Martin LeFevre: Whirling on the Axis of Twin Evils

Just when I thought I couldn’t feel more disgust in this race-to-the-bottom ''war against terrorism,'' both sides attain new depths of human depravity.

This is a play from hell in which every entity is endlessly acting its horrific part to the hilt. The ‘heroes’ of the Bush Administration, our glorious men and women in uniform, pile Muslim men on top of each other while female soldiers point and laugh at their genitals. Bin Laden could not have staged a better coup for inciting Muslim identity.

Stage Left: a group of Islamic extremists behead a hapless American (the best of his generation by the sounds of his short life, which included an independent journey to Iraq to “help them rebuild”) on videotape and carry his head around as a trophy. This 11th century act could not have been better staged by American racists to reinforce their belief that the terrorists aren’t human, and can be treated as such.

If the Bushites even half mean what they say about “liberating Iraq,” they would not have treated Iraqi prisoners (up to 90% of whom were falsely arrested) like dogs. Actually, Americans treat their dogs very well, like kin in fact, and sic them on others they consider less than dogs.

If al-Qaeda (by any other name) half mean what they say about upholding Muslim honor and Islamic purity, they would have let Bush twist in the wind rather than act like the subhuman savages that he says they are. Of course their goal is to inflame hatred and prove how the West means to annihilate the Arab world. But they are doing more to destroy the Arab world than Americans and their servants ever could.

This made-for-TV viciousness goes beyond political calculations and considerations. The assault is not just on Iraqi people. They are pawns in a hellish drama that seems either designed by the devil to destroy the last vestiges of hope in the human prospect, or allowed by God to produce a breakthrough in humans. Perhaps it’s both.

Have you noticed how hard it is just to stay informed about all this crap? I don’t know how many people have told me recently they no longer pay attention to the news. The ones that do suggest that simply watching the news is a heroic act, since they risk their psychological health by ingesting the daily images and text. Perhaps we do.

Our enemies define us. Psychologically, an enemy is the mirror image of oneself. The shadowy network of al-Qaeda represents the long-denied dark side of Americans. It is, with its nebulous, secretive, good vs. evil worldview, the perfect bogeyman to fulfill the American need for an enemy.

Both brands of deluded fundamentalists metaphysically serve the same master, which seeks to erode all faith in the future of humanity. Therefore another kind of race is going on as well.

The ancient human ‘us vs. them’ mentality being played out to its logical end—total chaos. These twin evils circling each other around the axis of the world are accelerating humankind’s evolution, and necessitating a new human civilization. But right now all most people can see is increasing chaos and darkness. And because they can see no way ahead, millions are tuning out and shutting down.

Therefore a little more than US foreign policy is at issue here. Both sides are driving human civilization into the ground, and neither will stop until the human spirit is destroyed, or this ultimate expression of the history of war ends the old ‘us vs. them’ way of thinking.

The Neanderthals of the Bush Administration, and their metaphysical dance partners of global terrorists, are irrelevant. The psychological and spiritual target is decent people in both the Christian and Islamic worlds. We are Cro Magnons in need not of a new identity, but a breakthrough in being.

- Martin LeFevre is a contemplative, and non-academic religious and political philosopher. He has been publishing in North America, Latin America, Africa, and Europe (and now New Zealand) for 20 years. Email: martinlefevre@sbcglobal.net. The author welcomes comments.

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