Just Where Is The Axis Of Evil
The most significant concept that has shaped our President's foreign policy has been his pronouncements of an "axis of evil.
"As psychotherapist Sheldon B.
Kopp once said, "Evil can be displaced, but never eradicated as all solutions breed new problems.
"It is my belief that we all have a dark side and if we refuse to acknowledge it, it may rear its ugly head.
Our President repeats his talking point that if we are not vigilant in containing the terrorists in Iraq, they will eventually follow us home.
However, his rambling scare tactics are not being taken seriously by most Americans anymore.
Most of us are insightful enough to realize that no matter what happens militarily in Iraq, that a pattern of terrorism is an inevitable consequence of the world we live in.
Just where is this axis of evil?Contrary to what the President proclaims, the terrorist don't need to follow us home, they reside here.
The recent massacre at Virginia Tech reminds us of the evil that lurks in our own backyard.
The axis of evil comfortably exists at home and also is embodied in all the political corruption, wars, and natural catastrophes that have confronted us.
We like to appoint commissions and offer up a multitude of recommendations when we are befuddled by terror.
As citizens, we have a short learning curve.
The same worn-out policies and procedures get pulled off our dusty shelves and are re-implemented to no avail.
Possibly this is our ritualistic way of trying to control the uncontrollable.
Now that we have a new story of evil, I find it appalling how Americans gravitate to their television sets to watch every gory detail of this slaughter of innocent students and teachers.
Contrary to what the experts have advised us to do, the media recklessly posts innumerable pictures and audio clips of our latest mass murderer to the fascination of many of us.
How insensitive to the families of the victims! Do we still not understand that confronting evil in the wrong manner only intensifies its power over us?Can the axis of evil be found in the hearts and minds of all of us? While we are fixated with the evil doings at Virginia Tech, have we forgotten about our courageous military men and women who are coming home in flag-draped coffins?Although we have power over that crisis, it seems that we have long since forgotten about their fate.
It is interesting to note that just as many soldiers were killed in Iraq during the same time-frame as the horror of the thirty two shootings at Virginia Tech.
This is not about comparing pain.
It's about respect and acknowledgement.
Where are the names of our courageous victims of war?Where is the media coverage for the grief and mourning for our killed and maimed soldiers and their families?As we continue to pay lip service for the support of our troops, the death of these men and women are almost exclusively recognized by the local communities of the fallen and the newspapers which are available in their hometown.
We point our fingers at other governments for their lack of civility, and yet we find our current political administration disintegrating at home.
Is not torture of prisoners, illegal wiretapping, deceitfulness about the mission in Iraq, and other political corruption a symbol of the axis of evil?Was it not Jesus who proclaimed, "And why worry about a speck in your friends eye when you have a log in your own? The axis of evil will not follow us home, it is already here.
We live in its midst because human nature consists of evil in need of transformation.
The axis of evil remains alive and well because we fail to recognize its face and its whereabouts.
The axis of evil must be challenged but we must be careful how we deal with it.
We are not good at managing evil because we do not understand its nature.
We can no longer be naïve, but must recognize evil's signs and symptoms and take the responsibility as a nation for confronting it appropriately.
There are measures that we can take to combat evil if we will seek to understand it and not get distracted in our commitment to minimize its impact.
Unfortunately there is reason to believe that we are a nation blinded by political corruption, ignorance, and innocence.
We must think like the terrorists do in order to confront them effectively.
Unless we wake up soon, we will have destroyed ourselves while foolishly following the advice of our Commander-in-Chief and waiting for the "axis of evil" to arrive.
"As psychotherapist Sheldon B.
Kopp once said, "Evil can be displaced, but never eradicated as all solutions breed new problems.
"It is my belief that we all have a dark side and if we refuse to acknowledge it, it may rear its ugly head.
Our President repeats his talking point that if we are not vigilant in containing the terrorists in Iraq, they will eventually follow us home.
However, his rambling scare tactics are not being taken seriously by most Americans anymore.
Most of us are insightful enough to realize that no matter what happens militarily in Iraq, that a pattern of terrorism is an inevitable consequence of the world we live in.
Just where is this axis of evil?Contrary to what the President proclaims, the terrorist don't need to follow us home, they reside here.
The recent massacre at Virginia Tech reminds us of the evil that lurks in our own backyard.
The axis of evil comfortably exists at home and also is embodied in all the political corruption, wars, and natural catastrophes that have confronted us.
We like to appoint commissions and offer up a multitude of recommendations when we are befuddled by terror.
As citizens, we have a short learning curve.
The same worn-out policies and procedures get pulled off our dusty shelves and are re-implemented to no avail.
Possibly this is our ritualistic way of trying to control the uncontrollable.
Now that we have a new story of evil, I find it appalling how Americans gravitate to their television sets to watch every gory detail of this slaughter of innocent students and teachers.
Contrary to what the experts have advised us to do, the media recklessly posts innumerable pictures and audio clips of our latest mass murderer to the fascination of many of us.
How insensitive to the families of the victims! Do we still not understand that confronting evil in the wrong manner only intensifies its power over us?Can the axis of evil be found in the hearts and minds of all of us? While we are fixated with the evil doings at Virginia Tech, have we forgotten about our courageous military men and women who are coming home in flag-draped coffins?Although we have power over that crisis, it seems that we have long since forgotten about their fate.
It is interesting to note that just as many soldiers were killed in Iraq during the same time-frame as the horror of the thirty two shootings at Virginia Tech.
This is not about comparing pain.
It's about respect and acknowledgement.
Where are the names of our courageous victims of war?Where is the media coverage for the grief and mourning for our killed and maimed soldiers and their families?As we continue to pay lip service for the support of our troops, the death of these men and women are almost exclusively recognized by the local communities of the fallen and the newspapers which are available in their hometown.
We point our fingers at other governments for their lack of civility, and yet we find our current political administration disintegrating at home.
Is not torture of prisoners, illegal wiretapping, deceitfulness about the mission in Iraq, and other political corruption a symbol of the axis of evil?Was it not Jesus who proclaimed, "And why worry about a speck in your friends eye when you have a log in your own? The axis of evil will not follow us home, it is already here.
We live in its midst because human nature consists of evil in need of transformation.
The axis of evil remains alive and well because we fail to recognize its face and its whereabouts.
The axis of evil must be challenged but we must be careful how we deal with it.
We are not good at managing evil because we do not understand its nature.
We can no longer be naïve, but must recognize evil's signs and symptoms and take the responsibility as a nation for confronting it appropriately.
There are measures that we can take to combat evil if we will seek to understand it and not get distracted in our commitment to minimize its impact.
Unfortunately there is reason to believe that we are a nation blinded by political corruption, ignorance, and innocence.
We must think like the terrorists do in order to confront them effectively.
Unless we wake up soon, we will have destroyed ourselves while foolishly following the advice of our Commander-in-Chief and waiting for the "axis of evil" to arrive.
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