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| Four Horsepeople of the Apocalypse |
David and
Michael put together a great book, and then got together with
Rachel to put together a slam dunk documentary which was presented last night on MSNBC.
I am speaking of the book
Hubris, written by
David Corn and
Michael Isikoff, as well as the related documentary narrated by
Rachel Maddow of the MSNBC nightly
The Rachel Maddow Show.
The book and documentary, as far as I am concerned, really beg the question:
why are the warmongers so zealous for war?
Regular readers know that
Dredd Blog has wrestled with that question during a series posted on this blog which has presented shocking material that in fact does answer the question as far as
the military religion in America is concerned (
The Virgin MOMCOM-6,
The Virgin MOMCOM-5,
The Virgin MOMCOM-4,
The Virgin MOMCOM-3,
The Virgin MOMCOM-2, and
The Virgin MOMCOM).
In a related series named by a work of
George Orwell, focusing on other aspects of religion, we likewise saw that the religious underpinnings of warmongering in the United States is ubiquitous and murderous (
On The Origin of The Bully Religion - 3,
On The Origin of The Bully Religion - 2,
On The Origin of The Bully Religion).
The surprising knowledge that we come away with, concerning this very powerful psychological dynamic that we call religious zeal, can be readily seen in its much greater grandeur if we observe religious practices that are not part of our everyday lives.
So, for an example let's look to another popular religious practice in the largest or
most populous democracy on Earth:
The Kumbh Mela is an ancient pilgrimage festival that happens once every three years, rotating across four locations in India. The largest of these riverside fairs happens every 12 years in Allahabad at the confluence of two rivers, Ganga and Yamuna. On its opening day in January 2013, I was among its estimated ten million visitors. During the 6-8 weeks it lasts, tens of millions come to bathe in these rivers — as a meritorious act to cleanse body and soul — making it the largest gathering of humanity on the planet.
(
River of Faith, 3QuarksDaily, emphasis added). A video about that mass gathering of religious zealots in the democracy of India is presented at the bottom of the article quoted from.
There is a certain amount of mystery involved in the beliefs that cause "
the largest gathering of humanity on the planet", and there is also a certain amount of mystery in the hubris displayed when a supposed peaceful nation is lied into war by its own religious warmongers.
In yesterday's post we concentrated on one aspect of the religious hubris that is part of this heady religious brew:
What interests me here is that highlighted claim: that the US "is the greatest country in world history", and therefore is entitled to do that which other countries are not.
This declaration always genuinely fascinates me. Note how it's insufficient to claim the mere mantle of Greatest Country on the Planet. It's way beyond that: the Greatest Country Ever to Exist in All of Human History (why not The Greatest Ever in All of the Solar Systems?).
The very notion that this distinction could be objectively or even meaningfully measured is absurd. But the desire to believe it is so strong, the need to proclaim one's own unprecedented superiority so compelling, that it's hardly controversial to say it despite how nonsensical it is. The opposite is true: it has been vested with the status of orthodoxy.
(
On The Peak of Intelligence - 3, quoting
G. Greenwald). What can one expect when Americans are brought up from the cradle to the grave being taught this article of faith with religious fervor?
Is it really a surprise that they then end up believing it like the people who believe the bath in the river cleanses them mind, heart, body, and soul?
People will drift in their attempt to moor themselves to an understanding of this religious dynamic if they forget that
religion is not the stuff of proof, it is the stuff of "faith":
The basis of something that has never been seen, never been felt, never been measured, but a lot of people believe exists anyway, is faith:
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed ... so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible ...
(Bible, Hebrews 11:1, emphasis added). What is seen in our universe by scientists is called matter. No faith needed.
(
Rebel Science: The Dark Matter of Faith). Mr. Greenwald grasped it, as pointed out by the quote above, nevertheless, it is still "unbelievable" to those who have not succumbed to the powers of the warmonger religion.
Finally, lying (spin, propaganda) is also a tenet of the warmonger religion, which means that when they lie to us to get into a war, by which they profit greatly, in their faith they believe that they are still serving their god or gods:
D. Michael Quinn called the use of deception by LDS church leaders, "theocratic ethics." (The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, page 112) Smith lied to protect himself or the church; which was an extension of himself. Dan Vogel in his excellent work, Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet, described Smith's viewpoint; he was a pious deceiver. Smith used deception if in his mind; it resulted in a good outcome. Smith had Moroni, an ancient American prophet and custodian of the gold plates declare, "And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. ( Moroni 4:11-12). Translation: if deception was necessary to do good, or bring a soul to Christ, then it was worth it, as long as God approves. Smith believed he knew when God approved of lying.
(
The Homeland: Big Brother Plutonomy - 6). Whatever it takes, they seek only to quench their thirst for war.
So lying to us, using our tax dollars to pay for the experts who write lying words, is considered to be done
to help us (
The Ways of Bernays).
The next post in this series is
here, the previous post in this series is
here.
Lyrics of a
warmonger-rock band can be viewed
here.
Why do these warriors
kill more of themselves than their imagined enemies do?
Yes, self suicide is their big killer, not the enemies
Oil-Qaeda imagines for them.
Regular readers know I like to look back to posts of years ago. 
