My comment about the Pakistan bombing

I deplore all terrorism and terrorist acts. They are not God's will and will be severely judged by him when the time comes. I feel deeply for all the victims and their families, many of whom were modest people just trying to provide for their families. I think about that security guard who we see on the video tape bravely trying to extinguish the fire in the truck, before the one ton of explosives hidden inside detonated.

Commentators are quick to simplify, to put into black and white, why these things happen. I just listened to a report that jumps to the conclusion that it is because of the Pakistan-American alliance. Such simplifications obscure what is really going on, and therefore hinders resolution or at least de-escalation.

It is the escalation that I want to speak of today. It is never a good thing when a government, regardless of the provocation, invades a mosque where militants reside and results in the deaths of many people, as I recall, it was a hundred or so. Pakistan did just that, invading a militant occupied mosque, not so long ago. This is something the United States learned (but the lessons have not been plumbed fully enough) when it fired upon a cultist sect compound that resulted in a huge loss of life, including children inside, when it burned to the ground. Humans have historically understood the importance of patience, of laying siege when one must, but not recently, when both Western and Eastern politicians and military people seem to not "wait" and just turn to the gun. That is escalation.

Then, the terrorists feel it becomes "no hold barred" combat. If a mosque can be attacked and many inside killed and wounded, including naive students under the sway of the militants, then why not bomb during Ramadan? That is the terrible step by step "logic" of the escalation of terrorism. Also, each of these events become touchstones and reference points for future revenge and "anniversary" violence, as we see in both the United States after the Waco siege and now in Pakistan after the Red Mosque siege. (Read about these and follow up events in the links below).

It seems that no government today understands how you can be firm but also grounded securely on morals and good example, and thus prevent escalation of the violence.

Again, prayers and condolences to all who have been harmed in this dastardly turn of events. But I urge everyone to remember that every step "across the Rubicon" tends to bring an equal escalation and hardening of heart by humans in opposition and return. The military of Pakistan, the real power holders, must decide how to respond. I urge them to reconsider a policy of using even greater force and greater ferocity, because that sows the dragons teeth that are never ending into the ground of violence. To the terrorists I say that you should beware of turning your piety toward God into a war machine that then becomes incapable of feeling piety, even if they think they still do.

Resources for young people and students who wish to understand more about the two events I referenced above:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Mosque

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_Siege

Important article about Turkish schools

I really approve of the schools described in this article. It is a great example of the Holy Spirit at work in the world, and also of getting the formula of faith and reason done correctly. My compliments to all who are instrumental in this organization.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/03/asia/04islam.php?page=1

snip

"Kill, fight, shoot," Kacmaz said. "This is a misinterpretation of Islam."

But that view is common in Pakistan, a frontier land for the future of Islam, where schools, nourished by Saudi and American money dating back to the 1980s, have spread Islamic radicalism through the poorest parts of society. With a literacy rate of just 50 percent and a public school system near collapse, the country is particularly vulnerable.

Kacmaz (pronounced KATCH-maz) is part of a group of Turkish educators who have come to this battleground with an entirely different vision of Islam. Theirs is moderate and flexible, comfortably coexisting with the West while remaining distinct from it. Like Muslim Peace Corps volunteers, they promote this approach in schools, which are now established in more than 80 countries, Muslim and Christian.

snip

"Private schools can't make our sons good Muslims," Niazi said, sitting on the floor in a Quetta house. "Religious schools can't give them modern education. PakTurk does both."

The model is the brainchild of a Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen. A preacher with millions of followers in Turkey, Gulen, 69, comes from a tradition of Sufism, an introspective, mystical strain of Islam. He has lived in exile in the United States since 2000, after getting in trouble with secular Turkish officials.

Gulen's idea, Aytav said, is that "without science, religion turns to radicalism, and without religion, science is blind and brings the world to danger."

The schools are putting into practice a Turkish Sufi philosophy that took its most modern form during the last century, after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's founder, crushed the Islamic caliphate in the 1920s. Islamic thinkers responded by trying to bring Western science into the faith they were trying to defend. In the 1950s, while Arab Islamic intellectuals like Sayyid Qutub were firmly rejecting the West, Turkish ones like Said Nursi were seeking ways to coexist with it.

***
Here's Wikipedia's entry for Mr. Gulen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fethullah_G%C3%BClen

It reads like a balanced report of a man with good intentions and the right perception of how faith and reason must balance. It does contain, however, a very disturbing quote about Catholics, blaming them to be like a "rat nest" behind-the-scene power brokers. If only that were true ha ha. I'm no longer surprised when even the most educated and reasonable Muslim has made that assumption in the past. These are the same people who shout "Crusader!" as if anyone today would go to a crusade about God or anyone else. They confuse the Western secular power block with Christianity. Since the Vatican is the only Christian "power block" they assume that any power broker behind the scenes activity by Western agents is Catholic based. LOL. Catholics today are so marginalized that they are lucky to get an invitation to a Halloween party, say nothing about being super secret power brokers. So when an uneducated and unkind quote shows up by even someone we expect much better from, some charity and education are called for. I guess I didn't get my secret ballot for the rat nest hidden agenda power broker meeting yet. Maybe the Protestants got it instead of me when I did my latest address change ha ha. At least it makes a nice change from accusing the Jews of being behind everything. Just wait until people find out that alien believing idiots are really behind everything. Oy vey! What a disappointment THAT will be. Catholics will look really swift in comparison!