Greetings. This is my first diary and it came to me in the form of contemplation while sitting outside early this morning watching the birds awaken.
Although I do feel the urge to share it, I do not claim to understand the whole of the issue my thoughts are trying to address since it is obviously a very complicated one. It is a fact that humanity, as a whole, has been and continues to either fight against or understand/solve this problem of "extremism" that has been causing so much pain and suffering. Since the beginning of 21st century which started out with the terror of 9/11 and followed by the last 8 years of heartache, as most would agree, it has become more urgent to dissect the mechanism of extremism. My thoughts, whatever they are worth, then, are about possible answers that might open up an angle into the ongoing debate. I also believe that my theories are by no means unique and that many others must also have been thinking about the same things, already...
Here it goes:
The "extremists" (totalitarian, either or minded, absolutist, tyrannical, fanatical thinking people) whether they call themselves Muslims, Christians, Jews, extreme atheists, etc., or not, all share a distinct mindset: They crave war. Literally. So much that "War" is like opium to them. And this craving is so overwhelming, they cannot help but overdose (a form of self destruction)when left to their own will unless someone steps in and forces them into "detox" which is what I believe the president of US is doing, as of now. He is taking the extremists of the so called "East and the West" to "de tox" clinic altogether while they are kicking and screaming "Give me my war"!!! That's why we see the weird phenomenon of Limbaughs of the West simultaneously joining Bin Ladens of the East in "Obama trashing." Yes, the "war" which gives them the super-orgasmic-gratifying opium high of "the enemy other" illusion is extremely potent/addictive because it feels soooo goood (I had to emphasize here) to their mindset. "Peace," on the other hand, is about the common ground and thus it denies them that either/or opium high, as you can imagine. "What!!?" "No enemy!!?" "No war!? OMG! No gratification!!!?? " And when they cannot get their dose, the withdrawal puts them in such a frenzy that you'll see them tripping on one another attacking their detox clinic doctors, from all directions."Gimmi my enemies!!!" they yell, gnash their teeth and scream in agony when faced "peace" which somehow "annihilates" their "walled-in-illusionary existence." Make no mistake; they will kill for that opium if they get the chance because it manufactures their prison walls which they crave and desire more than anything else. Those self constructed prison walls give them "outside, other" and an "inside" that is separated from it. Even here in America, they want the high class wealthy group to live separated from the rest whom they see as lesser beings. "Equality?!!" It, again, means "no opium."
One quick note about the true "clash of civilizations": It does not exist between the East and the West, and it is not between the Muslims and the Christians and the Jews and races and cultures and/or genders, etc." That's the "opiate" version of the "clash." Where is the real one then? It is between the extremist fanatic mind and the tolerant peace loving mind both which exist in the East and the West and among Muslims and Christians and Jews, and males and females, etc. In short, like the analogy above, true "clash of civilizations" exists between the war-opium addicted extremists and the sober peace lovers, who again come from all backgrounds.
Furthermore, extremism is an entity in itself thus it does not wear a specific religion, culture, nationality, gender, class and culture. Far from it, extremism has no religion, no nationality, no culture, no class, no civilization, no gender, etc. It uses them as covers, however. It now pretends to be a "Christian," it then pretends to be a "Moslem," and it then pretends to be a " Jew," for example, while it is none other than a phantom "opium" illusion of self constructed prison. It is the only "real enemy" of humankind and as I said, it has nothing to do with faith/religion, culture, nationality, race and gender. For empirical proof of this true enemy of humanity, we, as the world community, should study the characteristics of extremism in all religions, cultures, genders, nationalities, etc without prejudice, and without pointing fingers. If we do that, we will see the underlying patterns that match. Hopefully, in this century, our magnifiers will finally zero in on this damned shape shifter called fanatical extremism, and therefore we will finally be able to stop the centuries long stupidity: slaughtering and abusing of one another for a costume wearing illusion, like fools.