On 02/20/2015 03:11 PM, Owen Densmore wrote:
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/?fb_ref=Default
It took me awhile to read that (and a few of its criticisms). A handful of thoughts popped up while reading it. But none of them came even slightly close to fear[*]. ISIS seems like a typical fanatical cult, to me. And, as such, it will end in the same silliness as other fanatical cults, about as dramatic as Heaven's Gate, but I suppose causing way more damage by objective measures.
After having read it (and its criticisms), all I'm left with is a sadness at people's consistent and continual ability to believe their own bullsh!t. It reinforces my condemnation of the certainty with which all believers believe whatever nonsense it is they believe, including atheists and scientismists.
And anyone who "takes up arms" to achieve anything other than harm reduction, is falling into the exact same ideological trap the believers are in. So, escalating the rhetoric to "be afraid, be very afraid" is reprehensible, I think. We aren't afraid of these perverted savants. We have systems for dealing with them, as long as we can invoke and execute those methods without freaking out and without imprisoning ourselves within our own ideological nonsense.
[*] Granted, here at my safe distance, the only type of fear I could possibly feel is existential or eschatological, a type of fear that really only seems to afflict true believers of one ideology or another, anyway. So, saying the article doesn't evoke fear in me is a trivial statement, except as part of the reasoning toward my last point above. It does make me kindasorta regret that I didn't try to join the NSA when I had the chance, though. Perhaps I would be in a better position to reduce the harm caused by these idiot savants ... probably not, though, given the amount of navel gazing the NSA seems to do.
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