collisionbend.com

Primers here and here.

This guy is scary.

I’m not sure who the “millions of muslims that have been killed” are. I’m really not.

I remember reading about the 11 million people, including 6.2 million Jews, killed under the rule of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s and 1940s. Some of them may have been muslim, I’m sure; however, far many more Christians died at Hitler’s hands than muslims, I guarantee.

I remember reading about the 40 million people that died under the rule of Josef Stalin in the U.S.S.R. from the early 1920s to the late 1950s under the pogroms and the purges. It is from this reign of terror that the expression “keep your allies close, and your enemies closer” has its roots. I’m sure that many muslims died at Stalin’s hands, as well.

And, sure, many thousands of muslims died at the hands of a series of crusades by insane Christians that held the belief that if you didn’t believe their way, you should die.

But that was 700 years ago; we’re all a lot smarter and a lot more enlightened today.

Well, most of us. Please read on.

Total it all up, and I seriously doubt if “millions of muslims” have died, at least at the hands of the West, in reality. Many thousands of muslims, as well as millions of Christians, and millions of Jews — have all died in the name of one thing: God.

Now we have teachers of Islam, one of the most peaceful religions on the planet, teaching that attacking and killing thousands of innocent people is a righteous thing to do — in the name of an unseen cadre of “millions of muslims” that have been killed.

You have to wonder what this guy — as well as Osama bin Laden — as well as any other terrorist that preceded him — is smoking.

As I understand Islam, war is against the Five Pillars of Islam, only to be taken up when someone invades in order to subjugate, which has never been the desire of the West for the Middle East — well, at least publicly.

I can understand the anger at what has gone on in the Middle East, the role of the West, and more. What I can’t understand is the wholesale slaughter of innocents by those who, like Abdullah agrees, aren’t instructed by God “to go out and kill innocent people.”

Let’s get one thing straight here: God doesn’t instruct anyone to go out and kill innocent people; people instruct people to go out and kill innocent people.

And while many major peaceable religions say that self defense is a righteous thing, these extremists are taking their peaceful religion and twisting it to say that it’s OK to go out of your way to attack and kill those with whom you disagree, as if they were the ones that attacked you in the first place.

Ohhhhh-Kay.

Xiolin (Shao-lin) teaches the Tao te Ching, which is the premise that one should go with the flow of things and be at peace with everything (to paraphrase severely). Only if one is faced with an intractable foe should one use deadly force — in fact, the use of deadly force is a shameful thing, unless it is so justified.

The Tao te Ching also states: “trying to manipulate the force of all is like playing with the Master Carpenter’s tools: one is apt to cut oneself.”

I can’t agree more.

So I have to question the sanity of those who make those instructions and say that “God says it’s OK: it’s your duty; go kill.”

Yeah, right.

The funny thing is that it’s starting to create a backlash here at home — even among those who abhor the violence (as I do). I have heard many peaceable folk speak about “eradicating” these extremists from the face of the Earth.

And if these extremists keep up the crap, that is exactly what will happen; it’s the way of things.

~~~~~

On a related note, my bride and I attended the Cinema at the Square tonight. The feature: “To Kill a Mockingbird,” starring Gregory Peck.

Anyone familiar with the story will tell you even today that this country has a lot to learn about tolerance (which is why I said “read on” earlier).

I have never seen this flick on a large screen, uncut and in one sitting; I now have a more enlightened opinion of one of America’s best examples of cinematic art.

It’s a shame that no one, either in the parking garage or at the box office, knew about the $1 parking offer from the ad in the Pee Dee’s Friday magazine: they both said to speak to the other guy.

While the experience was excellent, and it was grand to see the theater in its restored condition, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this series to anyone while such blatant false advertising is going on.

So, what do I conclude from all of this?

Well, we (humans) are not perfect. None of us. We try; we fail; we try; we succeed.

Life is a learning process. All we can really do in this world is to try to leave things a little better than when we found them, so that the next people in our — or other’s — shoes will find the walking a little bit easier.

And I wish someone would show Osama bin Laden “To Kill a Mockingbird.” He needs to get the message.