FearFeasting
[Yep, an all-politics post. And yes, you'll see more of them here, so long as raqs' place of origin is directly affected by politics... -- WJH]
I drove by the excellent blog BuzzMachine today, to encounter something I've forgotten about -- the heady scent of Islamofear:
What depresses me isn't so much the fear. To forget that day is to forget too much about the nature of the world we live in. The world is "really scary", and it's depressing that the two young ladies he overheard see it as "Entertainment". I hope they got something out of the movie, something about sacrifice and heroism. Something that sticks in their craw about the human condition, and man's capacity for both good and evil.
However, Jeff's reaction seems less that helpful. Not because he's not right, but because he's right inside the sphere of "immediate reaction", a reaction he received the VERY hard way. Yet, that's not the sphere of a long-term solution, not the sphere of "OK, what do we do to resolve it"? Because the solution is not to "blow the bastards back to Bagdad", which is, to put it kindly, a knee-jerk reaction. The Iraq War was fueled not on Protection of our shores, but on Vengance, American Hubris. Vengance was the fuel of choice for the masses, still terrified and fearful, and of the planners who took the fear and ran with it into Iraq. And it's been very obvious, from the beginning, that this whole idea was poorly planned, poorly staged, and horribly executed, with the burden not on the planners, but upon proud and stoic soldiers.
I'd suggest that it's easy to be enraged. It's harder to remember that the lessons of so many wise men are about working past the whole gamut of negative emotions; Jesus only raised his hand in anger once, so what makes us think we have more right to hurt people than Him? Simply put, to dwell in vengeance is to dwell in sin. To wrap your cause in anger is to reject the best of humanity, to become like those who you hunt. Perhaps worst of all, when you become like the Fake Islamicists we fight, you totally reject the core values of America.
See, the core values are not about the shell of America, as a gov't, a physical place, even a set of laws. Rather, they are the ideas: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Not the pursuit of fear, or of rage, or vengeance. There is Liberty in the cold face of Justice, as impartial and blind as we poor humans can make her. When you give up vengeance, you get back your Life. If you instead choose to attack without defining your enemy, without a plan to truly defeat the enemy, without an idea of securing the peace, you are not Pursuing Happiness. You're not even following
There is no place for fear, or vengeance, in that equation.
I drove by the excellent blog BuzzMachine today, to encounter something I've forgotten about -- the heady scent of Islamofear:
[snip]I think it is quite clearly a sobering reminder of a crime perpetrated against thousands of innocent people by deluded fanatics.
And so perhaps we do need that reminder.
As I went into the theater to buy my ticket, I heard two young women talking about what to see.
"United 93," said one, "that's the one about the terrorists who take over the jet."
Her friend replies, "You know I don't like action pictures."
"It's not really scary," says the first.
It's just another thriller to them, about a story apparently forgotten.
Yes, perhaps we need to be reminded of the anger and the hate. We need to be reminded to be scared.
What depresses me isn't so much the fear. To forget that day is to forget too much about the nature of the world we live in. The world is "really scary", and it's depressing that the two young ladies he overheard see it as "Entertainment". I hope they got something out of the movie, something about sacrifice and heroism. Something that sticks in their craw about the human condition, and man's capacity for both good and evil.
However, Jeff's reaction seems less that helpful. Not because he's not right, but because he's right inside the sphere of "immediate reaction", a reaction he received the VERY hard way. Yet, that's not the sphere of a long-term solution, not the sphere of "OK, what do we do to resolve it"? Because the solution is not to "blow the bastards back to Bagdad", which is, to put it kindly, a knee-jerk reaction. The Iraq War was fueled not on Protection of our shores, but on Vengance, American Hubris. Vengance was the fuel of choice for the masses, still terrified and fearful, and of the planners who took the fear and ran with it into Iraq. And it's been very obvious, from the beginning, that this whole idea was poorly planned, poorly staged, and horribly executed, with the burden not on the planners, but upon proud and stoic soldiers.
I'd suggest that it's easy to be enraged. It's harder to remember that the lessons of so many wise men are about working past the whole gamut of negative emotions; Jesus only raised his hand in anger once, so what makes us think we have more right to hurt people than Him? Simply put, to dwell in vengeance is to dwell in sin. To wrap your cause in anger is to reject the best of humanity, to become like those who you hunt. Perhaps worst of all, when you become like the Fake Islamicists we fight, you totally reject the core values of America.
See, the core values are not about the shell of America, as a gov't, a physical place, even a set of laws. Rather, they are the ideas: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Not the pursuit of fear, or of rage, or vengeance. There is Liberty in the cold face of Justice, as impartial and blind as we poor humans can make her. When you give up vengeance, you get back your Life. If you instead choose to attack without defining your enemy, without a plan to truly defeat the enemy, without an idea of securing the peace, you are not Pursuing Happiness. You're not even following
There is no place for fear, or vengeance, in that equation.
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How could no one comment on this since April? Every word you spoke was truth. I've never heard my feelings captured so perfectly. Maybe everyone has just been too dumbstruck to comment.
Thank you.