Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 13:07:51 -0100
From: hbone <hbone-AT-optonline.net>
Subject: Re: 9/11/01



Eric wrote:

> I was talking about Americans subjectively, not objectively. Certainly
> the map does not fit the territory, as I thought as I showed in one
> paragraph in my post, referencing some of the terrible things we have
> done in the middle east.
>
> What I meant was this. American policy is really a form of
> anti-globalism because its wants to act unilaterally to achieve its ends
> with the narcissistic thought that there will be no consequences>
> 911 revealed that project to be a folly.

> Like you, I refuse the resurgence of religion, whether Islamic,
> Christian or Jewish.  All are involved in a mystification that must be
> overcome.  My hope is a world where people begin to take responsibility
> for their own actions and not ask "why does god permit this to happen?"
> (It happens because of neo-liberalism in the context of globalism. God
> is irrelevant!)

Like all the ancient mythmakers, priests, philosphers, and poets, we search
for a personal theodicy to ease the pain of death and loss. For  many of the
global population, the Judeo-Christian or Islamic versions of God are the
answer.

Buddhists  and Hindus have other beliefs, but all are humbled by Earth's
uncontrollable events.

If God is irrelevant, Nature must be irrelevant. Most of us think Nature
"is", whether God created Nature or vice-versa.  We call disasters over
which we have no control,
"Acts of God", and we call the best happenings of our lives, "God-given".

God is a name we give the mysterious cause(s) of phenomena we experience.
With all the fantastic advances of science, humanity has come to the
threshold of other mysterious unknowns - black holes, dark matter, stem
cells, and more.

I expect the mass of humanity is as likely to give up its belief in air,
food and water, as to give up its religion.  Religions teach tolerance and
condemn murder, yet religious wars are the darkest chapters of history.
Sacrificial death has been the centerpiece of Christianity for 2000 years
and all
wars are sacred wars, especially those that caused about 160 million deaths
in the 20th
century.

So why not give peace a chance, and try to persuade God's believers to do
likewise.

A fanatic has been described as one who does what God would do if he had all
the facts.

I agree that anti-terrorism can be as destructive as terrorism, and think
there is a  window of opportunity for some form of global democracy of
nation-states which the U.S. is about to slam shut.

best regards,
Hugh