re: interview with André Glucksmann:
This is a classic case of trying to take the splinter out of the Other's eye, but not the log out of your own.
The Islamists are nihilists, and they obey no law (except the Law of the Jungle), and they put no limits on their violence. All true.
But the problem is much worse than that, because the nihilists are also in charge, in the U.S. and Israel. They, too, justify unlimited and permanent violence against the Others. Bin Laden kills 3000 in the WTC. The U.S. Special Forces, together with General Dostum's soldiers, kill 3000 Taliban (after they have surrendered). What's the difference? Bin Laden follows the Koran, about as well as Bush follows the Sermon on the Mount. Both consistently advocate killing, as the solution to all problems.
<‘Long live death!’: religious shell, nihilist kernel>
Good description of the "Christianity" of the NeoCons. No mercy, no forgiveness, no love, the whole New Testament set aside. With the doctrine of preventive war, they've even abandoned the justice and reciprocity of Moses. They worship the God of Abraham and Joshua, a tribal War God, a God of vengeance and blood sacrifice. A God like Kali, who is usually depicted dancing on the corpses of her victims, wearing a belt of human skulls.
<Pacifism is a kind of complacency.>
Here is where he makes clear, he isn't really against nihilism. He's only against the Other's nihilism. Within his own tribe, his own culture/religion/nation, he wants to exalt violence, by equating pacifism with surrender. For him, a willingness to kill is the greatest virtue. Unwillingness to kill, (and in particular, to kill on command, when the Commander in Chief orders it) is cowardice.
Muslim theology divides Jihad into two kinds:
1. the Greater Jihad, which is personal purification through faith, self-discipline, and good works.
2. the Lesser Jihad, which is Holy War.
Overwhelmingly, both Christians and Muslims currently prefer practicing the Lesser Jihad. And using the Other's nihilism, as a propaganda tool to reinforce their own nihilism. |
