The Descent of Man: If God is Love, Who Stokes Anger and Fear?

 

 

“Strike their police, security and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents,” states a speech purportedly by the group’s spokesperson and posted online Saturday. “Kill in any manner or way however it may be. Do not ask for anyone’s advice and do not seek anyone’s verdict.”

 

That's ISIL, by the way.  Nowhere in the Koran does it say to go about killing police, who may have about as much to do with foreign policy as any local Imam. 

 

The point is, there is a group of men calling the shots, issuing edicts and essentially positioning themselves as the voice of God.  ISIL is a false prophet that peddles in anger and bloodshed for power.

 

When most people are scared, they crave simple, fast answers and strong leaders: George W. Bush with a bullhorn standing defiantly atop the smouldering remains of New York’s Twin Towers.

 

But hey, 9/11 did happen, so torture is totally acceptable now.  Sends a strong message, doesn't it?

 

It serves the purpose of ISIL when Western leaders declare wars on radical Islam (though I'd argue the new faith of Jihadism is no more Islam than David Koresh was a good Christian).  It shows they're having an impact and raises the stakes.

 

By the same token, ISIL serves the purposes of Western governments who use fear as a way to diminish democracy and shore up their power.  They may not say so - they may not even think so, in clear terms - but it's true none-the-less.

 

Who would you trust more to lay the smack-down on terrorist seas lapping at our shores - Justin Trudeau, Thomas Mulcair or Stephen Harper?

 

What about this one - who would you trust to protect Canada's democracy?

 

Well, that's hardly relevant when our lives are on the line, is it?

 

Mr. Harper isn't bending or using the rules - he is changing the rules completely, eliminating fairness and attempting to crush dissent in pursuit of vastly increased power gained by democratically illegitimate means and stifling any investigation into that abuse.

 

Terrorists want their people to be angry and us to be afraid.  Our governments all-too-often want us to be angry and afraid.

 

In both cases, we are being encouraged to react, not to think, so that we may dehumanize our neighbours and do unto them or let tough leaders do unto them before they can do unto us.

 

We can wash our hands and seal our fate but who then do we blame for our fall?

 "I shouted out 'Who killed the Kennedys?' / When after all it was you and me"