The Sadistic Future

Something bad is happening in America. Something dark and malignant has planted itself into the young minds of American teens and is eating its way through there souls. That something is violence.

Violence is a part of all of us at all times. It surfaces when we honk our horns at slow drivers. Every time feel hate, it makes itself felt in the heat of our brow. But there is a very real difference between cursing your classmate and shooting him dead. And there is an even bigger separation between shooting one person in a moment of temporary anger and planning a mass slaying involving many people who had never done anything bad to you in their lives.

I do not know what is going on. I have no answers for why these things seem to be occurring more often than they did 25 years ago. I have no solutions for how to make the situation better. All I know is that these horrible acts were not nearly as prevalent then as they are today, and that scares me a bit.

I am not afraid for myself. I have very little to fear as I treat others kindly for the most part and do my best not to allow anger to control my actions. But I am afraid for the coming generations. For if the level of this nasty form of brutal expression continues its course, our children will die not because they did something wrong, they will die because they were only in the wrong place with the wrong person.

Perhaps this is connected to a combination of children who are brought up with little attention from their parents. Too much time spent in front of an aggressive and sadistic TV programming and too little time spent with nurturing loved ones.

So I will ask this of my readers – spend some quality time with your children each day. Teach them to talk about their problems and work them out peacefully. If this does not solve the problem, at least it will not worsen it.

Our children are our most valuable resource. Let’s not waste it.

Sticks and Stones

It is hard to understand religion sometimes. How one group can profess a faith and yet follow it so loosely (or not at all) baffles me. For example, a faith that preaches tolerance and love might reject entire groups of people based on little or no reason. The comments made by the Pope last week fit into that category.

It is my belief that many religions in the world spread themselves via violence and force. Christianity and Islam are the two that immediately come to mind. Both share a penchant for bloodshed and coercion that seem to undermine claims of peace and love.

Christianity has the Inquisition, the Crusades, and a long history of forcing pagans to follow or else.

Islam also has numerous examples, but is becoming more and more famous nowadays due to terrorism and suicide bombings around the world. Also, Muslims in many parts of the world are following the lead Christianity set so many generations ago by forcing conversion to Islam under the threat of death.

So it should be no surprise to know that many people recognize these historical facts and may even quote them. I am a firm believer in freedom of speech. But it should surprise us quite a bit when one of the major religious leaders in the world feels the need to talk about the violent beginnings (or nature) of another religion in public.

Public leaders need to be more careful about what they say - period. If I condemn Islam as a violent religion, no one will care and no one would probably get hurt. But the Pope says it and people die.

It amazes me that the Pope did not have the wisdom to know that the words he used last week would serve only to fan the flames of anger, violence, and hatred. I am not saying what he said is wrong – that is not for me to judge. I am not saying that he meant what he said in a mean-spirited way – I cannot know his heart. I am only saying that it was pointless and ignorant to malign another religion in such a public manner, and it shows how insensitive and foolish we have become as a society.

I am also saying that when the Pope bad mouths Islam by saying it had violent beginnings, it is as ironic as what the pot said to the kettle.

Likewise, if an Imam in Syria wants to say bad things about Christianity, he may do so. That is his right – just as it is the Pope’s right to talk about Islam. But again, it is stupid and useless speech that only serves evil more of the hatred on which it thrives.

My point is this: The Pope’s comments bring no benefit to our society. The Imam who preaches violence against those who are not Muslim is more a part of the problem than a part of the solution. In the end, is not religion supposed to be about solutions and higher morality? Anyone in the public eye must hold themselves to a higher ethic, because what they say can affect others in a more profound and immediate fashion.

But in the real world, religion is better thought than in practice. If the idea of religion attracts people, it is the severity of it that keeps its followers in line. Tolerance ends where religion begins. One need only view history repeating itself to prove that point.

The Pope blew it with his words last week. I am sure that the actions of others in the months that follow will only make things worse. More blood in the name of God.

Conspiracy Cads

I, like most people, love a good conspiracy theory. Conspiracy means intrigue, drama, and reasons behind things. To be honest, conspiracies tend to bring order to chaos and understanding to the unfathomable. However, those who espouse conspiracies at every turn are taking a vacation from reality more often than not.

I will use 9/11 as a perfect example of the above.

There is no doubt that 9/11 is, to date, the most powerful moment my generation will remember. It is both politically and personally significant for people in the U.S. and around the world. So it should not surprise us that the conspiracy theorists (CTs) came out in force before the rubble had even settled.

Just for kicks, I will list a couple of the most popular theories here. But, before I get into it, let me first say that I am NOT saying what happened or did not. I am not personally qualified to conclude anything with a high degree of certainty. I am not an engineer or an architect. I was not in NYC at the time of or after the attacks, and I did not inspect the debris. My points here will not be of that nature. I will simply make the argument put forth by Ockham’s Razor – The explanation with the fewest assumptions is the best one.

Having said that, here goes…

1. The Towers were imploded and did not fall as a result of the airplane collisions.

Again, I will not get into the whole, “The WTC should have fallen sideways and not straight down,” or, “The fuel from the planes could not have burned hot enough to melt the structure.” I am simply going after the reasoning behind it all. Let’s list the official story and then some of the CTs stuff and compare them both.

Offical:
Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda planned and financed the attacks because they hate the U.S. for a number of political reasons.
Groups of terror cells worked for years to prepare for the attacks and the steps they took are now widely documented.
The cells carried out the attacks in small teams.
The burning fuel caused a structural malfunction in the towers causing them to collapse.
Video of Bin Laden after the attacks shows him taking credit for the plan and commenting on how he had not expected them to fall completely.

CT:
All of the above.
High-ranking members of the Bush cabinet, Bush family, and corporate buddies joined forces to set up an excuse to attack Iraq for the oil.
Members of the Bush family also had large stakes in the WTC and would make billions from 9/11.
Bombs were planted in the towers to implode them after the planes impacted.
Everyone who was involved in the plan (and it must have been many, many people) kept quiet about it afterward.

Using Ockham’s Razor, it is easy to pick a winner here. The second option simply has too many variables and assumptions.

For one, no one can keep a secret anymore. No one. Period. If more than one person knows about it, it will get out. So I find it highly unlikely that the CTs have this one right. Imagine the number of people that would need to be involved in orchestrating the CT.

The whole foundation of the CT Bush plan is based on money. That is more believable. But how believable is it that our leaders would turn to mass murder of our OWN people to make money? Not very. Killing people from other countries has never been of much concern to the politicos. But Americans? I just find it to be too improbable.

Now, I have no doubt that 9/11 left the Bush admin with a very easy way to manipulate the American people into attacking Iraq, and get the oil that is there. But it is mush more likely that was just serendipity for the Bush clan and not a set up from the very start.

I guess my point here is: I just cannot believe that people in the highest echelons of our government set up something this complex and evil, executed it to perfection, and kept it a secret. I just don’t buy that. No one is that smart, not everyone in the government is evil, and no one runs a ship that tight.

Next…

2. The Pentagon was hit by a truck bomb and not a plane.

This one is out in la-la land, but let’s touch on it. Here is why I don’t buy this one either.

1. The number of eyewitnesses who saw the plane is too great for it to be conspiracy.
2. There is video of a plane hitting the building.
3. An airliner disappeared somewhere. If it did not hit the Pentagon, where did it go?
4. All the so-called evidence put out by the CTs on this one are pic-tricks and B.S.
a. Asking questions like, “Where did the wings go?” for example is bogus. The wings are made of lightweight aluminum. The Pentagon is a re-enforced concrete and steel structure. Wings would truly disintegrate if a plane were to hit at that speed full of fuel.
b. Some claim that photos show one thing, but the photos are only shown at angles that lend to the CT. Photos from other angles debunk the CT outright and are not used by the CTs.

There are more examples out there – that the Air Force shot down Flight 93, for example. But it works out to be the same argument for me. I guess my thing is this: Give me a GOOD CT and I will follow. Give me crap and I will call it that.

If the CT is less complex than the official story and makes REAL sense, I can buy into it. Otherwise, save your breath and my time and just go away.

In my opinion, CT is popular because it helps people get over their loss and grief by offering some greater reason behind it all. I don’t believe we get off that easy. I think that the inconsistencies that the CTs see are due to tons of human error (on the U.S. side) combined with tons of willpower and single-mindedness (on the Al Qaeda side). We ask ourselves why and we look for someone to blame. Even when the person or persons responsible step forward, some of us still need more. It is not enough and never will be because the hole inside us remains. We assume that means the official story if wrong. So we dig where there is no need to dig. And we see darkness and evil everywhere.

The shadow of 9/11 still casts itself across the world and the ghosts of the people who died that day are around us even now. The sad thing is that we will never know all of what happened or why. Instead of turning to the future to build it together, some of us (CTs especially) get stuck the past and are condemned to relive it in their own way.