Intent to Kill, to Slaughter, to Avenge, To Wreak Terror....
How to stem the irresistible virally-transmitted tide of ancient traditions, one tribe viciously antipathetic to the other, intransigently, fatally, absorbed in the perceived need to annihilate the other? Wouldn't it seem reasonable that exposure on a close living level to those representing the 'other' would effectively introduce anyone to the shared humanity of those they'd previously held with suspicion and dislike?Yes, that would be reasonable. Except for the fact that reason and fanatical religious conviction that becomes a hateful pathology of vengeance and reprisals for perceived wrongs, are mutually antipathetic to begin with. Religious faith has no use for reason, and reason rejects faith in a higher order that purports to instruct its adherents in the ways of death-dealing.
Still, the hope remains that if a human being is exposed in their formative years to a reasonable debate on the desirability of mutual respect and harmony, that life-lesson would become an integral part of their values. Human nature, on the other hand, is a strange compendium of irrationality and faith on the one hand, and aspirational intelligence on the other.
The misfortune is that they seem mutually incompatible when tribalism is involved. And then pure pathology of resentful anger leading to fervent hate takes over the agenda. Which is where we find someone like Faisal Shahzad and others of his ilk who find the virally vicious blandishments of another of their ilk, American-born radical Muslim Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki utterly irresistible.
One born in the United States, happy to reject its values, politics and culture in favour of tje appeal of militant jihad, the other a naturalized American citizen, living in the United States and receiving his education there from young adulthood, to marriage, fatherhood and ongoing employment but obviously a total lack of accomplished satisfaction.
Until a trip to Pakistan's Waziristan brought him training enabling him to avenge Islam's degraded status in the Western world. His clumsily-aborted attempt to wreak havoc and death in New York was the 11th such that was averted since 9-11. Pakistan has been a busy hub for the nurturing of Islamist fanatics.
So many young men, raised and living in Western countries, finding common cause with violent jihad seeking training with Mohammad's armies of conquest. And, just like Nazi Germany with the fascists battling the world for hegemony and control, they sideline their attention toward targeting Jews and Jewish targets like Israel, or synagogues or community centres.
Restive young men from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, the Palestinian Territories, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, living in Australia, Canada, Britain, France, the United States, sign up to Islam's jihad to achieve a new millennium of power. The battle cry of !Allahu Akbar! resonating in their triumphantly feverish dreams.
The struggle to achieve Islamic domination over the West, to spread their version of Islam that is so appealing to the energies and determination of violence-hyper-sensitized young men draws them into fearless suicide pacts.
Ready recruits for Islamic jihad, they become more than willing sacrifices, intent to succeed in their mission, laying fear and doubts aside for the message that their deeds will be glorified in the annals of the Islamic struggle, and their names will be read as heroes.
How to combat this brand of heedless anti-humanism?
Labels: Human Relations, Political Realities, Religion, Security, Societal Failures
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, May 05, 2010
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