Homegrown

So the British bombers have turned out to be natives of England.

That's unimaginably scary to me. Because it makes it less likely that the "war" thing we're having can be solved peacefully. And unfortunately, it also looks to me as though it moves the conflict from the political arena into the religious one.

Permit me to explain: at least three of these people were born and raised in Britain. We see phrases like "cricket-mad" and "lived here all his life". These boys were inculated in the culture of England and of the West. Yet someone, working within a period of only a few years, persuaded them to kill themselves and fifty other people.

I have no doubt I'd feel differently if they'd been Catholic. But Catholicism has a built-in safeguard against this sort of behaviour: Suicide is a sin for which you go to Hell (no need to mention murder). That won't stop everyone, but count up the number of IRA suicide bombers. You won't need more than one hand.

Not that it matters, the IRA are and were @$$#0₤3$ regardless.

So, for some reason, four Muslim youths were persuaded to commit mass murder and suicide. Now that reason might be cultural--there's a tendency for the first and third generation of immigrant families to feel as though they've lost something: Grandpa moves from Kulickistan to Canada because he has to get out before the rebels arrive, spends his life complaining how great it was and why'd he have to move? Mum and Dad ignore him, they know Kulickistan was a hole and they're much happier here. Kid listens.

But the fact that the bombers left home on the morning of July seventh armed to kill mass quantities of strangers undeniably points to people who had lost any sympathy that they might once have had with their co-citizens, despite having been immersed in Britishness. If culture wasn't the disconnecting factor, I can see only one reason that four good British lads would murder faceless strangers en masse.

To be cliché: some of my best friends are Muslim. And I don't for one minute think that any of them would consider boarding the transit system with a bomb in their backpack. But from now on, every time someone blows himself up, or "shoots 17, slays self", the first question on people's minds is unlikely to be "what'd he have for breakfast?"

Let me ask the questions that are going to upset some of my friends: Where does this come from? Is there something about Islam that makes it appear as though this is acceptable, rewardable conduct? I mean, how does "suicide bomber" begin to sound like a rational and positive career choice? Perhaps I need to read the Qur'an. But what would it tell me--and without the context of culture, how would I interpret it?

Because literal interpretationalists are also @$$#0₤3$. See here. And here.

Fundamentally (ahem) the problem is that all religion-based murder has as its root the idea that there's a big payoff in killing and ultimately dying for your faith. And what better way to justify it than supporting religious dictatorship? Since no democratic majority anywhere actually supports the idea (the US is just suffering another of those historic periods of mania), the futility of the political struggle is easily leveraged into violence.

Headline you'll never see: Atheist Kills Agnostic: Religious Differences Cited.

In slightly more amusing news, I am receiving mail from several travellers at one of my e-mail addressses. It seems they have the wrong guy, but I've rather enjoyed reading about their adventures:

"went to the disco that night and got free beers. on the way there scott got stopped by the cruz roja because Brian's toe exploded after he rammed it into the edge of the driveway and scott had to use his future doctor skills to patch him up. When a medic saw the toe he flipped out and started asking if we needed help, at which point scott told him he was going to med school, and the most important thing at the moment was that we continue drinking."

Sadly they're home now, according to their last message. But here's a picture. I mean hey, they shared it with me, so now I'll share it with you.


After the trip to Costa Rica 

They look glad to be back, don't they?

Oh well, now that Scott and Zach are home, someone called Julie Schwartz is asking if I want to participate in the Austin Summer Musical for Children. I would, presumably, have to not mind being addressed as "Tiffany".

Oh, I don't know . . .

I'm off on holiday for the next four days or so. Behave yourselves until I get back.