http://www.pathawi.net/b-log/2005/05/14/the-guardian-honour-and-martyrdom/ Pensaments of an Anthropological Patzer Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:41:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://www.pathawi.net/b-log/2005/05/14/the-guardian-honour-and-martyrdom/#comment-94 NotSoMuch Tue, 06 Dec 2005 14:05:23 +0000 http://www.pathawi.net/b-log/2005/05/14/the-guardian-honour-and-martyrdom/#comment-94 Yes. I get that part. And its true. But nobody actually lives a life in accordance with statistics. The mass of people reflect the truth of the statistics but no individual actually stands a 15% chance of getting cancer in their lifetime. Or an 85% chance of not getting cancer in their lifetime. For the individual. it is a 100% of getting cancer. Or a 100% chance of not getting cancer. It either happens to you or it doesn't. The fact that most people, even in Israel, go to the market every day without ever actually suffering or being near a blast from a suicide bomber doesn't make it any more something to willingly embrace by those who do ... whether they understand and sympathize with the motivations and pressing injustices afflicting the bombers and those who spawn the bombers. If you understand and sympathize, it does not hurt less to be blown apart than if you cannot comprehend it and completely oppose it (even if that opposition happens to be grounded in ignorance and prejudice). And being blown apart by another person is something I would avoid and if I could actively avoid it by taking him/her out first before he/she took me out, I would do it ... whatever my empathy and understanding was of their situation, poverty, oppression, politics, religion, ideology, economics, psychology, history, societal status, etc etc And (for the record) I do know quite a bit about all that and I do understand and it does make me sympathize. So, if this choice of tactics produces this response in someone who has my viewpoint, they really don't stand a chance with someone who finds it impossible to adopt my need to understand and ability to empathize. And therein is the formula for all out war ... continuously ... forever. Yes. I get that part. And its true. But nobody actually lives a life in accordance with statistics. The mass of people reflect the truth of the statistics but no individual actually stands a 15% chance of getting cancer in their lifetime. Or an 85% chance of not getting cancer in their lifetime. For the individual. it is a 100% of getting cancer. Or a 100% chance of not getting cancer. It either happens to you or it doesn’t.
The fact that most people, even in Israel, go to the market every day without ever actually suffering or being near a blast from a suicide bomber doesn’t make it any more something to willingly embrace by those who do … whether they understand and sympathize with the motivations and pressing injustices afflicting the bombers and those who spawn the bombers. If you understand and sympathize, it does not hurt less to be blown apart than if you cannot comprehend it and completely oppose it (even if that opposition happens to be grounded in ignorance and prejudice).
And being blown apart by another person is something I would avoid and if I could actively avoid it by taking him/her out first before he/she took me out, I would do it … whatever my empathy and understanding was of their situation, poverty, oppression, politics, religion, ideology, economics, psychology, history, societal status, etc etc And (for the record) I do know quite a bit about all that and I do understand and it does make me sympathize. So, if this choice of tactics produces this response in someone who has my viewpoint, they really don’t stand a chance with someone who finds it impossible to adopt my need to understand and ability to empathize. And therein is the formula for all out war … continuously … forever.

]]> http://www.pathawi.net/b-log/2005/05/14/the-guardian-honour-and-martyrdom/#comment-67 Bob Offer-Westort Sat, 26 Nov 2005 18:02:41 +0000 http://www.pathawi.net/b-log/2005/05/14/the-guardian-honour-and-martyrdom/#comment-67 The first half of what you say is sho' nuff fair: I'd rather misunderstand my would-be killer and live than understand her or him and die. <em>But</em>. You're still more likely to get struck by lightning than a bomb, and even in Israel more people die in car accidents than in terrorist attacks: We got time to wonder, and if figuring things out has the possibility of both preventing undeserved deaths in the West and improving the lot of the average person in many other parts of the world, wondering, researching, and asking seem like <em>very</em> appropriate uses of one's time. The first half of what you say is sho’ nuff fair: I’d rather misunderstand my would-be killer and live than understand her or him and die. But. You’re still more likely to get struck by lightning than a bomb, and even in Israel more people die in car accidents than in terrorist attacks: We got time to wonder, and if figuring things out has the possibility of both preventing undeserved deaths in the West and improving the lot of the average person in many other parts of the world, wondering, researching, and asking seem like very appropriate uses of one’s time.

]]> http://www.pathawi.net/b-log/2005/05/14/the-guardian-honour-and-martyrdom/#comment-64 NotSoMuch Sat, 26 Nov 2005 16:36:27 +0000 http://www.pathawi.net/b-log/2005/05/14/the-guardian-honour-and-martyrdom/#comment-64 Ok. Good. But I don't want to either understand or misunderstand them anywhere near as much as I want to avoid being around when they detonate themselves and others Any culture, any history, any psychology, any class, any religion ... has in common: we draw the line right where you begin to preach that it is okay for you to end my life (or our lives) in the name of your beliefs, whether they be economic, political, religious, historical, psychological, societal or whatever. Don't come bombing my ass or I will be forced to hate and suppress your ass. Ok.
Good.
But I don’t want to either understand or misunderstand them anywhere near as much as I want to avoid being around when they detonate themselves and others
Any culture, any history, any psychology, any class, any religion … has in common: we draw the line right where you begin to preach that it is okay for you to end my life (or our lives) in the name of your beliefs, whether they be economic, political, religious, historical, psychological, societal or whatever. Don’t come bombing my ass or I will be forced to hate and suppress your ass.

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