RE: [humanmarkup-comment] Thoughts on Cultural Blinders and 9/11

["Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@ingr.com>]

I have a female co-worker who looked at afghanistan 
and said, "The hippies had it right; free love.  If 
those guys had more sex, they'd be too tired to fight."
Amusing and maybe there is some truth to it.  Whatever, 
I suspect Jihad fever has an analogue in net flame 
wars:  endorphin addiction.   

To modify the cultural disease, the signs that induce 
absolutism have to have alternative interpretations and 
these alternatives must have cultural value that rewards 
members who espouse and practice the behaviors that 
signify them.   This is a subject that requires deep 
study because simply going to relativism won't work.

The way of the east that teaches compassion, tolerance, 
and self-restraint is one way.   I like it because it 
easy to understand even if difficult to practice 24X7X365.

len

-----Original Message-----
From: Rex Brooks [mailto:rexb@starbourne.com]


Yes, it can get better. I agree on that and on working on HumanML as one means.

Neither am I in serious or deep despair, just a little on the gloomy 
side at the moment as I maneuver myself back to the work at hand. The 
short term manipulation of the Islamic world by al Quaeda and the 
jihad merchants, such as Sheik Mohammed was in the Taliban, is 
worrisome. But both the Islamic world and our world both need to 
start listening and hearing each other, rather than talking past each 
other or shouting "evil" at each other as we have been treated to 
from both sides.

We have the right and duty to defend ourselves and right now that 
means taking measured military and diplomatic actions. When we sink 
to "demonizing" our opponents, no matter how richly we FEEL they 
deserve it, we fall into that monkey trap right alongside the 
Israelis and the Palestinians and al Quaeda.

The problem is the appeal to raw, unthinking emotionalism. Yet when 
our communications fail to take the emotions into account, we also 
fall into a trap of a different kind, but that is another discussion.

One wishes the Islamic women were as powerful as the southern white 
women, and in time, I am reasonably sure they will be, though they 
have a much tougher male-dominated, testosterone-driven culture to 
contend with than women from our western culture. I wish them the 
best in overcoming that domination.

Ciao,
Rex

P.S. Thanks for the chance to continue relieving myself of these 
burdensome thoughts. Soon I will have no excuses left but to get back 
to work, eh?