2001-9-20 05:59:00
I thought I would make a few comments about a point of discussion around which I see great illusion. That is the comparison some are making of the people of the United States to the terrorists who slit the throats of innocent women in order to take command of the planes that destroyed over 5000 innocent people and took as much as a trillion dollars out of the hands of common innocent working people worldwide because of its effect on the stock market and business.
We need to get away from a black and white attitude where we single out a few mistakes at the overlooking of much that is good. Suppose our friends judged each of us the way some are judging the United States. All of us have made some bad judgments and made mistakes. How would one struggling to do what is right feel if all his friends overlooked all the good he has done and only focused on his mistakes and began comparing him to Tim McVey or Jeffery Dahmer? Suppose you only hurt someone's feelings and because of it you were compared to John Wayne Gacy or Hitler? You would wonder about the power of judgment and discernment of your associates - as well as their motives.
Here are some illusions I see in circulation.
(1) The United States is just as bad as the terrorists responsible for the attack on 9/11/01
This is such an outrageous accusation that I feel the need to explain this should be comparable to the need to illustrate that the earth is not flat. These are comments that I should not have to make if any common sense abounds.
The United States is composed of people like you and me and even our government with all of its faults is composed of people like you and me. The people of this country I know, see on television and hear on the radio and work in government are not consumed with hatred toward any other people on the earth - save a very small handful of misfits.
On the other hand, these terrorists are gathered out of a number of nations into training camps and various compounds for one purpose. And what is that? Hatred. Hatred not only toward the United States, but other Moslems who do not see things the way they do, the Jews, Buddhists and many other nations and peoples to a lesser degree.
Why do they feel this hatred? Is it because we have done them physical harm? The finger pointing is always in this direction, but this has little to do with their hatred.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor they were not angry, as a whole, when we responded in kind. They knew that such an unprovoked attack would bring a military response and when it came they dealt with it with no more anger than before the declaration of war. It was not our attacking back that made them angry enough to go to war, but it was the differences in their belief systems of the two nations. If the American ideals of freedom and constitutional government were to dominate and spread throughout the world then the common people in Japan would sooner or later demand more freedom and would one day reject the idea that the emperor was a God.
Even so, these terrorist Moslems (a small percentage of the Arabic world) are ultra-conservative in their religious views and their biggest fear is that the United States, Britain, Europe and other nations' way of life will seep into their culture and alter it. They feel that Allah has made certain commands and they need to be upheld, even if they have to go on a holy war and destroy the whole world to do it.
Here are some of their fears that make them hate the West - particularly the United States.
(A) Equality of rights for Women. It sends jitters up their spine when they think of their women even having freedom to speak freely, let alone have equal opportunity in other areas.
(B) They fear our entertainment - our movies, our music, our plays, our books, the internet and our free spiritedness.
(C) They fear the freedoms we have in general, for the various authorities in their groups will lose control if there are free elections and speech.
(D) They fear that women will resist living as polygamous wives as well as start insisting on a right to abortion.
(E) They do not want to co-exist with any other religious faith and fear that the influence of the West will bring integration and force them to live in a culture that has other religions and races.
(F) They have sworn eternal hatred toward the Jews and hate anyone who befriends them in any degree.
(G) The fear that our laissez-faire attitude toward religion will spread toward their young people so they will not be so easily controlled by their elders.
On the other hand, the United States and other nations have risen above such fears and only respond with violence when our (or our allies) physical existence is attacked. We allow all other people to attempt to change our minds on other levels all they want.
When we went to war with Japan and Germany, we did so for the security of the world, and not hate as illustrated by the fact that we helped both nations rebuild after the war.
Believe me, if these terrorists had their way with us there would be no rebuilding after the conflict for every man woman and child in the United States who did not agree with them would be killed if they prevailed.
We are not a perfect people, but we are not like these terrorists, not even close. I am not easily offended and no one has had the power to offend me in the thousands of posts made since this list began, but it comes close when my friends and I are compared to the agents of darkness who disrupted the whole world on Sept 11th. Even Hitler had more class than these guys.
(2) Illusion number two: Destroying the twin towers of evil capitalism can not be compared to the destruction of a holy site. This is an interesting item to bring up when one considers that the Taliban, who harbors these terrorists, recently destroyed many irreplaceable sacred Buddhists statues and works of art. Among them are two of two largest ancient statues of Buddha in the world hewn out of rock, similar to Mount Rushmore. These priceless items are no more.
The people of the United States would never be responsible for such desecration of sacred property and I submit to you that in destroying the Twin Towers the terrorists did destroy something that is as sacred as any temple or icon of any religion.
The Twin Towers were a symbol of an achievement in progress made possible by the blood, sweat and tears of millions of Americans from the founding Fathers to the present time. In addition each of the 5000+ people who were destroyed were sons and daughters of God from dozens of nations and religions of the earth, some of the Moslem.
In addition to this symbol of the freedom of the human spirit, these 5000 innocent lives will make this location a place of holy remembrance for ages to come.
(3) Illusion number three: Any military response which involves loss of life makes us as bad as the terrorists. In fact it makes terrorists out of us on the same level as they are.
To make a statement as this requires a logic with defies the imagination. That is like saying that to attack Hitler after he initiated World War II made us like Hitler. Give me a break. Has the United States ever put to death 6,000,000 of its own innocent citizens?
This is like saying the taking away the life of a Mark Chapman (John Lennon's killer) by putting him in prison for life makes us like him.
That's like saying punishing a rapist makes us a rapist.
There is a tremendous difference between punishing another because of fear and hate and punishing someone because of seeking after justice and the prevention of atrocities.
When harm is inflicted the victim has three basic choices.
(1) He can seek revenge with hate and malice, seeking to completely destroy.
(2) He can seek an equal retribution that will not completely destroy, but mete out justice and prevent future hurt by neutralizing the enemy's power to hurt.
(3) He can send them love and good will and hope the enemy will have a change of heart and cease from their violent behavior.
Question: Which of these three is the safest avenue to pursue?
Consider those who are controlled by the Dark Brotherhood. What is the prime cause of them seeking to destroy? Is it because someone offended them, attacked them first, or is it something else?
Copyright 2001 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved