The Crusades Extended
A survey recently conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that
almost half of all Southerners, and a third of the total population, say
that the U.S. is a Christian country, and the government should make laws to
keep it that way.
I don't much trust polls, because the questions can be phrased in such a way
as to greatly skew people's real feelings. But this scary statistic somehow
rings true. Approval of the government passing laws to keep America a
Christian country probably has something to do with the attitude of the
public about the massacre at Waco (which ranges from apathy to active
support of what the FBI and Janet Reno perpetrated). The average American
probably believes the Davidians weren't really Christians, hence deserving
of some hellfire and brimstone from the government, if not from a vengeful
god. So much for the average American's belief in the right of people to
maintain out-of-the-mainstream views.
Even more dangerous is this attitude when it's directed towards
foreigners - Muslims in particular. It's one thing when Americans go on a
domestic religious witch hunt, but something else again when America's
military might be used to teach overseas heathen a lesson. Especially when a
serious religious revival is underway with a substantial portion of the
world's Muslims. Christianity and Islam are the only major world religions
which actively proselytize; the Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, and such tend to be
pretty passive about generating new adherents. It has the makings of a world
class conflict, something like a modern version of the Crusades.
But worst of all, at the root of the problem is the average American's
apparent willingness to use the state to impose his opinions on
others' psychologically, legally, financially, and militarily. The way I see
it, this pathology will become ever more virulent as the 90s progress into
an era of neo-puritanism.
Movies and the Crusades
I always see Arnold Schwarzenegger movies as a matter of general principle.
So his latest, True Lies, was on my list. I found it an amusing spoof on one
level, somewhat in the mold of the James Bond movies. But it was quite
disturbing on another level.
The plot revolves around Arnold's battle with a group of terrorists, all of
whom are clearly and pointedly identified as Muslims. I'm sure that will
give about a billion Muslims warm and fuzzy feelings about Americans when
they see the film. Action movies of this genre are much bigger in the Third
World than they are in the U.S.
Arnold is working for a super-secret government agency. It's made to seem
perfectly fine for Arnold and his cop buddies to terrorize citizens and
destroy massive amounts of their property in the pursuit of 'national
security' and a good time.
Several times during the movie different groups of Yahoos in the audience
applauded as Arnold blew away some swarthy Middle Easterners. This would
seem to indicate the average American pretty much sees them as the new
enemy, a group that needs killing on general principles. I presume the
producers are catering to a market they believe already exists. There's no
war like a religious war. And the movie paints a pretty realistic scenario
for the way it could start.
The plot has the terrorists detonating a 30 kiloton ex-Soviet weapon in the
Florida Keys. I found this interesting because life does tend to imitate
art. The concept is so simple, and feasible, that someone will certainly do
it. After all, the ex-Soviets are sitting on 25,000 warheads. And all the
troops, from the privates to the field marshals, are undoubtedly thinking
how mellow they'd feel with a million bucks in a Swiss account from anyone
who'd like one.
Why would terrorists want to set off some nuclear devices in America? The
head terrorist gives an excellent and lucid explanation. He states he
resents being called a terrorist when the real terrorists are those who
bombed his country from afar; he's striking back in the only way he's able
against people who hate him because of his beliefs. Why doesn't he aim to
set off the device in Mexico, Canada, or Hong Kong? Because the government
of almost every other more-or-less free country on the face of the planet
minds its own business, and avoids sending troops to weird places to kill
the natives.
Anyway, you can probably plan on some unhappy folks from the scene of some
recent American military adventure trying exactly what True Lies posits. A
World Trade Center escapade times 1,000. And when they do, you can bet the
U.S. Government will use it as an excuse, with the fanatic support of most
citizens, to round up any possible seditious elements, probably including
those who subscribe to the wrong publications, belong to the wrong groups,
give money to politically incorrect causes, or have the wrong things in
their files. All in the 'national interest,' of course. Well, maybe it won't
be a complete disaster. Maybe they'll detonate the device in Washington,
D.C., or at least the IRS headquarters in Martinsburg, WV.
I'm not saying it's going to happen that way. But it's a credible scenario.
And I wouldn't want to be in either the stock market or the country itself
when it does happen.
Since then, we've continued almost daily bombing of Iraq (something most
Americans are completely oblivious of), as well as devastating the Serbian
countryside from 15,000 feet (but leaving its army completely unscathed (see
IS XX 99). And now the US has its largest single foreign base (1,000
acres with 17 miles of roads, and all the infrastructure that $300 million
can buy) in Kosovo.
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