Painting from Mathias Grünewald: Hell
Up to now, I always had one firm belief: those people who kill civilians wholesale at random by explosions of all kind are lame-brain cut-throat fanatics. It seemed to me that personal fate had deprived them of a good education leaving thus room for religious narrow-mindedness. As the scientist Thomas Aquinas said about 800 years ago “timeo hominem unius libri - I fear the man who knows only one book”.
The botched attempt at mass murder by those mid-eastern doctors changed all that and I am quite convinced not to be the only one.
For the time being I am searching the internet in order to find a description of the mindset of such people, because, honestly, I don’t understand.
For once, every physician has to give the oath of Hippocrates at the end of his studies and before embarking on his profession. He has to swear never to do anything detrimental to life. Could it be that this is not required when studying in the Middle East?
But the main point is elsewhere: how can a doctor who saves lives during day-time prepare mass murder after his work hours? Explosives, gasoline, nails, everything, to increase the number of dead and maimed people who happen to pass by.
Maybe time has come to say good-bye to the idea that education is a wall against religious fanaticism.
Last not least, I wonder what will happen to these people. They botched it, nobody outside their gang was hurt. They will be condemned to years of prison giving them a possibility to embark on a new career of living martyrs at the expense of the British tax payer. If I had a say in all this I would send them back to their home lands, and good riddance. Down there, exploding people has become a national pastime and skilled doctors to stitch the survivors together are not aplenty. They could even do both in the same day thus becoming respectable members of their Frankenstein community. Happy end.
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
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thomas aquinas was indeed a wise man. we, here in the states, are in a bit of a pickle over this one particular book versus our democracy.
ReplyDeleteWhat you've said about these killers (we see a lot of them these days in Iraq) having been deprived of good education & being sooooooo narrow-minded like this, is completely true ... and it is of course one reason ...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I don't remember which doctors you've mentioned and I'd be garteful if you explain more of their nationality, their country & what they have done ...
Great post!
ReplyDeleteMost people who become a doctor in the Middle East, choose that field for financial reasons and nothing else. I remember ( when I was there) when a child was born, a parent wished that the child becomes an Engineer or Doctor someday. To become somebody over-there the "title" is all that matters.
When you say, "How can a doctor who saves lives during day-time prepare mass murder after his work hours?" ... when you consumed by hate and most of the elementary education is about either hating Israel or other countries, what else you want them to become?
Anwer to Chackavak,
ReplyDeleteSorry for this late answer! I heard they came mostly from Jordan and Irak. One is clear, not one is from Iran. It seems, real civilization pays, somehow. A Persian abroad is generally a credit to his country.
Hi Frieda,
You might be right. These people are feeding on hate, still, this does not explain everything. There are people in other nations that hear the same tune without reacting by wholesale killing.
G.
Georg
Thanks for stopping by Georg!
ReplyDeleteIt was at The New England Sand Castle competition on Revere Beach in Revere MA.
Great pic . . .
ReplyDeleteyou have not blogged for a while. Hope all is well.
ReplyDeleteSee this article by Robert J. Lifton:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=%22Doctors+must+be+healers,+not+interrogators%22
further reading:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/12/1320246
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/26/interrogation/print.html
We have our own problems with religious fanatacism in the United States. While it rarely comes to physical violence except for abortion clinic bombings, I do not doubt that if things continue as they are, that in the future Christian fundamentalist children in the US would also strap on suicide bombs. Fifty years ago no one took religion seriously here. It was considered a backwater of the mindless specimens of the Bible belt. TOday, it is a powerfully motivating force. Even Democrats cannot stop talking the religious lingo.
ReplyDeleteAs for education, which education? And which one is more philosophically consistent? Certainly the home education of Christian schoolchildren is much more consistent than anything they are receiving in American public schools, which offer nothing much but a morally relativistic namby-pamby approach to everything. And certainly the education of many Muslim children throughout the world does not even have the moderating influence of a secular education. They sit there and chant and read the Quran all day. Church and state are merged in practically every nation where Islam is dominant, except Turkey and Indonesia.
There are differences between Christianity and Islam, for sure. Christianity has long had a moderating influence from the Enlightenment. However, it's a very inconsistent document, written by many many people spanning centuries and consisting of sixty? books. It's a difficult book to take seriously, in my opinion. I was raised as a fundamentalist Christian. Anyone receiving even a hint of rationality in their childhood can dismiss most of the claims in this book. If they want to hold onto their faith, they have too make serious compromises and rationalizations if they want to live in a secular society. They simply say, "Well, this wasn't meant literally. It was only for that particular period in history."
But the Quran is not like this. It's a simple document. It's fairly short, and written by one person - Muhammad. Therefore, I think it's easier for adherents to practice their religion more consistently. There are no problems with interpretation. You are either a Muslim, or you aren't. There is no in between. THere is no interpreting the Quran the way you want to interpret it.
islam could be moderated, but it would take a serious rejection of certain passages in the Quran. This is anathema to Muslims. Until that changes, don't expect Islam to change much. That's what it took for Christianity. It took people saying, "These passages are a bunch of garbage!"
Hi Monica,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this very analytical answer. I see, you have given some thoughts to this problem.
If you look back an the last two thousand years of history, I cannot help thinking that one of the three or four main causes for wars and endless misery is religion.
Religion could well be God's curse on humanity.
Georg