Religion, War, Conquest, and Terrorism.

Since the 6 year anniversary of September 11, 2001 is coming up, I thought it would be appropriate to address some of people's opinions and misconceptions about terrorism in our country. Please read my thoughts and opinions with a grain of salt, but also with an open mind.

Arrogance:
It astounds me that people don't look a little closer on why we (the United States) were the targets of these horrendous acts of terrorism. We weren't attacked because the Taliban (Afghani terrorists, not Iraqi terrorists) couldn't think of anyone else to bomb. They didn't just spin a globe and pick the spot where their finger landed. They had a grudge against us; we provoked them into attacking us. Now, before I lose some of you, I don't mean we, as a country, walked up and kicked them in their collective shins. Well, not exactly. The point is this: the United States and Americans in general are viewed as the *most* arrogant people on earth. What would happen if you worked in an office where one of your co-workers would shout, "Hey everyone! I'm better than all of you fuckers!" as they walked in every day? Chances are, by the end of the week you would have killed them and eaten their heart to gain their powers (kudos Lewis Black). If any of my dedicated readers have been to Canada, odds are good that you have experienced this firsthand. In Canada they kill each other less, they can drink at an earlier age, their news is boring, and they almost universally view Americans as arrogant bastards. Granted, I'm not excluding me from this stereotype; indeed, I'm probably the most arrogant and stubborn person you could meet.

Religion:
As if this weren't enough, many other countries see us as a "Christian Nation." Hell, I know quite a few of my fellow Americans who believe this as well. First of all, this country was founded on the principle of free religion. That was basically the reason most of the early settlers came to the Americas. Seriously. Just because God is referenced a couple times in some of our earlier documents does not mean that the Founding Fathers intended that this country be a Christian one but just forgot to tell anyone. For that matter, just because the Founding Fathers did something does not mean they were right. So even if they had intended a Christian nation (which I will go out on a limb and say they did not), I would argue that they would be huge douchebags for it.
If that didn't convince you that we should stop that "Christian Nation" bullshit, here's another little nugget of goodness: labeling ourselves as a "Christian Nation" has a whole new bag of shit attached to it. For those of you who haven't heard the term "Jihad" outside of Team America: World Police, the word is of Arabic origin with its most common connotation meaning a holy war. Holy War. People of one religion killing those who believe in a different faith in order to convert, destroy, pillage, take over holy cities, gain the favor of the Church, steal holy artifacts, and the like. Sounds a little bit like the Spanish Inquisition and the Holy Crusades. Which brings me to the word "crusade" ...meaning a war with religion justification. Yes, my friends, "crusade" and "jihad" mean very similar things (in essence, the same thing), although crusade generally has nicer connotations (not altogether deserved). Indeed, often the Crusades are seen as heroic adventures to spread the word of Christ (and to capture, recapture, or attempt to capture Jerusalem). Unfortunately for many people (the Turks, Egyptians, Muslims, Albigensians, and others), this often mean death, slavery, torture, and indoctrination. Doesn't sound fun, eh? If you don't want to be judged by others for the things your religious predecessors did in the name of Christianity (some of the most widespread and atrocious cases of genocides and mass oppression in history) perhaps you'll think twice before offending someone of another faith. I definitely am not knocking those of the Christian faith, as some of the kindest people I know and some of my best friends are Christian. I prefer to judge people by traits and attributes aside from their religion. That's exactly why I don't want to have the "Christian Nation" label applied to me as a citizen.

Now, on to the Good Stuff for those select few readers still with me. The point behind this all is this: If we present ourselves as both arrogant bastards and a Christian nation, we should expect to earn the ire of terrorist groups with religious extremism. There is no point in naming ourselves a Christian nation besides pissing off dangerous terrorists and oppressing those Americans who aren't Christian (myself included). In fact, in a 2001 US Census Bureau study, out of the 256.5 million responses, only about 208 million were considered Christian. Another 7.8 million were considered belonging to other religions, and 29.5 million were non-specified (atheist, agnostic, secular, humanist, ect). (11.2 million did not answer) This shows that perhaps 80% of Americans are/were members of one of the many Judo-Christian religious denominations, but there's a very large minority there that deserves to be represented as well (and have a country to call their own).

Taxes:
If you're looking for someone to knock, how about the country we're paying much of our taxes to? If your vote is decided due to your reluctance to pay taxes, here's the results of tax breaks and not paying off our debts: we're paying about 15 cents per dollar just for paying interest on the loans that we've accrued. Much of this is going to China, who could pull their support from the US dollar (which they're threatening right now) and not only send us into a crippling depression, but bring the world's economy to a standstill. Their purchase of our debt is a very smart move on their part and allowing our debt to grow is very stupid move on ours. We've become dependent on China, who's population, contrary to ours, is largely made up of "non-religious" people (study by Dentsu Communication Institute Inc). China has become one of the world's greatest super-powers by being pragmatic and rather than entangling themselves in petty matters, they have pulled their country up by it's bootstrap (forgive the cliche).

The Bottom Line:
Here's the bottom line: Why do people insist on blaming all of their misfortunes on terrorists, the Middle East, and Middle Eastern religions? We'd be much better off if we took a more introspective approach and tried to fix our own flaws. Instead we gloss them over, succeeding only in putting us at a disadvantage and angering other countries/people. All I ask is that you, my dear reader, take some time to think about this. Live and let live, treat others as you would be treated, and have some tolerance. These rules weren't supposed to just apply to people you like; if you allow yourself to see the good sides of other religions and peoples, it makes it easier to see your own flaws.