I don't know what made me suddenly remember the incident months ago when one of those psycho radical Islamic groups kidnapped the American journalist Paul Johnson and beheaded him because the American government refused to release some of their leaders. I don't know too, why I wanted to search out the video showing that beheading, because I'd never seen it and I was curious all of a sudden to just watch it. And so I searched it out on the net, and found it in 5 minutes, thanks to the wonderful power of Google...
It was gruesome, disturbing, shocking and everything I expected it to be. And I thought watching it would just make me furious at the pure sickness of those people, and I expected myself to be sitting here verbally walloping the radical Muslims for doing such disgusting things in the name of their god.... but I actually don't feel furious...coz' I'm just too stunned to feel furious. Firstly, I'm not so much disgusted at those people as I am sorry for the friends and family of Paul Johnson who, for the rest of their lives, will be haunted with the memory that someone they loved and cared about had his head so brutally sliced off. I just try to imagine how it would be if the person in that video I saw was someone I knew and cared about....and it already makes me want to cry.
Secondly, even though what that radical group did was completely sick and disgusting, when I think about it, these people deserve our sympathies more than our anger. Which is not to say that I don't completely condone what they did...it's just that it's so obvious that anyone who would do such things has had their brains completely messed up. I think every human being is born with an innate appreciation of the value of human life, which is why people will go out to oppose the killing of unborn foetuses or even fertilized embryos used to make stem cells. But this group of people has completely forgotten the value of human life...and it's not just one or two sickos but a whole society! And one has to wonder how or why they allowed their minds to become twisted as such? Of course, most people will take one look at the situation and blame on the teachings of the fundamentalist Muslims, which teach things like they are promised a great reward in heaven if they die as 'martyrs' or slaughter non-Muslim 'infidels'. Now while that is one of the major factors that result in twisted terrorists, I don't think it is the biggest factor. The biggest factor is that these people have been living under oppression, poverty and suffering all their lives. I think it is because they have nothing to forward to in life, that makes them so easily susceptible to such ridiculous teachings. If they have nothing in this life and they are promised something better in heaven in exchange for killing non-Muslims, why wouldn't they want to believe it? I don't think these people are born not knowing the value of human life. But because they are so desperate for something better that they ignore their own conscience in their effort to attain it. I can bet 100% that if these people were living in a more developed, rich country and everyone had everything they needed to survive, these radical Muslim groups and terrorists would disappear. I've never heard of a single Malaysian Muslim blowing himself up in public or killing people in some jaded hope that it will get them into heaven. Why? Because most people in Malaysia are not dying from hunger or being oppressed or suffering in a terribly big way. In fact, the Muslims are given quite a few handouts by the government just for being Muslim. They have no reason to risk throwing that all away for some ridiculous radical teachings.
My next question is then, is it in the interest of the rest of the world to keep such communities under poverty and oppression for fear that if they become even more rich and prosperous, more powerful terrorist groups will arise to wreck havoc on the world? Or would it be a better idea to help rebuild these countries by providing the people with infrastructure and helping their economies to grow, so they can finally have something to live for? Should the rest of the world continue to allow such societies to suffer because of all the suffering the radical Muslims have caused through events like 9/11 and suicide bombers and kidnappings and decapitations? Or should the rest of the world do the unthinkable and actually help these societies grow and proper? Give the adults job opportunities and build schools for the children so they won't have so much free time to practice how to use machine guns and bombs?
It's an interesting question. Maybe I should write a letter to Mr. Bush. :P
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