A Word from Thomas Merton
I created this blog to offer my own opinons on the current extreme state of the world. Perhaps it is for my own psychological health? I would hope it offers an opportunity to discuss together the strange things that are happening in our country, and in the world.
My first post is an essay I wrote a year ago called Sitting Around Waiting for the End of the World. It is my response to what I saw as the insane actions of my government around the world. Nothing has happened to make me feel any better, or be more hopeful for the future.
Sitting around, waiting for the end of the World
The title of this essay is strange, no doubt. I am not exactly sure if it expresses my state of being, or the state of being of the entire world. However, I feel that I have been gripped by “millennial madness.” Perhaps it is a few years too late, but as I understand it our modern calendar is hopelessly out of synch with “real time” and as a result I may be getting millennial madness at just the right moment. Then again, if I understand quantum theory (and I do not, other than on a very cursory level) time does not exist any way. Therefore, I come back to my original point. This sure is a strange title for an essay.
I suppose the sub title could be, “Has everyone gone crazy?” Recent events seem to support this question, and the feeling that I am sitting around waiting for the end of the World. Let me offer an example. Very recently, most people in America seemed to be simply “sitting around” while their President performed a pre-emptive invasion of a sovereign nation, Iraq, based on a threat (WMD) that we now know did not exist. The pre-war rhetoric insisted that the threat of WMD was real, obvious, and so dangerous that not acting militarily could cause a nuclear 9-11( National Security Adviser Condolezza Rice’s words, not mine). Now, the administration is saying that we have found no WMD, but they “could have existed, maybe, if we had done nothing,” President Bush was quoted as saying he perceived Iraq as a potential threat, whether now or at some point in the future, and that was why he decided to attack. Now, that is certainly not what people were told leading up to the war. However, lets give him the benefit of the doubt. Lets assume that 9-11 really did change things, and that in order to stop another attack we must remove all potential threats militarily. There should be then a huge American bulls eye on Saudi Arabia, since most of the 9-11 high- jackers were Saudis, Bin Laden was a Saudi citizen, and most of the funding for Al-Queda comes from Saudi sources. Right? According to this administration, Saudi Arabia is not a threat to America. Iraq, however, was. Am I missing something? Or has everyone gone crazy?
And, lets examine the Iraqi threat for a moment. The US military, perhaps the finest professional army in history, attacked a seriously undermanned country that had suffered thorough 30 years of repression under a terrible regime, 8 years of war with Iran, 13 years of UN sanctions, a major defeat at the hands of a multi-national Army in Gulf War One, and after that defeat was under siege almost daily from “surgical” US bombing missions for the next 12-13 years. The Iraqi army was and is a joke, and it has only been successful using guerilla tactics, which cause pain but will never really cause the US to leave the country, especially with the media surpressing bad news here at home.
Was Saddam a bad guy? Of course he was. However, there are lots of bad guys who are more of a threat to our “way of life” who we choose not only not to attack, but we in fact support and aid them. The House of Saud is just as repressive as Saddam was. And again, they seem to be at least indirectly linked to an actual attack against America on American soil.
Add to all this the incredible image of the President who authorized this tragic war landing on an aircraft carrier, declaring as if he were a god that hostilities had ended (yet people are still dying on both sides in greater numbers) wearing a flight suit signifying his supposed fine service to his country, when we now know that he was practically dismissed from his Air National Guard unit, or he himself chose to leave early for undisclosed reasons. You can see why I feel that we have all gone loony in the good old US of A. Now most people should find this situation appalling, unless of course you like war, and death, and chaos, and instability in your country. You know, you’re a war- mongering nut bag and damn proud of it. Yet, what really makes me think we are nearing the end is that a lot of people could really care less, and when you talk to them about these issues they rub the sleep form their eyes and say things like; “death, destruction, where is it? Iraq? Where is that anyway-oh the Middle-East. They hate us over there anyway, right? (Yawn) I’m sorry, what did you say? I was distracted by Brittanny kissing Madonna”
Has everyone gone crazy? We live in a society where a journalist can write a book about how Senator Joe McCarthy, he of the House Un-American Activities committee, was a hero, and in the same book make the case that liberals are traitors because they have undermined and criticized America. Granted, many on the EXTREME left certainly would not weep if America fell into ruin, and yes, everyone has the right to their opinion, but that is not the point. To paint all liberals (was FDR a traitor? How about Truman?) as traitors is unfair at best, and libel at worst. The fact that this journalist is given major air time on ALL 24 hour news networks shows again that we have become stark raving mad in this country. It is clear that this journalist is calling all democrats traitors. This journalist is also saying that Joe McCarthy was right to persecute, and otherwise destroy people because there were (GASP) COMMUNIST SPIES in AMERICA!! No kidding, and there are Mosad spies in America, so should we question people on whether they are Jewish, or know anyone who is Jewish? The End is near! And why did the media give this person so much air- time to sell this book, which seems to be prejudiced? Would they give the same face time to a white supremacist? How about an anti-semite? Will we have a new politically correct category in the future called liberal-a-phobia, the fear of liberals, in order to protect liberals from these ad hominem attacks? To say that democrats are traitors is absurd, loony really, because anyone with common sense knows that most democrats are as deeply invested in the establishment as republicans are. John Kerry is as rich and connected as George Bush, he simply likes poor people a little more than George Bush does. Both John Kerry and John Edwards voted for the war because they knew they were running for president, and they could never get the support of the establishment if they were seen as anti-war. But wait, there is more.
At last year’s Super Bowl, an event that gives the phrase over-the-top a good name, Janet Jackson revealed her breast. Now, I am certainly in favor of women covering themselves on national TV, yet the national backlash to this event, in light of the fact that MTV produced it and is FAMOUS for the use of its own versions of sexual “shock and awe” seems loony as well. Colin Powell’s son, the head of the FCC, is said to be “outraged.” Has this man seen MTV? Did he see Brittany kiss Madonna, Howard Stern reveal his butt cheeks as “fart-man?” Ok, maybe he missed those, but Mr. Powell the younger, I simply ask-DUDE HAVE YOU SEEN MTV! Having them do the show was loony, loony, hello LOONY! How could anyone not know that they would try a stunt like this? Of course, they did know it. Viacom’s stock has been rising recently, so they are enjoying some residuals. In addition, I think Janet was more covered than most of the female models in the ubiquitous beer ads that were aired on commercial breaks. It provides a nice distraction from the disaster that is the Iraq war, however.
Here I sit, waiting for the end.
Have we all gone crazy? I heard Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld talking about information gathered during the Iraq war about WMD’s , and he said something to the effect that we have “known knowns and unknown knowns, things we know that we know, and things we know that we may know.” Now, all I can say is WHAT? This is a great illustration of the popular confusion which surrounds what was once known as traditional morality. The knowns that most people thought they knew, like blatant promiscuity is bad, that we should not shoot each other over a traffic accident, and that homeless people do not actually choose to live in refrigerator boxes, and that exposing young people to a constant barrage of violence and sexuality will have an adverse effect on them, etc. are actually presented to us by the media, the business community, and hollywood as “unknown knowns,” that is, all matters of morality are actually a matter of opinion. In other words, when we thought we knew certain things were bad and others good, our culture tells us, in the immortal words of Don Rumsfeld, that we now know that we do not know what we thought we knew about them being bad. Therefore, everything is acceptable so get out there and shop till you drop!
That’s why Colin Jr. can say that Janet’s stunt was bad (traditional morality says that people should respect their bodies) yet can also remain silent on the barrage of negative images that fly from MTV daily, (artistic freedom). We know that freedom is good, we know that respecting oneself is good, but we do not know that we know that respect and freedom have no place on the Super Bowl halftime show. Is it no wonder then that most people yawn when presented with the problems associated with this war, or that they do not seem to really care? They have been lulled to sleep by the confusion of our culture, and when we awaken them, they just get more confused. Crazy.
Do we want the end to come? I think we do. What with all the books about the rapture and the apocalypse, the end times seems to be foremost on our minds. It’s a way to escape and to show that we are not responsible for our actions, other evil people are, who have darker skin then us, or who kill babies, or are homosexual. They are the reason our world is so crazy and out of control. Not us, were fine. We are a Christian nation. We love Jesus, and bomb the third world. We love Jesus and look the other way while corporate America sends thousands of jobs overseas. We talk family values, but cut spending that will help poor children get a good education. We talk family values, but refuse to address the issue of youth violence in the inner city. We talk family values yet refuse to address the issue of out of wed- lock pregnancy among the poor. We talk family values but sell sex and tell kids there are no consequences. We have gone crazy. I believe that only a deep, serious, and real conversion based on repentance and the acceptance of our powerlessness can really keep us from the experiencing the end. Maybe not the end of the world, but certainly the end of our country as we know it. Penance, conversion, prayer, and peace. In whatever way you conceive of God, these things are our only chance for survival. Of course, many will say I am crazy. My response is, how crazy do you have to be to continue to live the way we do?
My first post is an essay I wrote a year ago called Sitting Around Waiting for the End of the World. It is my response to what I saw as the insane actions of my government around the world. Nothing has happened to make me feel any better, or be more hopeful for the future.
Sitting around, waiting for the end of the World
The title of this essay is strange, no doubt. I am not exactly sure if it expresses my state of being, or the state of being of the entire world. However, I feel that I have been gripped by “millennial madness.” Perhaps it is a few years too late, but as I understand it our modern calendar is hopelessly out of synch with “real time” and as a result I may be getting millennial madness at just the right moment. Then again, if I understand quantum theory (and I do not, other than on a very cursory level) time does not exist any way. Therefore, I come back to my original point. This sure is a strange title for an essay.
I suppose the sub title could be, “Has everyone gone crazy?” Recent events seem to support this question, and the feeling that I am sitting around waiting for the end of the World. Let me offer an example. Very recently, most people in America seemed to be simply “sitting around” while their President performed a pre-emptive invasion of a sovereign nation, Iraq, based on a threat (WMD) that we now know did not exist. The pre-war rhetoric insisted that the threat of WMD was real, obvious, and so dangerous that not acting militarily could cause a nuclear 9-11( National Security Adviser Condolezza Rice’s words, not mine). Now, the administration is saying that we have found no WMD, but they “could have existed, maybe, if we had done nothing,” President Bush was quoted as saying he perceived Iraq as a potential threat, whether now or at some point in the future, and that was why he decided to attack. Now, that is certainly not what people were told leading up to the war. However, lets give him the benefit of the doubt. Lets assume that 9-11 really did change things, and that in order to stop another attack we must remove all potential threats militarily. There should be then a huge American bulls eye on Saudi Arabia, since most of the 9-11 high- jackers were Saudis, Bin Laden was a Saudi citizen, and most of the funding for Al-Queda comes from Saudi sources. Right? According to this administration, Saudi Arabia is not a threat to America. Iraq, however, was. Am I missing something? Or has everyone gone crazy?
And, lets examine the Iraqi threat for a moment. The US military, perhaps the finest professional army in history, attacked a seriously undermanned country that had suffered thorough 30 years of repression under a terrible regime, 8 years of war with Iran, 13 years of UN sanctions, a major defeat at the hands of a multi-national Army in Gulf War One, and after that defeat was under siege almost daily from “surgical” US bombing missions for the next 12-13 years. The Iraqi army was and is a joke, and it has only been successful using guerilla tactics, which cause pain but will never really cause the US to leave the country, especially with the media surpressing bad news here at home.
Was Saddam a bad guy? Of course he was. However, there are lots of bad guys who are more of a threat to our “way of life” who we choose not only not to attack, but we in fact support and aid them. The House of Saud is just as repressive as Saddam was. And again, they seem to be at least indirectly linked to an actual attack against America on American soil.
Add to all this the incredible image of the President who authorized this tragic war landing on an aircraft carrier, declaring as if he were a god that hostilities had ended (yet people are still dying on both sides in greater numbers) wearing a flight suit signifying his supposed fine service to his country, when we now know that he was practically dismissed from his Air National Guard unit, or he himself chose to leave early for undisclosed reasons. You can see why I feel that we have all gone loony in the good old US of A. Now most people should find this situation appalling, unless of course you like war, and death, and chaos, and instability in your country. You know, you’re a war- mongering nut bag and damn proud of it. Yet, what really makes me think we are nearing the end is that a lot of people could really care less, and when you talk to them about these issues they rub the sleep form their eyes and say things like; “death, destruction, where is it? Iraq? Where is that anyway-oh the Middle-East. They hate us over there anyway, right? (Yawn) I’m sorry, what did you say? I was distracted by Brittanny kissing Madonna”
Has everyone gone crazy? We live in a society where a journalist can write a book about how Senator Joe McCarthy, he of the House Un-American Activities committee, was a hero, and in the same book make the case that liberals are traitors because they have undermined and criticized America. Granted, many on the EXTREME left certainly would not weep if America fell into ruin, and yes, everyone has the right to their opinion, but that is not the point. To paint all liberals (was FDR a traitor? How about Truman?) as traitors is unfair at best, and libel at worst. The fact that this journalist is given major air time on ALL 24 hour news networks shows again that we have become stark raving mad in this country. It is clear that this journalist is calling all democrats traitors. This journalist is also saying that Joe McCarthy was right to persecute, and otherwise destroy people because there were (GASP) COMMUNIST SPIES in AMERICA!! No kidding, and there are Mosad spies in America, so should we question people on whether they are Jewish, or know anyone who is Jewish? The End is near! And why did the media give this person so much air- time to sell this book, which seems to be prejudiced? Would they give the same face time to a white supremacist? How about an anti-semite? Will we have a new politically correct category in the future called liberal-a-phobia, the fear of liberals, in order to protect liberals from these ad hominem attacks? To say that democrats are traitors is absurd, loony really, because anyone with common sense knows that most democrats are as deeply invested in the establishment as republicans are. John Kerry is as rich and connected as George Bush, he simply likes poor people a little more than George Bush does. Both John Kerry and John Edwards voted for the war because they knew they were running for president, and they could never get the support of the establishment if they were seen as anti-war. But wait, there is more.
At last year’s Super Bowl, an event that gives the phrase over-the-top a good name, Janet Jackson revealed her breast. Now, I am certainly in favor of women covering themselves on national TV, yet the national backlash to this event, in light of the fact that MTV produced it and is FAMOUS for the use of its own versions of sexual “shock and awe” seems loony as well. Colin Powell’s son, the head of the FCC, is said to be “outraged.” Has this man seen MTV? Did he see Brittany kiss Madonna, Howard Stern reveal his butt cheeks as “fart-man?” Ok, maybe he missed those, but Mr. Powell the younger, I simply ask-DUDE HAVE YOU SEEN MTV! Having them do the show was loony, loony, hello LOONY! How could anyone not know that they would try a stunt like this? Of course, they did know it. Viacom’s stock has been rising recently, so they are enjoying some residuals. In addition, I think Janet was more covered than most of the female models in the ubiquitous beer ads that were aired on commercial breaks. It provides a nice distraction from the disaster that is the Iraq war, however.
Here I sit, waiting for the end.
Have we all gone crazy? I heard Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld talking about information gathered during the Iraq war about WMD’s , and he said something to the effect that we have “known knowns and unknown knowns, things we know that we know, and things we know that we may know.” Now, all I can say is WHAT? This is a great illustration of the popular confusion which surrounds what was once known as traditional morality. The knowns that most people thought they knew, like blatant promiscuity is bad, that we should not shoot each other over a traffic accident, and that homeless people do not actually choose to live in refrigerator boxes, and that exposing young people to a constant barrage of violence and sexuality will have an adverse effect on them, etc. are actually presented to us by the media, the business community, and hollywood as “unknown knowns,” that is, all matters of morality are actually a matter of opinion. In other words, when we thought we knew certain things were bad and others good, our culture tells us, in the immortal words of Don Rumsfeld, that we now know that we do not know what we thought we knew about them being bad. Therefore, everything is acceptable so get out there and shop till you drop!
That’s why Colin Jr. can say that Janet’s stunt was bad (traditional morality says that people should respect their bodies) yet can also remain silent on the barrage of negative images that fly from MTV daily, (artistic freedom). We know that freedom is good, we know that respecting oneself is good, but we do not know that we know that respect and freedom have no place on the Super Bowl halftime show. Is it no wonder then that most people yawn when presented with the problems associated with this war, or that they do not seem to really care? They have been lulled to sleep by the confusion of our culture, and when we awaken them, they just get more confused. Crazy.
Do we want the end to come? I think we do. What with all the books about the rapture and the apocalypse, the end times seems to be foremost on our minds. It’s a way to escape and to show that we are not responsible for our actions, other evil people are, who have darker skin then us, or who kill babies, or are homosexual. They are the reason our world is so crazy and out of control. Not us, were fine. We are a Christian nation. We love Jesus, and bomb the third world. We love Jesus and look the other way while corporate America sends thousands of jobs overseas. We talk family values, but cut spending that will help poor children get a good education. We talk family values, but refuse to address the issue of youth violence in the inner city. We talk family values yet refuse to address the issue of out of wed- lock pregnancy among the poor. We talk family values but sell sex and tell kids there are no consequences. We have gone crazy. I believe that only a deep, serious, and real conversion based on repentance and the acceptance of our powerlessness can really keep us from the experiencing the end. Maybe not the end of the world, but certainly the end of our country as we know it. Penance, conversion, prayer, and peace. In whatever way you conceive of God, these things are our only chance for survival. Of course, many will say I am crazy. My response is, how crazy do you have to be to continue to live the way we do?
posted by nathandave at 2:53 PM
3 Comments:
I thought I knew what I had known then you started talking about the known unknowns now I don't know if I know what I knew if I unknowingly know it now... I think.
Great essay Thomas! I'm adding a link to your blog in my blogs!
Drop me an email (you can do it through my profile)!
"Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade, and much of his nation’s wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on developing nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons – and the missiles to deliver them." – Bill Clinton SOTU 1998
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." – Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
"We must stop Saddam from ever again jeopardizing the stability and security of his neighbors with weapons of mass destruction." – Madeline Albright, Feb. 1, 1998
"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." – Sandy Berger, Feb. 18, 1998
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." – Nancy Pelosi, Dec. 16, 1998
"Hussein has … chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." – Madeline Albright, Nov. 10, 1999
"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and th! e means of delivering them." – Senator Carl Levin, Sept. 19, 2002
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." – Al Gore Sept. 23, 2002
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." – Senator Ted Kennedy, Sept. 27, 2002
"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons…" – Senator Robert Byrd, Oct. 3, 2002
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members … It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." – Senator Hillary Clinton, Oct. 10, 2002
"We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S.Constitution and Laws, to take necessary actions, (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
– Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998
Theres proof.
Wow, nathandave? you are an incredibly talented writer. You have tremendous insight. How old are you? It's unfortunate you don't still post. We want more! you're too talented to waste.
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