In Reply to: The question is more religous than political posted by Mr. Don on June 23, 2004 at 09:50:01:
Thanks, Mr. Don. There is an interesting religious discussion here, and I was trying to get there with my first clumsy analysis. I'll admit that my mind is more on the exers board right now, but I am thinking/reflecting/studying on this Islam-Jew-Christian thing. We are, after all, all people of the Book and the original Covenant with Abraham, whether we like it or not.
And these beheadings are a religious statement by the Islamacists. So we can argue all we want about how they got it all wrong and they don't serve El, the God of Abraham at all, but are really demon-lead.
But before we rush to judgment, I want to hear out the case these very devout zealots are trying to make. I want to stop the beheadings, and I see no sure-fire way to stop these guys until we figure out where they are coming from. It's not enough to say they hate freedom. That doesn't completely explain what is being said by this select group of terrorists--all of who are directly identified with Al Qaeda--when a beheading occurs. The are saying they fear and hate the infidels and they don't accept our definition of freedom.
You know, it makes me wonder about that homespun guy from Mississippi. You had to love the him--he has a very simple, unpretentious faith. Why was he spared? I think he got lucky and it wasn't his day to die. He said in his public statements, though, that he was ready to die if that was what the Lord wanted. He just sort of knew from the beginning that the guys who snatched him weren't bent of killing him.
These are ritual slaughters that are going on. Men are being slain in the sight of god as a sacred act of vengeance. I am not saying I believe that is pleasing to my higher power, but I am saying there is a Higher Power in all of this, particularly in the midst of ritual religious slaughter. I'm appleaing to that Higher Power for some understanding. From what I've been reading, this beheading stuff resonates pretty deep in the Islamic psyche. These is a religion where some adherants literaly whip themselves into an ecstatic frenzy with belts, chains, and leather staps.
I believe there is a deep spiritual dimension to what is occurring with these particular blood sacrifices--a tradition that goes back to Abraham and Isaac. I hesitate to jump into a discussion about how the tradition of blood sacrifice works itself out in Judaism and Christianity, but it's worth thinking about and pondering.
I just can't stop thinking about these people who are being offered up in the name of obedience--isn't that what "islam" means? obedience or submission?
I think about the crazy stuff we here have done in the name of religion. There are Mormon cultists in America who have done ritual blood slaughters of outsiders and scapegoats. Maybe we should be thankful that lust is the worst madness Berg lead us into. I have enough insight into the way cultic belief systems can bend minds that I can see how religious fanaticism leads to barbaric practices like beheadings.
Enough of my rambling. I'd like to hear more of what you have to say about the Jewish-Christian-Moslem thing.