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How
to be punk
I got this from Kerpunk, if you know who wrote this or if you wrote it, just
send me your name and I'll publish it here and not make you famous
God
Bless America
This was written by Jim Lindberg from Pennywise as an Editorial for Epitaph
Bless
America? In his Pulitzer Prize winning book, "The Metaphysical Club," Louis Menand says that all the lessons Oliver Wendell Holmes learned from his experiences in civil war, of seeing his friends killed and a nation ripped apart, could be reduced to one sentence; "It is that certitude leads to violence." When people have an unshakable conviction that what they believe to be true and right, without qualification or openness to debate, they will eventually confront another group of people who hold the opposite view and the inevitable result will always be bloodshed. Though Holmes fought for the union side, he eventually found that even when you believe yourself to be on the higher ground morally, the clash that comes from conflicting ideologies will often produce even greater horrors. On the anniversary of the tragic events of September 11th, people will be left with the agonizing question of why this terrible event occurred. Some will point to the gulf war, others to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the middle east and the U.S. support for Israel, even more will say there can be no clear answer. Much like Oliver Wendell Holmes' summation of the Civil War, it seems clear that this was the inevitable first major collision of the world's prevailing belief systems in the modern age. In the late 1800s the war was fought in our country over the issue of slavery and succession from the union, in Vietnam it was the spread of political and economic ideologies. Now the conflict arises from the clash of our planet's most fundamental, yet mutually exclusive belief systems. Witnessing then the events of September 11th was even more difficult for the silent masses of agnostics than it was for the members of the world's established religions. Muslims, Christians and Jews believe in a whole passion play of good vs. evil, heaven and hell, God vs. Satan, and that in some all knowing way God has a purpose and a plan, and that violence, suffering and sorrow must all be a part of it. They can witness these events secure in the knowledge that the all-powerful being that protects them and listens to their prayers must in some way have a reason for allowing this kind of tragedy. Muslim extremists all over the globe respond to the call for jihad against the infidels, church going Americans proselytize on the Internet, on bumper stickers and from the white house as we ask for God's blessing for unleashing our massive war machine. We pray that God will smite our enemies who have made the fatal mistake of believing as we do in the belief system that has been passed down for generations as the un-challengeable and supreme truth. The ideologically indistinguishable teachings of the Bible, Koran and Torah are the fabric of our lives growing up, the center of our universe philosophically and spiritually. Unfortunately, the first law or commandment of all these religions is that ours is the one true God and there are no others before Him. Accordingly, we hold this intransigent belief so dearly that any challenge to our belief system can produce a homicidal, even suicidal, response to defend it. The terrorists who crashed those planes into those towers were just as assured of their entrance into heaven as Billy Graham will be on his own day of reckoning. So for the masses of people who admit to not having all the answers when it comes to the big questions of the universe, sitting on the sidelines and watching as the faithful combatants wreak havoc on the world, the heartache of having to share the planet with the maniacally self-righteous has been a constant source of despair when you consider the seemingly infinite number of lives wasted on our own arrogance to force our beliefs on one another. The atrocities of September 11th were the latest in a long history of battles where our "certitude led to violence." The question is, when will the silent millions of those who hold the more rational belief that no one really has all the answers, convince those who think they do, that they should practice what they preach, and entertain the idea of tolerance of opposing views, and admit that we really can't be certain of anything, especially who God is? My heart goes out to the victims and their families, and to us for having witnessed it.
No
war on Iraq
I was disgusted when I read the response to the “No War on Iraq” editorial.
Nothing has changed in Iraq since the Gulf War 11 years ago, so why is it
that Bush has now decided that Saddam should be disposed of? The answer to
that question is obvious to anyone who isn’t side tracked by the possibility
of senseless violence, and actually takes the time to look at the Bush administration
and what it has accomplished since Sept 11th; absolutely nothing. What occurred
on Sept 11th, 2001, was a horrible tragedy for the American people involved,
and Bush felt that it was his duty to rid the world of terrorism. One year
and thousands of innocent deaths later nothing has been accomplished and the
American public is losing interest, and losing faith in their leader. So what
does that have to do with Iraq? Since the U.S. Government has run out of caves
to bomb in Afghanistan, they have turned their attention to Iraq to spark
the interest of the voters. Sept 11th and terrorism have nothing to do with
Iraq and Saddam Hussein, but I lost count of how many times it was brought
up in his speech on Monday. Bush isn’t good at anything but bombing, killing,
and overthrowing governments that the U.S. deems unstable or unfit to rule.
Without an enemy, Bush is as useless in office as tits on a bull, an analogy
I find all too fitting. With Saddam Hussein’s head on the chopping block,
the U.S. now has somebody to point the finger at as the “Face of Evil”. Bush’s
speech had no new information about Iraq or Saddam, and he continued to tiptoe
around showing any actual proof that Iraq is building, buying, or holding
weapons of “mass destruction”. His only argument for attacking Iraq revolved
around Iraq’s past and what Saddam has done. What about the 500,000 Iraq children
under the age of 12 that were killed during the Gulf War because of U.S. bombing
raids? Why is it that it’s only “Terrorism” when it’s against the U.S., not
when it’s the U.S. doing the terrorizing? President Bush thinks that he can
save the world by forcing everyone in it to be as American as they can be
(at gunpoint), while all he is doing is creating enemies. Enemies that take
50 years of “legal” U.S. Military oppression, but when they retaliate they
are called terrorists and condemned to be destroyed. There have been an estimated
1.5 million Iraqi deaths because the blockade put in place by U.S. administration
11 years ago. Is this not terrorism? What about the billions of dollars worth
of American weapons that are shipped to Israel so that Israeli terrorists
can kill Palestinian women and children. But wait… according to CNN it’s the
Palestinians who are the terrorists, and killing terrorists is OK. The point
is that Bush is only bringing Iraq back into the picture so that he has a
reason to continue his term in office. Nothing in Iraq has changed, but without
someone to terrorize, how can the U.S. continue its responsibility as the
world’s worst terrorist organization?
-Blair Weinberg
modernrebellion@hotmail.com
