I was cleaning some old files off my computer today and ran across the video of Eugene Armstrong beheaded by Islamists. Before I knew it, it was playing out in front of my eyes and I felt like someone punched the wind out of me. These brainwashed cult Islamists who kill innocents in the name of their mental disease have gone so far beyond any right to remain living on this planet. Earlier, NBC led the Today Show with Osama’s latest pronouncements, as if content from the disease-in-chief was the most important thing they could run on this day. It would be another matter if NBC showed his rants alongside critical analysis, but they never seriously question anyone opposed to President Bush, even mortal enemies. The magnitude of these evils makes me long for the good ol’ days when as a child, all we had to worry about was nuclear extinction. That seems like such a simple problem compared to the rampant cult mindset of Osama and his followers practicing their constant state of holy murder, let alone the purveyors of news who rationalize their insanity for political gain. When otherwise civil people adopt shades of the cult disease, we’ve got a huge problem.
Placing this in context, this morning my family attended a ceremony at the charter school honoring public servants who keep us safe, and remembering the tragedy of 9/11. There was poetry, song and solemn speech. This ceremony has been performed at the charter school each 9/11 since the tragedy. It is now part of our local culture and will likely remain so for many years to come.
Later, I got a call from my mother back home from the front line of a different conflict, a battle with the insanity of my dad’s alzheimers. It’s like a marathon without end, demanding all the strength of her life to get through this ongoing departure of his. And when not enduring the many tests that the disease throws at her directly, she’s fighting the empty weasel words of over-lawyered insurance companies, staffed by twenty-somethings who’s job it is to harass her into withdrawal. She’s a tough old girl and won’t go down without a fight, so long as her equity holds out. But at some point she’ll get tired or sick or broke, and a different cult disease will have consumed another victim.
Placing this in further context, work goes on and several customers found the home medical supplies they needed at our store today. There’s some progress against “social entropy.” And yesterday I got to meet with county planners about future transportation requirements in the county and make a contribution to that effort. More progress. Tonight I’ll go to a charter school board meeting to gather leadership news for subsequent web distribution. More progress. And this morning I ran into the chief of Elizabeth PD and we spoke about CPT citizen oversight. I’d been out of it for awhile recovering from an injury and he thinks it’s probably time to go back. CPT needs oversight, not because of anything done, but because ethical oversight is the only counterbalance the state provided to offset the tremendous power the state vested in social services. There again, progress.
In many respects today is no different than any other. Real problems, real puzzles, and real personal suffering abound. We deal with all of it, do what we can to mitigate the bad stuff, and maybe even build something good. We often fall short, but we keep trying because we don’t accept insanity, relative morality, or injustice, and we aren’t inherently selfish. Over the long run, these human traits will defeat the cults, but they won’t go without a fight. It’s not in the nature of a cult to be reasonable.