I've been reading a book written by Robert Fisk, (an Independent journalist then writing for "The Times" and "The Independent"), titled " The Great War for Civilization; The Conquest Of The Middle East". (So okay, the book was written in the year of B.C of readers, but hey, I have the habit of buying books and reading them 2-3 years later...basically manipulating the 'better laid then never' phrasing....oops!! I meant, "better late then never" - the former works too).
My favorite by far is (still on page 163 of 1286....sigh..right now I'm staring at the snail, to get some inspiration from it....), the chapter on Iranian political struggles in the chapter "the carpet weavers". I have great admiration for the Iranian tenacity, not so much for the Islamic ideology though. Fisk pointed out how tenacious these Iranians were in putting back together the shredded papers seized from the American Embassy in Iran during the Khomeini Revolution, as they were weaving their authentic carpets. The former took them 6 years of numerous people working 6 days a week whilst the latter up to 10 years with the same capacity of people and time. 10 years of weaving one carpet...imagine that...most of us can't even stomach looking at face of the same spouse for 10 years, imagine staring at the same carpet everyday for 10 years!!!! Come to think of it, at least the carpet don't talk back...and of course, that is a totally different chapter altogether...
Back to the carpet weavers, Iranian people are known for their patience in achieving something, and therefore, anyone who are used to their culture, would not be surprised that it took them that long to topple the Shahs of Iran. Khomeini did it from outside of Iran. I will not talk about the hypocrisy of the US via the CIA, their role in toppling Mossadeq, a people elected Prime Minister (1951-53), in an act that is against the world preached democracy (when it suits their interest) because it is no longer news-worthy. The thing that bothers me is what happens after the revolution. It seems to me, that the Mullas act no differently then the people they worked hard to topple. Many "enemies" were prosecuted without a chance of a proper trial. The fate of the the people charged were at the hands of a bunch of Mullas who acted as judges. Seems that no one had escaped the death sentence once they were put on "trial".
Then my eyes was feasted upon a more mind boggling statement made by Sadegh Khalkhali, former Chief Justice of the Revolutionary Court, or more intimately known as "The Hanging Judge", in regards to the stoning sentence executed.
I quote a paragraph from what Fisk had written;
" I don't know if I approve of stoning, " Sadeq Khalkhali said, flashing a grin at us journalists and at a group of startled diplomats who had also been invited to the Qasr prison. 'But in the Koran, it is mentioned that those who commit adultery should be killed by stoning.' The Jojatolislam dug his little spoon into the melting white ice-cream, oblivious to the bare-headed prisoners who trudged past behind him, heaving barrels loaded with cauldrons of vegetable soup. ' We approve of anything the Koran says. What is the difference between killing people with stones and killing them with bullets? But throwing stones certainly teaches people a lesson.' Khalkhali modestly disowned responsibility for the Kerman stoning - his bearded public relations man informed us that a man called Fahin Kermani had taken this weighty decision - but he agreed that he had ordered some fresh executions that morning. Seven men had been lined up at one end of Jamshid gawked from a distance. Many of those who died had been convicted of drug offences, and it was in his role as chief of the Iranian anti - narcotics squad that the Hojatolislam had welcomed us to Qasr prison to view his latest haul of contraband. "
For starters, the word "I don't know if I approve of stoning" simply states that Khalkhali doubts God. I mean, who was he to approve or disapprove God's orders, assuming for a second that stoning to death is indeed God's order. But see, THAT's where the problem lies. Stoning to death is NOT stated anywhere in the Quran. Claiming it is, and getting away with it is really alarming!!
Then there's the statement; "What is the difference between killing people with stones and killing them with bullets. But throwing stones certainly teaches people a lesson." . I wonder if he learned his, just before he blew his last breath, most likely a slow and painful death, as that is what cancer does.
It is not just people like Khalkhali, who prided himself to be a man of God, it is infested in most human who had the first taste of power. Power given to people with a lot of hate and destructive virtue within their soul, results in massive lost of human lives. It is disturbing to witness how the sanctity of a human's life was not taken into consideration.
Have the humans really evolved at all? We pride ourselves as being "civilized" when all there really is, is history of human cruelty repeating itself over and over. The difference is just the method of killing and the excuses to do so. Those days people kill with bare hands, stick and stones. Now, we just dispense drones to do our job and call it high technology. If there's anything, it is the machines that have evolved, not so much of us so called humans. We get upset when we are categorized as animal kingdom, but truth is, that's what we are. Shameless creatures of destruction, crawling on the surface of the earth, causing massive destruction to our own species not to mention to the other animal kingdoms.
The only possible way any human may earn the title, is to do without killing. I agree that war should be criminalized. If we claim that we are "civilized", then we should be able to come up with better solutions than killing each other with super sleek excuses to justify our conscience.
I love the way George Carlin strip the facts to naked bare, and of course with a splash of humor to go with it. Frankly, I agree, here is what war is all about;
Dick-waving...that's what Nationalism and war is all about.......imagine the killing without the "Medal of Honor" to go along with it..well, those souldiers who killed won't be called a hero, instead, a "hit man". What you are to the world is who you choose to work with, and what terminology they give you. You won't be called a terrorist if you have the mainstream mass media at your hands to aid propaganda, even though you terrorize a country to get whatever agenda it is hiding behind the projected purposes....ironically, it had most of the time been oil and drugs. What difference is a nation who use killing to solve the killings? In what way is your taking away lives seem better than them taking away lives? The end product would still remain that the innocent people dies....How can you put on a poker face and tell the world that your killing is justified. More importantly, why should the human beings justify killing at all?
In the case of "The White Revolution", the "winning party" started lining up humans and shot them to death without a fair trial. They rounded up fornicators, adulterers, people who allegedly sell drugs without proper judicial process and just took their lives away with a simple gesture of pulling a trigger. How does that make them any better than the people they claimed to have been corrupted and cruel and needed to be toppled. They became the very people they displaced for whatever reason used to justify those killings. It is clear to us now, that power changes people's rationale, most of the time, we fail as human beings when power is at our hands. It could happen to you and me.
The most successful excuse to wage wars would be, Religion, Ideologies and Racism.
But are the politicians really to blame? After all, we put them there........listen to the wisdom of George Carlin again..
Hmm....we put those corrupted politicians there...it's our fault!!! Well then, I guess we as a human being have the responsibility to ensure nobility of human kind begins from the man in the mirror and at home should we choose to procreate. The kids we put to this earth will grow up and be let loose into society are those who will be running the system in the future. We breed assholes, assholes are the ones who will take over the world. So remember, people who have no sense of humility, humanity, sense of duty and civics, have no business breeding.....think about that...
Ah well, I thought I'd throw in another video for bonus...enjoy this one...
For starters, the word "I don't know if I approve of stoning" simply states that Khalkhali doubts God. I mean, who was he to approve or disapprove God's orders, assuming for a second that stoning to death is indeed God's order. But see, THAT's where the problem lies. Stoning to death is NOT stated anywhere in the Quran. Claiming it is, and getting away with it is really alarming!!
Then there's the statement; "What is the difference between killing people with stones and killing them with bullets. But throwing stones certainly teaches people a lesson." . I wonder if he learned his, just before he blew his last breath, most likely a slow and painful death, as that is what cancer does.
It is not just people like Khalkhali, who prided himself to be a man of God, it is infested in most human who had the first taste of power. Power given to people with a lot of hate and destructive virtue within their soul, results in massive lost of human lives. It is disturbing to witness how the sanctity of a human's life was not taken into consideration.
Have the humans really evolved at all? We pride ourselves as being "civilized" when all there really is, is history of human cruelty repeating itself over and over. The difference is just the method of killing and the excuses to do so. Those days people kill with bare hands, stick and stones. Now, we just dispense drones to do our job and call it high technology. If there's anything, it is the machines that have evolved, not so much of us so called humans. We get upset when we are categorized as animal kingdom, but truth is, that's what we are. Shameless creatures of destruction, crawling on the surface of the earth, causing massive destruction to our own species not to mention to the other animal kingdoms.
The only possible way any human may earn the title, is to do without killing. I agree that war should be criminalized. If we claim that we are "civilized", then we should be able to come up with better solutions than killing each other with super sleek excuses to justify our conscience.
I love the way George Carlin strip the facts to naked bare, and of course with a splash of humor to go with it. Frankly, I agree, here is what war is all about;
Dick-waving...that's what Nationalism and war is all about.......imagine the killing without the "Medal of Honor" to go along with it..well, those souldiers who killed won't be called a hero, instead, a "hit man". What you are to the world is who you choose to work with, and what terminology they give you. You won't be called a terrorist if you have the mainstream mass media at your hands to aid propaganda, even though you terrorize a country to get whatever agenda it is hiding behind the projected purposes....ironically, it had most of the time been oil and drugs. What difference is a nation who use killing to solve the killings? In what way is your taking away lives seem better than them taking away lives? The end product would still remain that the innocent people dies....How can you put on a poker face and tell the world that your killing is justified. More importantly, why should the human beings justify killing at all?
In the case of "The White Revolution", the "winning party" started lining up humans and shot them to death without a fair trial. They rounded up fornicators, adulterers, people who allegedly sell drugs without proper judicial process and just took their lives away with a simple gesture of pulling a trigger. How does that make them any better than the people they claimed to have been corrupted and cruel and needed to be toppled. They became the very people they displaced for whatever reason used to justify those killings. It is clear to us now, that power changes people's rationale, most of the time, we fail as human beings when power is at our hands. It could happen to you and me.
The most successful excuse to wage wars would be, Religion, Ideologies and Racism.
But are the politicians really to blame? After all, we put them there........listen to the wisdom of George Carlin again..
Hmm....we put those corrupted politicians there...it's our fault!!! Well then, I guess we as a human being have the responsibility to ensure nobility of human kind begins from the man in the mirror and at home should we choose to procreate. The kids we put to this earth will grow up and be let loose into society are those who will be running the system in the future. We breed assholes, assholes are the ones who will take over the world. So remember, people who have no sense of humility, humanity, sense of duty and civics, have no business breeding.....think about that...
Ah well, I thought I'd throw in another video for bonus...enjoy this one...
When the world turn their back on you, you show your butt to them...
No comments:
Post a Comment