I Finally Figured It Out
By Publius1983 Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I've seen terrorism from Islamic radicals, and I could not for the life of me understand the reasoning behind it.
I've seen Islamic radicals burn flags and attack embassies because a newspaper published a political cartoon, and I could not for the life of me understand the reasoning behind it.
And now I've seen Islamic radicals call for the death of Pope Benedict XVI because they were offended by one of his speeches - and I finally understand just what it is I have been missing this entire time.
I now realize why it is that terrorism, jihad, and murderous rage over a piece of political satire are reasonable courses of action for the radicals, and why I am dumbfounded by such actions.
It is not because I have lived my entire life with the Bill of Rights. I've heard the argument that the radicals hate our freedom. I even bought into this logic to a good degree. These people are not rioting and murdering innocents because they have never experienced free speech, freedom of the press, or separation of church and state.
It is not because I do not share their hatred of America. I tried, in vein, to try and understand just how a person could hate a country like ours, or its actions, so much as to think that killing 3,000 innocents was actually a moral course of action. I could not see just how such an extreme hatred developed, because this hatred is not, by itself, the core of the problem, and the major difference between me and the radicals.
It is not because of religion. I have heard the atheist, or perhaps I should say anti-theist, argument that religion corrupts good men and makes them do evil things. I myself am a Roman Catholic, and I attend mass regularly. I have a picture of Pope Benedict XVI in my room, and a rosary hanging around the rear view mirror of my car. I have a very strong faith, and while I am registered as a Republican, I always have, and always will put Catholicism ahead of conservatism. As such I have a strong, perhaps even extreme opposition to abortion. But at the same time as much as I may feel hurt or insulted when an individual insults or attacks Catholicism, I would never endorse or call for the assassination of such a man. In short, while my faith is just as strong as theirs, I am not going to such bizarre extremes. Therefore, something else must be the root of the problem.
And now I finally see just what that something is....
It is that I am sane. I do not belong in a mental home and I do not need treatment for a severe psychological disorder. I am able to live my life day by day, and deal with problems in non-violent ways. I do not need blood to avenge an insult.
The Islamic radicals are insane - and I mean that quite literally. These people quite clearly have a drastic disorder. They lack the basic ability to deal with problems on a simple level that does not involve bloodlust or serious violence. I do not mean this as a joke or a punch line. I really and truly see this as the only plausible explanation for people to wish to kill a man because of a speech, or fly an airplane into a building, or burn an embassy over a cartoon.
Here in America, some radicals have decided to murder abortion providers in the name of the right to life. We have, rightfully, labeled these persons insane. We do not need to justify their view or their aspect. We simply accept that there is something very very wrong with them. Likewise, America must realize that these Islamic radicals suffer from the same ailment. We are fighting a war not on terror, but on insanity. It is not a war to defeat an ideology, it is a war to save reason.
This may not be a war that can be won militarily. It may not even be possible to ever win this war by any other method. But as the world stands right now, I am convinced that terror will not stop. You can not stop insanity, no matter how hard you try. I do not know how, or if we can win this war, though I wish I did. But these recent events have shown me that my past view was wrong. We are not dealing with an enemy that would ever listen to reason.
I just do not know how else to put it - this is insanity, pure and simple.
the IQ of any group, mobs included, is the IQ of the dumbest member divided by the number in the group. This is especially true of committees and groups of adolescent males.
In Vino Veritas
I have seen some Really dumb groups of adolescent females. Somehow, I doubt that adolescent males have cornered the market on that brand of stupidity...
"Always be honest with yourself even if you are honest with no one else...
...It helps you keep track of your lies..."
--Myself
- it is a war to save reason.
Yeah, that's pretty much what the Pope said.
Drink Good Coffee. You can sleep when you're dead.
"There will be peace in the Middle East when the Arabs decide they love their living children more than they love dead Jews."
Something like that - It's in the same vein.
Some people say that a mob is as smart as its dumbest member. And well, when some psychos whip people up into an emotional frenzy, you get a really dumb mob.
--
If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.