Another ISIS beheading: Alan Henning
10-05-2014, 10:56 PM
I'm not about about to argue about historical perspective. Fighting about the question of being right however derived from myriad sources lends itself to the digging in of heels and creating opposing sides based upon the need to be correct, no matter the consequence. Everyone, no matter how educated, has their own perspective. We have learned through life long lessons and by the schooling of people who teach information based both on accurate and inaccurate versions of history, colored with their own views. Quotes may be misinterpreted, taken out of context, or simply influenced by the record keeper. They may also be only wrong. Most portrayals of history are similarly biased.
The history of the U.S., only a little over two hundred years old, has been rewritten so many times by so many different points of view that the truth of actual events is disappearing rapidly. Imagine then debating with any amount of certitude the events of ancient history. Quotes can be rewritten with every publishing of a book, intent of purpose may be obscured if only to draw unbiased conclusion.
Hard evidence, actual surviving documents committed from pen to paper by actual authors, need be considered within the time frame they are written. Bullet points of the U.S. constitutions have been bandied about, some by the certainty of the exact words, some by the perspective of changing times.
Debate is a healthy and necessary means to advance our understanding of people. If no middle ground of thought regarding other points of view is achieved or given considered thought and understanding, little is accomplished. Unyielding certitude should be tempered with the ability to understand opposing points of view and evolve. It is unfortunate, but even "fact" is debatable. Truth often has more than one side, one viewpoint.
I lecture too much when I am often guilty of the same mindset. Personally I find debate among people with open minds and differing points of view will do humanity a great service. In a spirit of humility and humbleness on my own behalf, I'll say it again: We teach what we most need to learn.
Now, on topic:
Full disclosure, I am not religious at all. Early in life I was educated in a Catholic school and forced daily to catechism. Later in life I was pushed into a sect of the Lutheran church. I have read the bible, which makes reading War and Peace child's play (the begets are mind deadening). Pushed into my hands in Utah when I was passing through the state by a well meaning Mormon who thoughtfully "highlighted the meaningful parts", I have read the Mormon bible (as much as I could stomach and far more than I should have wasted time doing). In college my coursework included classes on the history of religion, and the history of religion in art.
And finally, to my continuing utter horror, my partner's parents are evangelical. Yes, after 30 years together I am the tremendous pink elephant in the room when they visit. With the passage of time, however, their views of us (me) have softened - Mark's mother has actually referred to me as her son-in-law and Mark is still the only beneficiary in their will. All is not lost.
In short, I am a masochist in many ways.
Concerning ISIL:
Radical religion is based on the complete devotion, utter certitude, that words written thousands of years ago, whether original or reinterpreted, are rigid truths which must be obeyed at all cost by everyone on Earth. Any person(s) with differing views are abominations and must be forced to see the path of truth or exterminated. Think of the Borg in Star Trek. Political and economic interests are well served by such zealotry.
ISIL's certitude has driven them to the barbaric acts fueled by the relentless belief of their religion (compounded by said political and economic manipulation). Such rigid certitude in any religion must be corrected or we would still believe our world was flat and only six thousand years old. Educating people immersed in unyielding belief is an immeasurable task. Such zealots must be forced to acknowledge reason since they entrenched in belief which is hurting/killing innocent people. Such rigid stricture kills the progress of mankind. I am reminded by Plato's the Myth of the Cave in which people slowly crawled from the dark into the light of new surroundings and knowledge, even when blinded by the pain and fear of moving into that light.
Mankind does not learn from the reasonable teachings and mistakes of our past. Perhaps such growth, which requires lessons from our past be permeably applied to our journey forward, requires thousands of years. In truth I believe we have wasted too much time trying to attain growth. We are mired in obstructed ideas of far too many individuals of differing time periods who believe(d) beyond all measure of doubt that they held/hold the single ideology that was/is good for all mankind. A rolling stone gathers no moss; institutions, wealth, and power were then built around such ideology.
My suspicion is that until time moves people to collectively reconsider the effects of power, material wealth, rabid obdurate systems of belief, and the need to thoughtfully manage the resources of our planet in the face of capricious unchecked population growth, we will remain unable to find the progress portrayed in Plato's allegory. Our attention spans seemingly too short to comprehend and apply the lessons of the past while remaining firmly entrenched in outdated ideology, it is difficult to believe we will discover mankind's true potential.
This war will be long. This undertaking, started long before the turn of the millennium, fought against people immutably unwilling to act moderately within their own religion, will stretch before us for many years.
Actual learning and the ability to apply acquired knowledge become more difficult each step of the way. Imagine Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin before the first human space flight. Segue to Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. Exciting, sure. Terrifying, definitely. Leaping into the unknown, no matter how well you judge the leap, requires guts. It requires the "Try, try, again..." philosophy that naysayers will discourage at nearly every turn. Even now attempting to get twenty people to agree on any one or two differing courses of action is tantamount to performing oral autofellatio; it is possible, but not probable. Elevating these religious sects to the point of listening and considering new ideas will be a lengthy and difficult process.
Adding to the length of this conflict will be those people motivated by fear that other cultures are usurping their belief systems and decide to aid in the effort against a U.S. coalition. Even people of moderate religious belief may consider that invading forces threaten their ideology and also band against us . Fear, fathered by anger, is a great motivator and it has already undoubtedly added to the numbers we face in warfare.
ISIL's unconscionable actions have earned them the wrath they now face. Their crusade has effectively united more powerful countries to fight against them. Yet even when defeated, those members who inevitably survive and fade into the masses will add to those who have festered ill will toward us and our allies. They will continue to spread fool's logic and hate into the next ugly rebellion. Even now, caught between a rock and a hard place, our actions in Syria may well breed the next war.
The immediate culprits in ISIL will be found and held accountable. Many people innocent and guilty, will die. But the war will be long. And it will not be the last. The Israeli vs. Palestinian ideological/land conflict which teetered precariously on the brink has yet to be fought, and I strongly doubt the U.S. will stay on the sidelines. Iraq with its brand new nuclear threats hold the promise of more war. North Korea, a hotbed of human rights abuse, bristles with military might. The complexities of China and U.S. relations hold vast potential for military conflict. And then there's Russia, which is a big pot of who the hell knows.
Even here in our own country, large factions are forming, and too few are listening and compromising. Money has corrupted us. Our military machine has spilled over into American life and civil rights are squashed daily. The outcome of our internal struggles has yet to be determined. If we observe the lessons of history, no empire (in any form) lasts forever.
Combined with exponential population growth which will serve to compound problems in every way, we have not begun to fight our last battles. The atrocities of war will undoubtedly escalate.
My thoughts are with the families of those men who needlessly lost their lives in such a barbaric fashion. And also those people who will risk their lives to stop ISIL in the weeks, months, and years to come.
This concludes the sermon of the mounted.
The history of the U.S., only a little over two hundred years old, has been rewritten so many times by so many different points of view that the truth of actual events is disappearing rapidly. Imagine then debating with any amount of certitude the events of ancient history. Quotes can be rewritten with every publishing of a book, intent of purpose may be obscured if only to draw unbiased conclusion.
Hard evidence, actual surviving documents committed from pen to paper by actual authors, need be considered within the time frame they are written. Bullet points of the U.S. constitutions have been bandied about, some by the certainty of the exact words, some by the perspective of changing times.
Debate is a healthy and necessary means to advance our understanding of people. If no middle ground of thought regarding other points of view is achieved or given considered thought and understanding, little is accomplished. Unyielding certitude should be tempered with the ability to understand opposing points of view and evolve. It is unfortunate, but even "fact" is debatable. Truth often has more than one side, one viewpoint.
I lecture too much when I am often guilty of the same mindset. Personally I find debate among people with open minds and differing points of view will do humanity a great service. In a spirit of humility and humbleness on my own behalf, I'll say it again: We teach what we most need to learn.
Now, on topic:
Full disclosure, I am not religious at all. Early in life I was educated in a Catholic school and forced daily to catechism. Later in life I was pushed into a sect of the Lutheran church. I have read the bible, which makes reading War and Peace child's play (the begets are mind deadening). Pushed into my hands in Utah when I was passing through the state by a well meaning Mormon who thoughtfully "highlighted the meaningful parts", I have read the Mormon bible (as much as I could stomach and far more than I should have wasted time doing). In college my coursework included classes on the history of religion, and the history of religion in art.
And finally, to my continuing utter horror, my partner's parents are evangelical. Yes, after 30 years together I am the tremendous pink elephant in the room when they visit. With the passage of time, however, their views of us (me) have softened - Mark's mother has actually referred to me as her son-in-law and Mark is still the only beneficiary in their will. All is not lost.
In short, I am a masochist in many ways.
Concerning ISIL:
Radical religion is based on the complete devotion, utter certitude, that words written thousands of years ago, whether original or reinterpreted, are rigid truths which must be obeyed at all cost by everyone on Earth. Any person(s) with differing views are abominations and must be forced to see the path of truth or exterminated. Think of the Borg in Star Trek. Political and economic interests are well served by such zealotry.
ISIL's certitude has driven them to the barbaric acts fueled by the relentless belief of their religion (compounded by said political and economic manipulation). Such rigid certitude in any religion must be corrected or we would still believe our world was flat and only six thousand years old. Educating people immersed in unyielding belief is an immeasurable task. Such zealots must be forced to acknowledge reason since they entrenched in belief which is hurting/killing innocent people. Such rigid stricture kills the progress of mankind. I am reminded by Plato's the Myth of the Cave in which people slowly crawled from the dark into the light of new surroundings and knowledge, even when blinded by the pain and fear of moving into that light.
Mankind does not learn from the reasonable teachings and mistakes of our past. Perhaps such growth, which requires lessons from our past be permeably applied to our journey forward, requires thousands of years. In truth I believe we have wasted too much time trying to attain growth. We are mired in obstructed ideas of far too many individuals of differing time periods who believe(d) beyond all measure of doubt that they held/hold the single ideology that was/is good for all mankind. A rolling stone gathers no moss; institutions, wealth, and power were then built around such ideology.
My suspicion is that until time moves people to collectively reconsider the effects of power, material wealth, rabid obdurate systems of belief, and the need to thoughtfully manage the resources of our planet in the face of capricious unchecked population growth, we will remain unable to find the progress portrayed in Plato's allegory. Our attention spans seemingly too short to comprehend and apply the lessons of the past while remaining firmly entrenched in outdated ideology, it is difficult to believe we will discover mankind's true potential.
This war will be long. This undertaking, started long before the turn of the millennium, fought against people immutably unwilling to act moderately within their own religion, will stretch before us for many years.
Actual learning and the ability to apply acquired knowledge become more difficult each step of the way. Imagine Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin before the first human space flight. Segue to Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. Exciting, sure. Terrifying, definitely. Leaping into the unknown, no matter how well you judge the leap, requires guts. It requires the "Try, try, again..." philosophy that naysayers will discourage at nearly every turn. Even now attempting to get twenty people to agree on any one or two differing courses of action is tantamount to performing oral autofellatio; it is possible, but not probable. Elevating these religious sects to the point of listening and considering new ideas will be a lengthy and difficult process.
Adding to the length of this conflict will be those people motivated by fear that other cultures are usurping their belief systems and decide to aid in the effort against a U.S. coalition. Even people of moderate religious belief may consider that invading forces threaten their ideology and also band against us . Fear, fathered by anger, is a great motivator and it has already undoubtedly added to the numbers we face in warfare.
ISIL's unconscionable actions have earned them the wrath they now face. Their crusade has effectively united more powerful countries to fight against them. Yet even when defeated, those members who inevitably survive and fade into the masses will add to those who have festered ill will toward us and our allies. They will continue to spread fool's logic and hate into the next ugly rebellion. Even now, caught between a rock and a hard place, our actions in Syria may well breed the next war.
The immediate culprits in ISIL will be found and held accountable. Many people innocent and guilty, will die. But the war will be long. And it will not be the last. The Israeli vs. Palestinian ideological/land conflict which teetered precariously on the brink has yet to be fought, and I strongly doubt the U.S. will stay on the sidelines. Iraq with its brand new nuclear threats hold the promise of more war. North Korea, a hotbed of human rights abuse, bristles with military might. The complexities of China and U.S. relations hold vast potential for military conflict. And then there's Russia, which is a big pot of who the hell knows.
Even here in our own country, large factions are forming, and too few are listening and compromising. Money has corrupted us. Our military machine has spilled over into American life and civil rights are squashed daily. The outcome of our internal struggles has yet to be determined. If we observe the lessons of history, no empire (in any form) lasts forever.
Combined with exponential population growth which will serve to compound problems in every way, we have not begun to fight our last battles. The atrocities of war will undoubtedly escalate.
My thoughts are with the families of those men who needlessly lost their lives in such a barbaric fashion. And also those people who will risk their lives to stop ISIL in the weeks, months, and years to come.
This concludes the sermon of the mounted.
![[-]](https://gayspeak.com/images/duende_v3_local/collapse.png)
