by Lueyen » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:59 am
As far as the religious question, Christians have close ties to Judaism, remember Christ was a Jew. Jews see him as a prophet, and don't recognize his divinity as Christians do. In essence Jews are still waiting for the fist coming if you will. While this means a major philosophical difference, at the core Jews and Christians still worship the same god. There are also quite a few similarities between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity (but obviously some major and difficult to reconcile differences). Personally the biggest difference I see would be in the advancement of faiths if you will. Radical Islam is very predominant in modern times and by radical I mean the mindset that everyone else is not only wrong, but must either convert (by force if necessary) or be destroyed. Frankly this is not far removed from Christianity (at least in the more medieval times and the past Roman Catholic brand of it) during the time of the Crusades. The difference in modern day is that there isn't a cohesive influential movement in Christianity or Judaism that actively seeks to destroy other religions and the practitioners of them. Basically acceptance of peoples of different beliefs and faith to the extent that you don't feel the need to kill them on religious principal is something that Judaism and Christianity have evolved into... this is not the case for at least a portion and very influential one at that of modern day Islam. While I'm sure there are isolated cases, for the norm the vast majority of Jews and Christians are not out to kill differing faiths or "wipe them off the face of the earth". With Islam however this does exist in a measurable extent.
The adage "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" holds true here. Jews and Christians have learned to peacefully coexist, radical Islamists have not. Until Islam realizes an evolution into a religion that completely shuns the radical ideals of the destruction of other peoples of differing faiths there will always be strife. The problem that stops this from happening is the mixture of the Islamic faith into government and politics.
Honestly Radical Islam is a glaring example of a reason for separation of church and state. To the radical Islamist the two are completely inseparable, man is in the end governed by god, and there for government by the faith and the leadership of that faith is by extension a natural and necessary arrangement. Western culture to these radicals is on the surface a obscenity, in that man is not directly governed by God, and much deeper a threat to the power and esteem of the religious organizations. The grip that Islam has now in government and politics is that children are raised and taught radical hatred in many Arab countries. To give an example there was a person on a radio talk show I was listening to today that called in and described a part of his childhood schooling in Iran, where on a daily basis students were expected to stand and shout out "death to America". Be it through fear, or a sense of brotherhood, more rational Muslims often do not speak out or oppose the radical side. "You fight one, you fight us all" is the mentality that results. Frankly it's not that dissimilar to our support of Israel in that aspect, save for the difference that Israel if left alone would not actively seek to destroy. It is both a testament to the Muslim mindset of a strong sense of brotherhood, but also it's greatest downfall. Allegiance to your brother is commendable, but it becomes a problem when it is absolute despite your brothers deplorable actions.
Organizations like Hezbollah are worse imho then Al Qaeda. At least Al Qaeda has to operate below the surface and while it may enjoy the support of various governments unlike Hezbollah it is not an unconcealed political force. I see it as akin to the racial revolution this country experienced not long ago in our past. While previous generations were very bigoted, it has become less and less acceptable. Over time children are not being indoctrinated into the racial hate and bigotry mindset. While it still exists it will eventually fade away we will not convert if you will the entrenched bigot who has know and thought that way all of their lives, but we can isolate and prevent the passing of those beliefs generation to generation. Racism and bigotry will eventually fade, not because of government mandate, but because of a change in society’s mindset, and the eventual passing away of those who refuse to change.
All that aside however, my current support and resolve to back Israel does not stem directly from religious ideal, but that of a common foe. From a national interest standpoint Israel is the most US friendly country in the region. Much deeper though is that we are opposing the same force that will not change regardless of ours or Israeli action (or inaction). That force will never be content to live and let live, they will always seek to wipe us out, and destroy what this country stands for. Do I see it conceivably possible for them to succeed? Not really but if someone was dead set on taking my life, even if they had no feasible way of touching me, I'm not going to ignore them and hope they go away. Failure to watch your back in a case like this can only result in the very least something detrimental to you. The history of this conflict has demonstrated that compromise and concession do not work, principally because in nature that route is flawed. There can be no compromise; no hope of peace if one side doesn't really want it, and any compromised reached is only given as a means to the end of the other sides destruction.
I am very concerned at this point. I fear our support for Israel is starting to waiver. Talk of a cease fire, of at least a temporary conditional truce scare me, not because I see it as a bad thing innately, but because I do not believe a truce or ceasefire even temporarily should require any compromise on Israel’s part. If Israel chose to do so it could be completely and utterly victorious in its conflict with other countries in the region, in essence Israel is fully capable of the goals of its enemies, it could wipe them out... fortunately this is not true for the opposing side. From a military standpoint Israel is holding aces, and its opponents have little if anything to realistically work with. Israeli demands in the release of captured soldiers and the disarmament of the Hezbollah as provision of a cease fire/truce are both fair and facilitate at least a state of uneasy peace; there should be no compromise in this. While militarily they hold the upper hand, but I fear that politically they do not. It may come to pass that my greatest criticism of the Bush administration may very well be a failure to support Israel. I fear that our direction will not be one that's goal is working toward lasting peace in the region, but one of political pandering that will result in a short term uneasy false peace, and one that is only gained by again sacrificing Israel's position and defense capability.
Holy shit... I need to make cliff notes for that.
Raymond S. Kraft wrote:The history of the world is the history of civilizational clashes, cultural clashes. All wars are about ideas, ideas about what society and civilization should be like, and the most determined always win.
Those who are willing to be the most ruthless always win. The pacifists always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.
