Paris
SIGH.
ISIL has won a big battle in a short period of time. They've set off the hatred and bigotry all over the place.
I'm reading calls for expulsion of all Muslims. I'm reading calls for stripping Muslim Americans of their citizenship and "sending them back to the Mideast" (there are many Muslims who are not from the Mideast). Everywhere I turn, I run into hate and Islamiphobia.
I have Muslim friends and colleagues. I worry about them, especially now. It's also going to get harder for other minorities as well... the pot's been stirred and hate for one group will spill out for another. It happened after 9/11 - Sue and I both saw it, and she went from being a favorite substitute teacher in the local school system to fired in a few short months (she was blamed for things she didn't do and they used their "does not fit the school" as justification).
I've tried to comment in several areas that this is EXACTLY what ISIL wants. It should be obvious to EVERYONE, they want war. They want people hating on Muslims (and if it's true to form, Jews will also get blamed even though they may have had nothing to do with it). They want FEAR.
I know I'm pissing people off when I point out that for every group like ISIL, you can find a counterpoint in Christianity (like the Army of God) - and their churches want war with Islam too (a nuclear war - which will "force Jesus to return... oh, that's right, not force - a nuclear war must happen before Jesus CAN return"). Dogemperor talked about this - how the preachers would go almost orgasmic over the idea of a nuclear war. She's right. I've heard and read it.
The thing is, I can also see that there are hands pulling strings behind the scenes, and people need to follow the money. These acts distract people from other issues (like the gap between the rich and the rest of us) and keeps them hating on people and ignoring the real cause of their misery... the elites. It's been said years ago that fundamentalism is the result when ordinary people realize at some level that the system doesn't work for them - and I'd argue that the "system" is working against them, especially in the Mideast (where you have American elites trying to make a killing, local elites trying to get every penny out of their people they can, and so on).
People don't think about this - that the ratio of non-Muslims killed by groups such as ISIL compared to Muslims killed by the same is HUGE, like a hundred to one to maybe thousands to one. They don't seem to realize that they're in more danger from the very real Christian terrorists in this country than they are from Muslims.
I grieve for the victims, and for their families and friends, and for their country. I feel concern and worry for our American Muslim people and Muslims in other countries (like France).
I also realized that many of the ISIL cannon fodder are victims in a way too... they've been programmed and manipulated into doing things I think they'd otherwise reject. I HAVE read accounts saying that many of the people who join that organization think they'll be doing good, but they find themselves little more than slaves. I'm reminded of Patty Hearst and the SLA in a way. She was guilty of crimes, but what about those who captured and brainwashed her? Those who encourage and teach things like this are EVEN MORE GUILTY!
There is another lesson in this, and that is most people can be manipulated or coerced into doing quite evil things - and led to believe that the evil is good. It also reminds me of Nazi Germany and the Nuremberg trials. Most people think they're above things like this but they need to take a good look in the mirror and ask themselves how easily they could be manipulated.
We of good hearts and of the light need to make our voices heard - that hate and blaming an entire religion for the actions of the militant fundamentalist faction is not the answer. It's not those horrible Others, and we need to strive to see the faces BEHIND the hands. The fact is, EVERY mainstream religion has its good people, its decent liberal faction, its conservative faction (who would use the law to force their religion on others if they could), its fundamentalists, and its militant terrorists.
We need to get to and deal with the core causes of the real problem - fundamentalism. That means enabling people to have hope (REAL hope, not false hopes), a decent life, and so on... and eliminating the exploitation and abuse which is part of the reason for the horror of terrorism and often its justification.
ISIL has won a big battle in a short period of time. They've set off the hatred and bigotry all over the place.
I'm reading calls for expulsion of all Muslims. I'm reading calls for stripping Muslim Americans of their citizenship and "sending them back to the Mideast" (there are many Muslims who are not from the Mideast). Everywhere I turn, I run into hate and Islamiphobia.
I have Muslim friends and colleagues. I worry about them, especially now. It's also going to get harder for other minorities as well... the pot's been stirred and hate for one group will spill out for another. It happened after 9/11 - Sue and I both saw it, and she went from being a favorite substitute teacher in the local school system to fired in a few short months (she was blamed for things she didn't do and they used their "does not fit the school" as justification).
I've tried to comment in several areas that this is EXACTLY what ISIL wants. It should be obvious to EVERYONE, they want war. They want people hating on Muslims (and if it's true to form, Jews will also get blamed even though they may have had nothing to do with it). They want FEAR.
I know I'm pissing people off when I point out that for every group like ISIL, you can find a counterpoint in Christianity (like the Army of God) - and their churches want war with Islam too (a nuclear war - which will "force Jesus to return... oh, that's right, not force - a nuclear war must happen before Jesus CAN return"). Dogemperor talked about this - how the preachers would go almost orgasmic over the idea of a nuclear war. She's right. I've heard and read it.
The thing is, I can also see that there are hands pulling strings behind the scenes, and people need to follow the money. These acts distract people from other issues (like the gap between the rich and the rest of us) and keeps them hating on people and ignoring the real cause of their misery... the elites. It's been said years ago that fundamentalism is the result when ordinary people realize at some level that the system doesn't work for them - and I'd argue that the "system" is working against them, especially in the Mideast (where you have American elites trying to make a killing, local elites trying to get every penny out of their people they can, and so on).
People don't think about this - that the ratio of non-Muslims killed by groups such as ISIL compared to Muslims killed by the same is HUGE, like a hundred to one to maybe thousands to one. They don't seem to realize that they're in more danger from the very real Christian terrorists in this country than they are from Muslims.
I grieve for the victims, and for their families and friends, and for their country. I feel concern and worry for our American Muslim people and Muslims in other countries (like France).
I also realized that many of the ISIL cannon fodder are victims in a way too... they've been programmed and manipulated into doing things I think they'd otherwise reject. I HAVE read accounts saying that many of the people who join that organization think they'll be doing good, but they find themselves little more than slaves. I'm reminded of Patty Hearst and the SLA in a way. She was guilty of crimes, but what about those who captured and brainwashed her? Those who encourage and teach things like this are EVEN MORE GUILTY!
There is another lesson in this, and that is most people can be manipulated or coerced into doing quite evil things - and led to believe that the evil is good. It also reminds me of Nazi Germany and the Nuremberg trials. Most people think they're above things like this but they need to take a good look in the mirror and ask themselves how easily they could be manipulated.
We of good hearts and of the light need to make our voices heard - that hate and blaming an entire religion for the actions of the militant fundamentalist faction is not the answer. It's not those horrible Others, and we need to strive to see the faces BEHIND the hands. The fact is, EVERY mainstream religion has its good people, its decent liberal faction, its conservative faction (who would use the law to force their religion on others if they could), its fundamentalists, and its militant terrorists.
We need to get to and deal with the core causes of the real problem - fundamentalism. That means enabling people to have hope (REAL hope, not false hopes), a decent life, and so on... and eliminating the exploitation and abuse which is part of the reason for the horror of terrorism and often its justification.