It's the second day since the attacks in Paris. there's signs that we're probably going to go through a trauma of somekind pn RF and are lashing out at each other. That was somewhat predictable but it's ugly to watch. Regardless of what I say, it will probably have its own momentum which will have to burn itself out, so I realise that I'm probably not speaking to those who actually are the one expressing these opinions as any attempt to take the "other side" is some sort of betrayal. but if you are reading this, I hope in the muddle of these thoughts I will give you some pause and you will take a step back and ask what you are really angry about. maybe help this heal a little faster.
be honest, you don't hate "them". For the most part you don't even know who "they" are. What really scares you is the fact that something like what happens in Paris disturbs our sense of complacency, that "someone" is intruding our own lives. that someone "out-there" wants you to be afriad for being yourself, and it is offensive.
I'm not prone to quoting scripture, but there are somethings that religions got right. At times like this, we should remember to "love thy enemy". And no, love is not a weakness or cowardice in the face of atrocity; if anything it is because we have to see how wretched people who do these things are, how utterly pitiful that we stop being afriad of them because then we know they can be defeated because they defeated themselves a long time ago.
These are people who feel overwhelmed by the world, by the pace of the changes that are going on. they feel at the mercy of forces beyond their control. they lash out and try to fit the world into some kind of preconcieved pattern where they believe they will make them safe. But saftey is always just out of their grasp, their sense of vulnerability, the feeling of insignificance nashing at their heals, drowning in the knowledge of the futility of fighting a rising tide, filled with the lust for blood. It doesn't matter whether they are Muslims or not, fanatics are essentially all the same; they live with a permanant state of emotional diseqilibrium between the belief in the authoritarian insistence on the purity of their ideals and the imperfections of a world that changes and grows, as all things do. they are as tyrannical to themselves as they are to others. their perfectionism is the root of their fanaticism and personal growth their greatest enemy. their ideals cripple them; that is why they are angry and also that is why they will be beaten.
They are, in their own way, victims because they have come to see the world as a nightmare and then they try to make it real for everyone else. The only thing that they can do is make us afriad. Terrorism, is by definition an admission of failure. it means that you have failed to convince people, and that you do not believe that people will hear you or listen to you or be convinced. you can't make the change the want so you are fighting for relevance, whether it be on the pages of newspapers or on the television screens. you are already dying, so what harm is there in taking everyone else with you? so you scare them. you make them feel mortal, and you use their own power against them.
The West has made mistakes in the middle east, and there is no doubt that these things will not be resolved for a long time. no matter how angry you feel, days will pass and your anger will not end the conflict in Israel or Palestine; ISIS will still be flying under a black banner in Iraq and Syria, and Saudi Arabia will still be selling oil to the West. These things won't change just because you get angry and feel hurt. When Bin Laden attacked the World Trade Centre, it wasn't simply because he had greivances with the West. He needed us, he needed us to lash out and to inspire the kind of hatred in the Middle East that would make his dream of an Islamic Caliphate a reality. He succeeded in so far as the US and the UK invaded Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan. the cost of those wara- along with many other things- broke the US economy and the source of their power. its struck at our sense of self-assurance as well.
Once, there was Al Quieda. Now there is ISIS. Don't let them make you angry or afriad. That is what gives them their power. it is what makes them relevant. turn off the TV. stop reading the newspapers. you have lives to live. don't let them take that away from you because they made you feel mortal. they too are mortal and they are already defeated, not on the battlefield, but in the war of ideas. they can't make us dream, they don't inspire us, they do not have joy or love in their hearts. they can't make us want to be like them. they are more afriad of you, than you are of them. What they fear is that void- that there is this vast and godless world, just over the horizon, where people live in the choas of choices, without clear meaning, purpose and who are content with a big mac, a coke and extra fries. They have seen the depths of hell and it is the West and its open for business, spreading the nihilist decadance of consumerism deep in to the Muslim world. The Infidel is being broadcast into their living room- and they feel surronded like there is no escape. the serpant from the garden of eden slithers round the dark recesses of their minds, the devil hissing uncomfortable truths. they want it to stop- whatever the cost. And who is decide what is sane in this crazy world?
So what of it? bombing us won't build a new world. it won't solve the poverty or hunger of the Middle East. it won't heal age old ethnic or religious conflicts and get people to work together. But when your that insigificant- it feels good to **** off everyone else. it makes you relevant. it make you big. it makes you matter. in other words, terrorists are the internet trolls of global politics.
Ignore them. don't give them what they want. don't take it out on the "Muslims" as if they are all the same as that. don't give them more victims to indoctorinate or use fear as a weapon. "love thy enemy" and you'll see the only weapon they have is their own destruction. they are martyrs because they think they haven't got anything better to give the world. prove them wrong- show them you are not afriad and perhaps they'll realise they don't have to be either. the only thing they fear more than us, is becoming like us.
thats why they hate us- because someone made them hate themselves and they blame "us" for reminding them of their vulnerabilities, their imperfections and the sands of time slipping through there fingers, fearing that they will be judged as harshly as they judge others. death is their enemy as much as their weapon. death kills there dreams too. love thy enemy and you'll see the child who grew up to want to kill people. how wretched a fate is that for a human being? isn't there some part of you that would wish they had a greater ambition than being the monster hiding under your bed? forgive them. they live as if they are already dead.
be honest, you don't hate "them". For the most part you don't even know who "they" are. What really scares you is the fact that something like what happens in Paris disturbs our sense of complacency, that "someone" is intruding our own lives. that someone "out-there" wants you to be afriad for being yourself, and it is offensive.
I'm not prone to quoting scripture, but there are somethings that religions got right. At times like this, we should remember to "love thy enemy". And no, love is not a weakness or cowardice in the face of atrocity; if anything it is because we have to see how wretched people who do these things are, how utterly pitiful that we stop being afriad of them because then we know they can be defeated because they defeated themselves a long time ago.
These are people who feel overwhelmed by the world, by the pace of the changes that are going on. they feel at the mercy of forces beyond their control. they lash out and try to fit the world into some kind of preconcieved pattern where they believe they will make them safe. But saftey is always just out of their grasp, their sense of vulnerability, the feeling of insignificance nashing at their heals, drowning in the knowledge of the futility of fighting a rising tide, filled with the lust for blood. It doesn't matter whether they are Muslims or not, fanatics are essentially all the same; they live with a permanant state of emotional diseqilibrium between the belief in the authoritarian insistence on the purity of their ideals and the imperfections of a world that changes and grows, as all things do. they are as tyrannical to themselves as they are to others. their perfectionism is the root of their fanaticism and personal growth their greatest enemy. their ideals cripple them; that is why they are angry and also that is why they will be beaten.
They are, in their own way, victims because they have come to see the world as a nightmare and then they try to make it real for everyone else. The only thing that they can do is make us afriad. Terrorism, is by definition an admission of failure. it means that you have failed to convince people, and that you do not believe that people will hear you or listen to you or be convinced. you can't make the change the want so you are fighting for relevance, whether it be on the pages of newspapers or on the television screens. you are already dying, so what harm is there in taking everyone else with you? so you scare them. you make them feel mortal, and you use their own power against them.
The West has made mistakes in the middle east, and there is no doubt that these things will not be resolved for a long time. no matter how angry you feel, days will pass and your anger will not end the conflict in Israel or Palestine; ISIS will still be flying under a black banner in Iraq and Syria, and Saudi Arabia will still be selling oil to the West. These things won't change just because you get angry and feel hurt. When Bin Laden attacked the World Trade Centre, it wasn't simply because he had greivances with the West. He needed us, he needed us to lash out and to inspire the kind of hatred in the Middle East that would make his dream of an Islamic Caliphate a reality. He succeeded in so far as the US and the UK invaded Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan. the cost of those wara- along with many other things- broke the US economy and the source of their power. its struck at our sense of self-assurance as well.
Once, there was Al Quieda. Now there is ISIS. Don't let them make you angry or afriad. That is what gives them their power. it is what makes them relevant. turn off the TV. stop reading the newspapers. you have lives to live. don't let them take that away from you because they made you feel mortal. they too are mortal and they are already defeated, not on the battlefield, but in the war of ideas. they can't make us dream, they don't inspire us, they do not have joy or love in their hearts. they can't make us want to be like them. they are more afriad of you, than you are of them. What they fear is that void- that there is this vast and godless world, just over the horizon, where people live in the choas of choices, without clear meaning, purpose and who are content with a big mac, a coke and extra fries. They have seen the depths of hell and it is the West and its open for business, spreading the nihilist decadance of consumerism deep in to the Muslim world. The Infidel is being broadcast into their living room- and they feel surronded like there is no escape. the serpant from the garden of eden slithers round the dark recesses of their minds, the devil hissing uncomfortable truths. they want it to stop- whatever the cost. And who is decide what is sane in this crazy world?
So what of it? bombing us won't build a new world. it won't solve the poverty or hunger of the Middle East. it won't heal age old ethnic or religious conflicts and get people to work together. But when your that insigificant- it feels good to **** off everyone else. it makes you relevant. it make you big. it makes you matter. in other words, terrorists are the internet trolls of global politics.
Ignore them. don't give them what they want. don't take it out on the "Muslims" as if they are all the same as that. don't give them more victims to indoctorinate or use fear as a weapon. "love thy enemy" and you'll see the only weapon they have is their own destruction. they are martyrs because they think they haven't got anything better to give the world. prove them wrong- show them you are not afriad and perhaps they'll realise they don't have to be either. the only thing they fear more than us, is becoming like us.
thats why they hate us- because someone made them hate themselves and they blame "us" for reminding them of their vulnerabilities, their imperfections and the sands of time slipping through there fingers, fearing that they will be judged as harshly as they judge others. death is their enemy as much as their weapon. death kills there dreams too. love thy enemy and you'll see the child who grew up to want to kill people. how wretched a fate is that for a human being? isn't there some part of you that would wish they had a greater ambition than being the monster hiding under your bed? forgive them. they live as if they are already dead.
Anyway, hopefully we don't repeat history.
