Zealotry
(Note: I just rediscovered this essay written back in 2007, and it feels relevant today, so here goes.)
By reading books about Islam, I’m trying to piece together histories never taught in school. Somewhere around 25-30 books are under my belt now, but I'm not sure I'm making much progress. The latest was The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, by Amin Maalouf, which left me marveling at the wanton bloodshed caused by both sides during those inglorious eras.
Did you know that some of the Crusaders acted as cannibals, and hunted Arab villagers down for food? Do you know how the Cult of the Assassins came about? This book documents those and other atrocities.
I find myself speculating how the pools of Jews, Christians, and Moslems persisted side by side in the Middle East for millenia, albeit with major pogroms launched against Jews, and wars between the other two now and again. But, still, in the in-between times, the regular times when there was no great war, how did they get along?
The Jew, the Christian, the Moslem, each with his holy book, all originating in the same cradle of civilization. And now very much at war, in our time, with an idiot king, I mean President, who summoned the awful cry of the Crusaders in his call to action following 9/11, not even knowing how his words would reverberate throughout an Islamic world that has not forgotten the stains of that past.
That political leaders of both major parties in the U.S. cannot summon the courage to admit this country has made a major mistake by invading Iraq is frightening evidence that the war was never about anything more than securing our addictive supply of oil, rationalized as a mission to "democratize," (read: "Christianize") the heathens (the "Believers.") Bush the Decider is utterly clueless about the Middle East.
His coterie of advisors, however, knew exactly what they were doing. Now they are getting desperate, never a good thing in geopolitics. Expect something horrific to happen before next year's elections.
Know why I don’t practice any religion?
Because I love life and I love being alive and I love people. I had a button in the Sixties (as many others did) that said simply: God is Love.
HEADLINES:
A deal or a mirage? Trump’s Iran ceasefire collides with chaos on the ground (CNN)
Israel’s Netanyahu calls for talks with Lebanon ‘as soon as possible’ (Al Jazeera)
Iran’s Battered Leaders Emerge From War Confident — and With New Cards (NYT)
Ships remain cautious approaching Strait of Hormuz amid fragile ceasefire (BBC)
After Trump pauses war, Iranians fly flags of victory, not surrender (WP)
Iran war has exposed the weakness of the dollar (FT)
Trump says U.S. ready for ‘next conquest,’ warns military will remain near Iran until ‘real agreement’ is honored (CNBC)
1979 Is the Year That Explains Donald Trump (Atlantic)
GOP praise pours in for Army chief of staff ousted by Hegseth (The Hill)
Supreme Court remade by Trump ushers in historic defeats for civil rights (WP)
In a rare public criticism of a fellow justice of the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor knocked her conservative colleague for his justification of racial profiling in immigration-based stops of U.S. citizens. [HuffPost]
Apocalyptic threat paused war but fueled debate about Trump’s credibility, morality (WP)
A Last Chance for Hungary (Foreign Affairs)
The AI job loss story is all about bundles (FT)
China deploys new battlefield AI in command tent. It outsmarts everyone (SCMP)
Why one of America’s most revered newsrooms is striking against AI (WP)
State Department Issues Travel Warning For Women Vacationing With Husbands (Onion)
It's almost as if our civilization is being intentionally stress-tested!
- George Bush thought he got some divine message in church to invade Iraq (https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9618531).
- Trump being grazed by a bullet, his success with the Venezuela invasion, both incidents perhaps contributing to Trump's decision to invade Iran.
If God were involved, the point seems to be: don't look to me for your answers, figure it out yourselves! Except for, indeed, "love one another."
Hi David. Whether monotheistic religion has done more harm than good may be a deeply divided issue, with critics pointing to historical violence, conflict, and resistance to scientific progress and proponents highlighting religion's providing hope during personal crises as well as social cohesion. But for me, the writing (in blood lost on all sides) is on the wall.
I believe the Iran war was triggered mainly by Iranian indignation against Israeli Jews, since 1948, because of Israeli Zionists driving 750,000 Muslims (the religion of the vast majority of Iranians and Arabs) off their Palestinian land (the Nakba), and then since 1967, occupying the rest of Palestine (from the river to the sea) and continuing that violent expulsion. That Iranian indignation then incites hatred which is reciprocated by the Israeli government, and a growing majority of Israelis, 93% of whom support the war.
Such religious indignation/hatred against the Israeli occupation of Palestine led to the “Death to Israel” Iranian slogan, which I interpret to be “Down with the Israeli government.” Sure, there has been a fight for power by the two militarily strongest and most bellicose states in the Middle East. But that fight for power might not have led the world to the ongoing war that will likely continue without the catalyst driven by dueling religious states—one a theocracy, the other an ethnocracy--that don’t faithfully represent their own idealization of God. For me also, David, God is love (thy neighbor).