A friend of mine sent it to me September 13th 2001. I believe he wrote it and will credit it to his name until I find out otherwise. It's pretty heavy reading and very strongly opinionated, but definite food for thought this Christmas. Yes, one could indulge in the material aspects of christmas, all that gift giving and buying. It is definite reprieve from reality and what Christmas should surely mean in such troubled times. However, in very Catholic and Jesuit tradition, one must learn to doubt, to questionselves and to critique our tradition, heritage and beliefs. Even more so this Christmas.
Whether you agree or disagree with the writer, I ask that you respect his thoughts and understand that this posting is meant to invoke your reflections on the Judeo-Christian traditions that we have come to embrace during this time of year. Perhaps you wish to question this tradition, or ask why or how we have somehow come to be so polarized and isolated from our fellow muslim brothers and sisters. Or perhaps this speaks precisely to your beliefs and helps you understand your own faith better. I will post my thoughts on this article as soon as I can gather it into a cogent idea. I invite you to email me or post comments if you wish.
Peace and love to you all. ~mooncake
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Thoughts on September 11, 2001
by JL
This morning, when i was having my breakfast, my half boiled egg
exploded in my face, an incident all 27 years of my life i've never encountered b4,as if it was a stark reminder of what has happened, and may happen next.
Considering the entire outlook of things, the leadership ability needed to lift humankind out of this universal suffering will be borne by mortals who so far have even failed to understand the enormity and the extent of such a situation. How can we put our collective faith in the man who is the leader of the free world who, in the first few moments of the attacks, was busy dodging attacks on himself from such nefarious and evil acts by the terrorists? How can we look at this whole matter when we ourselves are merely putting on a reactionary front, trying to counteract anything and everything these fundamentalists will throw in our path?
This is not a personal attack on the failings of the bush admin. But we all miss the point when bush declares the acts of terrorists cowardly, when he has to be brought to Nebraska because of the fear of the safety of air force one, or that Cheney has to move to camp david for the very same reason.
Instead, there is a fundamental problem lying beneath the obvious
veneer of reactionary anger, fury and hatred.
The world economy value system which we have so believed in and cherished, which has brought us a golden age of technological excellence, is but an implement designed to bring the world closer together, in a safe and peaceable environment where every nation can partake in the peace and the wealth.
This value system, ironically, holds no grounds for belief in the
faith and belief system of a fundamentalist. on the contrary, it is this very same system, of mercantilism, of pan-western democratic capitalism, that rogue elements devoid of nation-state nationalities can delight in causing the destruction of the entire world.
They would have observed the strikes, the demonstrations, in seattle,
In Durban, in any place imaginable where capitalism and americanism have reared its form. We can take away curbside check-ins and steak knives on board airplanes, but how do we dispel the hate and the value system underlying the operable mindframe of a fundamentalist who sincerely believes in the reward of a heaven from the invocation of a jihad? Which is a more appropriately frenetic invocation? Can article 5 mean anything in the eyes of a man who sees only the force of god, first to wreak their wrath on the infidels, then to save the afterlife of the agent?
If such an economic-interdependent value system, which served us so well after the post-ruins of the 2 world wars, have indeed appeared outmoded to build a foundation of peace and stability, is there something else we can all collectively, or individually do, to recreate the foundation? The more we hold steadfast in the belief that world banks and bourses can survive such an attack, the more fundamentalist zealots have the justification that what they have done and will do is mightily right in the eyes of their god, and their leaders.
The times have changed and a new world order must be erected. No more can we rely on an integrated economic community from protecting us against the evil and malice of a rogue element that holds no leanings on nationality, or economic interdependence. This time, it is not New York or America that is under attack.
A new revolution has been set in place, and until we find a new and
radical currency to arm ourselves from these agents of terror, we lose all forms of capital needful to build a soulful society, and will only resort in reactionary thuggery against a manifestation which is exactly and deliberately rational and purposive. we lose, more than just our markets and bodies. We lose our souls and senses.
There is a perennial question which man can only fathom and never grasp: how do we effect a security policy against an agent hellbent on
sui-genocide? When the weapons of choice are not bombs, or rifles, but the enpoisioned fury of a disengaged mind? if the guy sitting across u just wants to kill u and everyone in the building so bad becoz he has an ingrained understanding that god is waiting for him on the other side the plane of existence?
When people become armed with an ideologically displaced understanding
that our enlightenment-judeo-christian system is holisitcally and entirely cleavaged, dislodged, and bipolarized from, security means absolutely nothing anymore.
U can�t deter this, u can�t prevent this, u cant pre-empt this.
Worst of all, u cant kill them.
Our reactionary strikes like conventional warfare, clinical strikes,
carpet-bombing, economic sanctions mean nothing.
one united stand from nato, from security council - nada.
Kamikaze Japanese bombers sacrificed their lives for their emperor.
this time round, there is no sacrifice. The only thing they wanted to
do was praise god and be with him.
For us, we walk in His path, sing His praises, show our empathy and compassion. In the extremist moslem school, "it is not right to kill
innocent people." Unfortunately for humanity, if your not moslem, your not innocent.
If al-q'aeda were next to u rite now, your dead in 2 seconds.
Is this the way God will hear us make an impassioned plea for Him?
Long have we thought Gods second coming comes in the face of debauch.
We have long pleasured ourselves in material sin, but here, there is a fundamentally different form of evil.
We can�t fight this without God. It is an ideological war grounded in faith, and if we don�t see it this instant, you�ve already been dead for as long as u lived.
