotent Deity with the slightest inkling about the meaning of elementary Justice, we would have all gotten a chance to click our heels three times and return to the safe, comforting realm of our peaceful homes and cities.

As it stands, the entropy of our universe is going to accelerate geometrically. And I am just so sick and tired of all the unimaginative predictable chatter.

The murderous Usama operatives and their sympathizer goons will have nothing to apologize about. Those who are already dead are deservedly rotting and in no position to babble. And those alive are probably gloating and waiting for their next opportunity to torment the living.

The Muslims will again offer us the usual platitudes about how their great religion has been hijacked by those supposed pretenders. They too will not offer apologies. Islam is the "religion of peace," remember. And in a sense, they are half right. There are roughly a billion five million Muslims worldwide and life would have gotten a lot bloodier if Islam hadn't also tempered conduct in some miniscule ways.

And the ravenous, incontinent elites in America, and their global partners or sycophants and fellow travelers continue to go on to search for word about every re-mended torn underwear in the Middle East to flaunt as yet another example of the good news the "liberal media" loves to ignore while refusing to live up to the consequences of their misguided hopes, their deluded expectations and their piss-poor planning and executions of their mighty expedition to reshape that rotten region.

They refuse to admit errors of judgment. They refuse to be honest with the rest of us. And so they also refuse to offer any form of apologies. They can do no wrong; have never been wrong. And will never ever do wrong--anytime, anywhere.

And all their prattle and the ceaseless peddling of that noxious notion of "moral equivalence," is the prophylactic they habitually reach for in order to perpetuate their experience of onanistic Americanism.

Look, no love lost here between this blogger and Islam and its vengeful Allah. As someone whose life has been affected by religious zealotry, I have had my fair share of exposure to various religious texts. It is easy for me to reach for all those silly, bloody savage passages and also some very obscure ones most of you have never heard of and to revel in mocking Islam.

I don't indulge--not out of any fear of offending believers, mind you, for life devoid of the opportunity to be offended is not much of a life at all. None of us would have learned much if our core beliefs hadn't been routinely offended. And Muslims should not feel excepted.

Millions have learned to live with it and some of the more devout Muslims too will have to learn.

But my experiences of life in Iran have forced me to engage a confounding riddle more seriously, while also re-confirming what any good teacher worth his pay normally learns in the second year of teaching.

Often, the very same weaknesses in a student are also what give the individual his or her unique strength of character and that twinkle in the eyes. If you push too hard on the weaknesses, you risk a profound, irreparable loss as well.

In societies where the ruling classes show no genuine respect for their fellow citizens for/to whom they are supposed to be responsible and responsive; and where consequently, the disgruntled citizens come to reciprocate by showing no respect for the laws, what are we going to get if the fabric of the traditional religious prohibitions are even further eroded? What is going to happen when that gentle murmur in the mind about not abusing that little kid who can't fend for herself disappears altogether?

Look at it another way. Doesn’t the Leviticus contain some hair curling frightening passages? But that text also has some of the most moving edicts about empathy and the need for civil treatment of strangers and about social justice.

How to weaken one without the other?

That being said, the fact remains that certain unpalatable, murderous passions have been unleashed globally and unless there is a sober and concerted effort to deal with the consequences in a forthright manner, all of us face some appallingly grotesque consequences.

Real or imagined, as the purported emissaries of the Almighty go, none could compare in gentility to Christ. Well only perhaps Mani and Buddha, in my view. And what sort of followers has he managed lately?

Let's look at the latest Fatwa just released by one his more renowned followers to get a sense for what petrifies me. Here is Mr. Hal Lindsey with his latest threats:

There is a fast closing window of opportunity for the large majority of "peaceful Muslims" living in the United States and the United Kingdom.
[…]
We are a peace-loving people that are longsuffering and slow to anger. But there is an inevitable breaking point that will surely come. Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany discovered this. In the words of Adm. Yamamoto after the attack on Pearl Harbor, "I fear that we have only awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve." That point is about to come again in response to the terrorist outrages that have been inflicted upon us by Islamic fundamentalists.
[…]
Our intelligence forces all warn that it is only a matter of time before Islamic terrorist will attack our cities with weapons of mass destruction. This includes everything from nuclear to biological bombs.
[…]
When one of these attacks happens, a flood of rage will burst forth, and nothing or anyone will be able to stop it. The law of the jungle will take over. Muslim communities who did nothing to stop the radicals among them will be the first targets.
[…] Cooperate with legal authorities before it is too late to plead your civil rights.
[…] The time is late. The "jihadist timetable" is counting down toward a major attack. Help your fellow Americans stop them before a catastrophe strikes us all and ignites an unstoppable holocaust.

It is my experience that pious believers are the most honest and transparent amongst us. They do mean what they say most of the time. It is only that in our arrogance, we the ("non-believer") intellectuals with no genuine appreciation for their inner experiences fail to take account of what they have in mind since we are mostly always deluded in thinking we can channel and control these passions to enhance our own competing political agendas.

There was nothing surprising about what Ayatollah Khomeini managed to accomplish in Iran. And Usama and Mullah Omar certainly never masked any of their intentions.
So then let's get a more clear sense for where we stand.

Usama and his thugs are able and willing to strike at will and as best I can surmise, they have authorized a body count of up to 4 million "infidel" casualties. And they loath anything not like them and are most comfortable in any stern, non-ostentatious, primitive milieu.

And they detest Shi'ias.

Our own murderous Ayatollahs are in the midst of their mad dash for the bomb--if only to save their own skins in their gambit to postpone the inevitable and they show no compunction whatsoever about sacrificing as many of their citizens as they see fit in order to maintain their hold on power.

And here we have also in the West millions who will not hesitate to act on this thinly veiled threat of pogroms against "peaceful Muslims" (sic) and, of course, they are not really that discriminating when it comes to knowing the difference between Arab fundamentalist or the Moroccan Berbers or a Mexican immigrant, and a Muslim or a Sikh.

And they are whipping up their rapture excited contingent of followers into frenzy by loudly promising our nuclear annihilation.

And now (via antiwar.com) the heartwarming, though unconfirmed, report of plans in works in the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) for a massive conventional and nuclear strike on Iran in response to another 911 type assault anywhere on the shores of these United States regardless of the established guilt or culpability.

And that, my friends, is the frightening nightmare brought about curtsey of an arrogant fiddling with the gates of hell.

More later.

P.S. I have problems linking. For Mr. Lindsay article see his "Friendly Advice to Peaceful Muslems." For report about plan of attack see www.justinlogan.com



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