Terrorism

As we look back into history regarding the behavior of man, human beings would beat-up one another to defend their selves and loved ones. This determined a mentality known as survival of the fittest. Human beings used their fists, rocks, knives, bow-n-arrows and eventually pistols back in the days of the “Cowboys and Indians”. We look back at those times as we recall how savage the human race was back then. Well, we now use guns and bombs. Are we replacing the word savage with sophistication? Are we not becoming in fact more savage as we dismiss respect for human life?

It is irresponsible to merely say "peace"; we must proactively advance in peace. We can only do so by truly wanting to learn about one another without prejudice regarding nationality, race, creed, ethnicity, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Do we want to love one another or do we want to hate one another? Are we more concerned with correcting others, or are we truly focused on correcting ourselves? Regardless of where we live or what country we are from, whatever our collective resolve regarding that question will determine what our grandchildren will inherit. Do we care about our grandchildren? That is the question!!!  (Click on title to read more.)

I’m not blaming anyone. Any citizen who becomes President will merely read and study the job description as it were to understand the protocol and then go to work on the backlog in the “inbox”.

Let’s “raise the bar” on our focus toward establishing genuine relationships rather than waiting for the next need to “put up your dukes”. Wars will continue to be an elementary need to defend National Security until we truly care about our fellow human being across the oceans. We are equal in dignity! We are all human beings!

The Founding Fathers of this country had obvious moments of brilliance but then too, they had moments of obvious insanity. They wrote the Declaration of Independence and established the Constitution of the United States; this highlights their brilliance. They felt loyal to the Constitution while treating anyone with black skin as subhuman; this highlights not their hypocrisy but their insanity. The level of respect that we have for human beings in other countries measures the precise level of our brilliance or insanity!

Arrogance is a sign of weakness; humility is a sign of strength. Every normal human being has experienced a bit of both. Understanding this simple commonsense is a big step toward wisdom and is at least as valuable as a college degree.

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I was whipped a lot because I was a very hyper little kid. Although I was completely alone all through elementary school, I’d somehow manage to get in trouble. From the first grade through the sixth grade, I was whipped at least once a week. Then in high school, kids found it exciting to get involved in my funny stunts of mischief. Soon everybody wanted to be around me because I had the energy to keep the excitement going. Eventually, I became friends with the most popular kids in my class. (My friends and I once put clear plastic-wrap under the seats of the toilets in the teacher’s lounge; and…well…I could list lots of mean things I did but I’ll leave it at that.)

Although I didn’t develop any resentment toward those who whipped me, I carried anger for many years. During adolescence and into adulthood, I was unaware of it, and since I was so quiet, nobody else was aware of it either. When I’d get the nerve to speak, I didn’t notice it as much as others could.

Having been to so many places all over the world, I have come to understand that abuse is everywhere, and it can be perpetuated and advanced through blame to the hateful ends of terrorism, or we can convert it to understanding and, with the strength of the truth, can admit our shortcomings and have the backbone to deny our love to nobody!

I think most of us human beings have done something mean either in words or actions, but we can learn to improve. This is the greatest aspect by which we can benefit from history. If we learn from history merely for academic intelligence, we are doomed to repeat similar mistakes of the past. However, if we improve from such intelligence, we will proactively apply commonsense to prevent the perpetuation of mediocrity and enhance our wisdom because of the mistakes of the past. Merely knowing history does not ensure progress. We must learn from history to elevate degrees of progress—not just for university degrees. Thanks to historians whose intelligence can facilitate such a proactive quest to enhance maturing behavior, the human race can continue to benefit by advancing in wisdom.

Most of the human race is guided by a creed that teaches how to virtuously coexist with neighboring human beings. We have had many brilliant compassionate humanitarians whose objective obviously was about solidarity through some interpretation of the golden rule by genuine acts of love, kindness, and humility!

Rather than becoming arrogant by hiding our flaws and mistakes, we can use them to humble us. Humility can serve our commanders-in-chief to lead the way to nurture and inspire positive relationships throughout the world.

I have been all over the world with the military. I have enjoyed many experiences with people in many countries of different cultures, beliefs, and interests. However, the violence is everywhere either in the form of bombs, guns, knives, beatings, words of anger, or of gossip. We can transform what we have learned from our flaws and mistakes in the past to serve as a bridge to understand acts of violence so that terrorism can be transformed by our understanding and collaboration toward improved relationships throughout this beautiful world.

Domestic Violence

Since the early history of this country, physical violence has been a factor with respect to discipline and defense as a means of behavior modification here in America. Although violence remains a domestic problem, American society is not as apt to beating children. However, because of the violence we have experienced here as a primitive form of discipline during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we can understand terrorism to a certain degree.

Early Americans’ use of physical violence such as beatings is not near as common as a form of punishment today. They used beatings as a means of punishment because of what they were taught. Early Americans transitioned this means of discipline through our great grandfathers. Our grandfathers understood violence as a method for defense as well as for discipline—sometimes as a means to unload anger. Our parents and teachers paddled and whipped us because we exhausted their patience.

Violence is learned, and we have all seen the destruction gangs can cause. Although relatively light in comparison, these scales of violence elevate to acts of terror. Some kids are somehow capable of objectively understanding that these methods will lead to the weakness of manipulation, control, and fear. These kids will attempt to learn an alternate method to use as parents eventually on their kids. They will learn the method of verbal abuse at least doesn’t physically hurt.

Their kids will transition the verbal abuse to the use of reasoning, teaching, and inspiring. They will make every attempt to compassionately teach by nurturing discipline. When they become impatient, however, they will revert to the methods of their grandfathers that they learned through their teachers or parents. Hopefully, the transition of reasoning with their kids will be the adopted method their kids will learn and find ways upon which to further improve.

Teachers and parents who implement this advanced method recognize the approach of reasoning is far more effective than the use of violence. These teachers and parents improve the role of teaching and parenting and become stronger because the positive effect of reasoning is far more effective than that of abusive means. Insulting one’s kids promotes negative results, thus improvement is discouraged and humanity loses. On the other hand, inspiring one’s kids promotes positive results, thus improvements are made and humanity wins.

There’s no such thing as a perfect book on how to be a parent or teacher. Writing on such a subject is clearly much easier said than done. However, while writing, one can reflect; in the absence of reflection, one can only react. Abusively whipping a child out of anger is a clear lack of patience, reasoning, time, or maturity on the part of the parent or teacher whose physical strength is greater than the maturity of their mental strength.

Of course, there’s a difference between abuse and discipline! Discipline is extremely important. Neglecting such responsibility is likely the worst form of abuse. There’s nothing sadder than an abused child or one who’s a spoiled brat because of a lack of discipline. I know some parents who have been quite effective with the use of spankings. By effective I mean that they need to do it less and less, because the child clearly understands that the parent means business to guide, correct, and discipline the child lovingly so as not to have to leave it to society. (“Spare the rod, ruin the child.”) Spanking and hateful beatings are not at all the same; there most certainly is a difference. A spoiled brat might act-up at the grocery store if knowingly “protected” by society. Parents must be the parents—not society! Society should help the parents as opposed to hinder their role…if only society and parents would work in unison with a common goal as to rear responsible discipline to keep this country aspiring toward progress in all aspects—wow—we’d have the wholesome respect of the past with the advancements of today!

Every normal human being makes mistakes. Maturity is most profound by the human being who learns from honesty, humility, and wisdom by growing in compassion while admitting mistakes with frequent reflection toward improvement. With the exception of those who claim to be perfect, the human being can always aspire toward improvement.

Violence within Dictatorships

Lack of freedom and opportunity toward responsible dependability keeps people at low aspiring levels and from pursuing dreams. The strong develop methods of retaliation and the weak submit. People are then led by their emotional pain and are thereafter uninspired by the lack of freedom, which frequently leads to “crimes of passion”.

Because of a phase in which I would beat-up my little brothers and sisters, I can understand terrorism to an extent. Within a free country, we can grow out of such a phase and pursue our interests and work on our dreams rather than to stagnate with violence. However, those in a country without freedom are not quite as inspired to pursue their dreams and therefore remain in such a phase while conspiring to retaliate against the powerful tyrants who do not respect them.

Being a strong person who is focused, driven, and passionate, if I lived restricted within a dictatorship, I would probably have a tendency to get highly angry as well, especially back when I didn’t know how to prioritize and manage my will, intellect, and passions. I’m by no means excusing the behavior but I do understand it.

I would welcome the opportunity to talk with terrorists and become friends with them. I could honestly become friends with them and show them I can relate…I certainly had unbridled tendencies. I know too well the detriments of having the passions on the “driver-seat”. We all would have tendencies to relegate to substandard lifestyles under a fearful system of government.

Obviously, whether engaged in good or bad behavior, nobody becomes who one is without lots of practice—Terrorist or Nobel Peace Winner. Therefore, regardless how profound one’s words might be, one cannot expect others to improve by merely saying something brilliant. The most significant method to help someone is to lead by example. Before one can impart decency, one must be decent.

Given the opportunity to hangout with some terrorists, I would start by conveying to them that I too had a phase where I was upset. I’d hit my younger brothers and sisters as a means to get my way when I was a kid. I learned to hit because I was hit in elementary school. On my way to becoming friends with them, I would hope to eventually convey as a member of a unifying American home the beautiful system of American democracy under the authentic and moral Constitution, which could lead to freedom, mutual respect, and peace. America could show them how dependable they could aspire to become by living the “Iraqi Dream”, for example, when it becomes a country wherein the people increasingly recognize that each human being is equal in dignity and for whom liberty and justice must be a standard each and every precious human being warrants. Compared to the fine example this country could present to the world, talk is cheap and hypocrisy is clearly noticed in double standards that only blind us by our weak attempts to change others. Merely changing the name of a government from dictatorship to democracy obviously does not necessarily define freedom, mutual respect, and peace.

(Of course, they might be interested in preserving the dignity and purity of women by which we could certainly benefit by their beautiful example, which I respect so very much! Muslim women lead the world in modest dress! I’m quite sure the founder of Islam would agree, as would the founder of the Temple and the founder of the Church. Evidence of this is found in a historical moment 500 years ago with the royal dress worn by a very strong woman of Jewish descent, born in Palestine, and has become the world’s most recognized Christian. She wore the royal attire identical to that worn by Muslim women. With a height of four feet eight inches, she clearly was short in stature but a role-model giant.)

Religions do not teach violence as a means to improve humanity. I have developed friendships with human beings of all seven major world religions. Those who have become my friends are wonderful, caring, polite, and classy people. You can’t fake this. Many human beings in the Middle East are patriotic and are every bit as challenged with the passions, the will, and the intellect as we are here in the United States. They are good precious people—just like you and me—equal in ability and dignity!

By the way, we must not misconstrue the September-eleven attacks by associating them with Islam…much like we must not misconstrue the pornography industry in the US by associating it with Christianity. I’ve studied in depth the seven major world religions. I know the philosophy of the Islamic Prophet Elijah Mohammed…wow what an upstanding human being! Now, even though he lived 1500 years ago, we still can honor him with admiration—may blessings be upon him. I certainly would have considered it a real privilege to meet him…what an incredibly generous, kind, thoughtful, compassionate, human being! NOTHING about the September-eleven attacks had anything whatsoever to do with Islam.

Citizens whether here or abroad lacking in discipline, guidance, love, and respect are obviously capable of wreaking havoc anywhere in the world. (Parents—you have the most important job known to mankind!)

Human beings who nurture heinous behavior, obviously, can develop a sophisticated arsenal initially against their own government as a retaliatory tactic and eventually take over the government. It’s actually quite clever within a bad government system.

This is precisely why it’s important to express interest for such countries to be governed by wise leadership selected by the citizens therein. It would certainly be to our benefit in doing so if only we would improve our governmental example.

You can only do so much to bring such people to kindly coexist regardless where terrorists reside; there are some here in the United States. If they refuse to grow out of violent immaturity and rather impose their aggression with acts of severely excruciating terrorism—vis-à-vis September 11, 2001—we have to ignore all stop-signs and defend those in danger with commonsense.

Obviously, however, there really hasn’t been an adequately strong desire to establish friendships, which is precisely the problem. They and we jump to conclusions and unfortunately misconstrue intentions due to a lack of interest between one another. If we cared to understand each other, we would find that we are not quite so different; we just don’t know each other. The movie Dances with Wolves beautifully illustrates this point upon which strangers basically learn to become great friends.

The President of the United States would be ever so wise to develop genuine communication rather than mere superficial diplomacy. Meet with presidents, dictators, and terrorist groups alike. Do so with kindness. With a closed-mind you can only attempt to force your own views. When two open minds meet in welcome, each mind can maturely develop an opportunity to minimize opinion and maximize intelligence by learning and advancing toward improved relationships. (As one of my Muslim friends says, “We’re all made from the same ‘peace’ of clay!”)

Before you introduce to them the beauty of America, understand it! Understand that in America, although you might not be independently wealthy, you can develop your heart and mind rather than just your bank account. You can develop the ability to build a winning strategy to transform the quality of the world’s humanity from divisive mediocrity to limitless advancement of which a united globe could realize starting with a collective willingness of improving America’s example.