If you have never seen Monty Python’s Life of Brian, I would highly recommend it. Sure it is blasphemous to some, but there is an interesting lesson to be learned too. For example, in one scene, various groups for the “liberation of ..... (fill in the blank),” meet in an underground tunnel on their way to commit different acts of sabotage against the Romans. The scene makes much of the various names of these groups, which seemed to change depending on the phase of the moon, or someone’s mood, and the clash of their ideologies. How does this relate? Well, for those of us watching the Middle East region over the last 30 plus years, there is a huge kernel of truth to the humor.
An in-depth study of the Middle East Region will reveal an enigma wrapped in a hard shell casing of bizarre, with a soft center of “huh?” In that part of the world, truth can often be a real moving target, often spun to meet the needs of the moment, and hidden within a religious message, (often spread to the illiterate by a chose few, who are also pretty illiterate). These lunatic notions run the gamut from the Holocaust didn’t ever happen, all the way to September 11, 2014 was an operation of the USAF and Israel, (to deliberately draw the US into the region for war against all Muslims.) Some of this craziness would be funny if it weren’t so damn serious in the impact and problems they breed. Sadly, I’ve run into a group here in the United States that have taken off in a similar direction. (Sovereign Citizens, who frankly have a view of the world that is equally bizarre.) Their mantra runs from Government conspiracies of all stripes, to the notion that all contrails of passing aircraft are actually “Chem Trails,” of mind altering drugs meant to facilitate governmental mind control. Most of us look at these notions and just shake our heads, but to some it is quite real. Is it any wonder that the world is such a dangerous place? When you’re surrounded by those who have no concept of the truth, then sorting the sublime from the ridiculous can be a real challenge. ~ Michael S. Pauley
An in-depth study of the Middle East Region will reveal an enigma wrapped in a hard shell casing of bizarre, with a soft center of “huh?” In that part of the world, truth can often be a real moving target, often spun to meet the needs of the moment, and hidden within a religious message, (often spread to the illiterate by a chose few, who are also pretty illiterate). These lunatic notions run the gamut from the Holocaust didn’t ever happen, all the way to September 11, 2014 was an operation of the USAF and Israel, (to deliberately draw the US into the region for war against all Muslims.) Some of this craziness would be funny if it weren’t so damn serious in the impact and problems they breed. Sadly, I’ve run into a group here in the United States that have taken off in a similar direction. (Sovereign Citizens, who frankly have a view of the world that is equally bizarre.) Their mantra runs from Government conspiracies of all stripes, to the notion that all contrails of passing aircraft are actually “Chem Trails,” of mind altering drugs meant to facilitate governmental mind control. Most of us look at these notions and just shake our heads, but to some it is quite real. Is it any wonder that the world is such a dangerous place? When you’re surrounded by those who have no concept of the truth, then sorting the sublime from the ridiculous can be a real challenge. ~ Michael S. Pauley
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