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Thoughts on Osama bin Laden.
14 years ago
I'm sure you must know by now that Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks on 9/11, was killed in Pakistan this past Friday. People everywhere celebrate, they say that "justice" has been served.
Such ignorance. When I look out into the world I see only mindless patriots and petty, bloodthirsty religious extremists.
This was not "justice" - just the strong destroying the weak. - Only a refurbishing of the cycle of hatred, this will not bring back the innocent people who were killed at the World Trade Center. On the contrary, it will only increase the likelihood that further atrocities will happen again in the future. It is only a blemish on their name, just another murder in the name of some false notion of "justice".
Soon more violence will be done in the name of "justice" - only this time against the murderers of a religious leader. Revenge will only beget more revenge. Abstractions such as "justice" always have a history and a context, more then often one stained with blood.
This is not a battle that can ever be won with military might.
It is a battle of ideas.
Of religious indoctrination, of people never questioning themselves or their life's assumptions - or being too weak to deal with the pain that comes with growth. Having confidence in one's own righteousness is always a measure of ignorance, to have such ultimate faith in one's righteousness is then ultimate ignorance. To not question one's birth into Islam is one thing, to murder others in the name of one's faith with ultimate certainty is quite another.
It was Socrates who said that "I know that I know nothing."
An act of violence will never lead to a lasting or meaningful time of peace. The ends do not justify the means, but rather it is our actions in the present that give way to the future.
The people in the middle east should be educated, taught to think for themselves, rather then carpet-bombed and shot down in the streets. Too question all beliefs, including religious ones; so that maybe they won't follow people like Osama bin Laden or Hosni Mubarak.
To be people who won't hide behind abstractions like "justice," who deal with reality as it is, - who accept difference in themselves and others. -
Only when this happens can the endless tragedy of human history finally be put to rest.
Such ignorance. When I look out into the world I see only mindless patriots and petty, bloodthirsty religious extremists.
This was not "justice" - just the strong destroying the weak. - Only a refurbishing of the cycle of hatred, this will not bring back the innocent people who were killed at the World Trade Center. On the contrary, it will only increase the likelihood that further atrocities will happen again in the future. It is only a blemish on their name, just another murder in the name of some false notion of "justice".
Soon more violence will be done in the name of "justice" - only this time against the murderers of a religious leader. Revenge will only beget more revenge. Abstractions such as "justice" always have a history and a context, more then often one stained with blood.
This is not a battle that can ever be won with military might.
It is a battle of ideas.
Of religious indoctrination, of people never questioning themselves or their life's assumptions - or being too weak to deal with the pain that comes with growth. Having confidence in one's own righteousness is always a measure of ignorance, to have such ultimate faith in one's righteousness is then ultimate ignorance. To not question one's birth into Islam is one thing, to murder others in the name of one's faith with ultimate certainty is quite another.
It was Socrates who said that "I know that I know nothing."
An act of violence will never lead to a lasting or meaningful time of peace. The ends do not justify the means, but rather it is our actions in the present that give way to the future.
The people in the middle east should be educated, taught to think for themselves, rather then carpet-bombed and shot down in the streets. Too question all beliefs, including religious ones; so that maybe they won't follow people like Osama bin Laden or Hosni Mubarak.
To be people who won't hide behind abstractions like "justice," who deal with reality as it is, - who accept difference in themselves and others. -
Only when this happens can the endless tragedy of human history finally be put to rest.
An epic party - the likes of which FA has never seen...
...occurs eternally in this journal footer.
Only the coolest of the cool kids were invited though.
Just the way that most media outlets talk about how president Obama has killed someone so nonchalantly. It feels kind of unreal, like I woke up in the dark ages of something.
The U.S is in at least three active wars now. Like barbarians in suits. In fact, most barbarians are likely to wear suits anyway.