Jihad

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Dan says: >>Unfortunately, the danger (were there indeed any such danger) would be just the opposite - that Big Brother totalitarianism would appear disguised as neo-feudalism.<< --It would be disguised as a crusade against evil, no doubt. Communism was not evil because it was based on bad economic theory (at worst, it would have been a hasty and ill-prepared experiment, quickly rectified). It was evil because Communists saw evil in the system they grew up with, and continued to believe their opponents were evil once they gained power. They couldn't stop crusading against evil, and became evil in the process. We should recognize that just because we justify ourselves with better ideas, if we see evil everywhere and crusade against it, we are subject to the same pattern. It is a structural defect in the cultural operating system, not a theory. Theories can be good or bad, they can succeed or fail in practice. But in order

to fail and keep failing, a system must be based on a bad culture, in which the traumatized have no direct outlet to express themselves and turn against scapegoats. Bad ideas in a healthy culture are quickly culled away when they are shown to fail in practice. But even good ideas in a sick culture are turned into instruments of cruelty. >>And I believe that this would be the reuslt of the success of Islamic fundamentalism, whether intended or not. That is, Islamic fundamnetalists may desire a benign neo-feudalism, but would inevitably instead institute Big-Brother totalitarianism.<< --Agreed, if they didn't devolve into sectarian violence first. Without an enemy, there would be no unified Jihadist movement. It is possible that the solution to terrorism will be the rise of a religious movement within Islam denouncing attacks on civilians in the name of Islam as a form of apostasy and "mischief".

Surely, the attacks on sacred sites in Iraq should result in more holy outrage than cartoons. The question is whether that outrage will be diverted against the US, rather than against those responsible for the attacks. C. Lockhartwww.soulaquarium.netYahoo! Messenger: grailsnailBlog: http://shallowreflections.blogspot.com/

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