Running, Fanatics, and Prayers Answered
NorthernMantis wrote: <i>"Most people seem to forget that many people of different nations died that day. It wasn't an atack on US in general, it was an attack on humanity. Bin Laden is friggin hypocryte and coward. He doesn't even follow his own religion corectly. I say he's in it for something else.</i>
Hello All,
I've looked at 9-11 as a tragedy for the world as well, not something confined to the USA. Any event where this many folk die (regardless of cause) is a global happening, not something confined to a locality. I felt the same about Bhopal, Chernobyl, Rwanda, etc. In addition to the diversity of the victims, like it or not, much of the worlds economy is tied to happenings in the U.S.A. This is one of the reasons Bin Laden's Al Quaida (and other terrorist groups) would love to smash the U.S. economy--hence the original WTC bombing a few years back (which at the time took out something like 5 basement floors). Envy, jealousy is a biiig part of this hatred for the U.S.
The self-proclaimed "Righteous of Allah" simply cannot come to grips with the fact that for all their ranting and claims that they speak and act for god, they are still living in hovels and having to force people to observe outdated tribal and religious customs (otherwise they would wage an ideological war, not one directed at economic targets). The thinking runs along the lines of "those immoral heathenistic, Americans (or insert your country/culture) are living successfully, reaping rewards WE DESERVE! We had better fix this before people start asking why they're successful and we're not..." In their eyes, it is the rest of the world that is misguided. Like homegrown fanatics here in the US of A, they realize that their position is not based upon reason, and know that the only way they will convince themselves and their followers that there may be some truth to their claims of divine sponsorship is to destroy something magnificent and beautiful. The freedom of their own people. Or about 3,000 unarmed other people and lots o' jet fuel, steel and concrete oughta do the trick!
All hail God, who has delivered a miracle! Ah, God. Sponsor of Al Quaida, John Walker Lindh, Aryan Nations, Branch Davidians everywhere, women's clinic bombers, terrorist shieks, and those loving televangelists who beg for "love offerings" from their multi-million dollar pulpits. Sigh. Fills my heart with goodness to know that yes, <b>prayer really does work.</b> Riiight? After all, if God answered a prayer as big as Al Quaida's....
Blaming the USA and striking at civillians going about their day-to-day business is easier for them than correcting the vast problems with the Saudi political/religious regime. But if 9-11-01 shows they were right because they succeeded...what does the fact that the Taliban were (mostly) wiped out mean?
This is a good time for the world to remember. NOTHING is truly safe. A jet could take out the Eiffel Tower today. Or vaporize the Kabbah at Mecca. Or maybe another big, stone Buddah. A bullet can rip through a soldier, or a smiling toddler indifferently. It doesn't know the difference. But people do--we have the capability of the vilest meanness and also they bravest kindness. And it is people we must watch. Vigilence is the price of Safety. If 9-11-01 has done nothing else, it has reminded us that everyone has an Achilles Heel. No-one is immortal, and nothing stands forever. Whether our monuments fall under the weight of time, or the weight of cruelty (our own or our neighbor's) is simply a matter of circumstance and preparedness.
Last but not least, "Blaming the Victim" in this case rings hollow--folks trying to rationalize this insanity really do look like a bunch of nutters. It's the USA's fault? Which US folks? The kids on the playground? The businessman trying to make a buck? Organized labor? Housewives? Atheists? Receptionists? The guys who signed the Bill of Rights, and the countless generations of men and women who improved upon the dreams eminating from it? C'mon. Listen to these blame mongers. They are either U.S. citizens laden with guilt over their own personal selfish actions, or whiney Frenchmen who never got over the fact that the U.S.A. saved their smelly posteriors from Adolf (since we're on a first-name basis with Osama, Saddam, etc...). Silliness--they can't be taken seriously. Not seriously enough to upset me, at any rate.
I will do what I did last year, run at 8:15/m pace until my legs give out, and then crawl to a friendly telephone & collect call a ride. Then I will BBQ a steak (need protein after the run), and while eating it, hope that ignorant fundamentalists everywhere will bring about their own demise--whether the remnents of the taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, or our homegrown fanatical christians in the US of A. No candles, no flowers, nothing special, really. I celebrate the good, the innocent, the sincere every day. Always have.
As for turning the other cheek, taking the blame, swallowing the world's innocent, and jest fergettin' abouddit, as some suggest--sometimes we have to make war to have peace. I just hope we finish what we start before we stretch ourselves too thin. Or commit to WWIII. What frightening thoughts.
Happy Trailways to You,
M.C. Busman
mc_busman@Bigmailbox.net