Phil raises some succinct points, one of which is rationalizing a "just
war" in light of the slaughtering of thousands of Americans and drawing
upon Hegelian logic to do so. Yet to a large extent all of us draw upon
"historical text" in order to make sense of the present. To wit the
present day relevance of Aristotle, the Bible, the old and new
testaments,and let us not forget the Quran. We all struggle using our
development of linguistic symbolism to interpret the basic tenets
underlying these texts and to give us guidance. We attempt to make sense
individually and in collectives and then act accordingly.

David Levy attaches a communication that indeed touches a range of issues
and concerns from lax security to the mantra which is consistent on this
list that we (Americans) and our policies contributed to this event. I
certainly agree that the terms "airport" and "security" are oxymorons  and
have been for some time. However I will state once again that the argument
suggesting that the American spin on capitalism and its foreign policies
are causes for what happened Tuesday is missing the point.

My take on a major cause is the existence and perpetuation of a militant
Islamic faction that does not value life and has declared its own war on
those with different belief systems. This is not the beliefs of a majority
of Muslims and represents a radical interpretation of the Quran. Americans
and American beliefs are excellent targets because these militant factions
can very easily gather support from those who blame the plight of the
world as well as human condition asymmetries to the US.  I do not disagree
with those who critique and with good reason our economic, political, and
military policies. It would be a stretch and fall within my definition of
a "convoluted logic" to relate those policies to the specific act that
occurred Tuesday.

Bin Laden is not a poor person and has considerable wealth. He has
benefited from the form of capitalism that many find fault with. In a
sense he would not be successful were it not for "his" wealth created by
capitalism. Yet is this wealth used to help the less fortunate? To
improve the conditions of all Muslims? No. It is used to develop a
terrorist network, cellular in nature, intent on carrying out a
"religious" war through terror.

My caution to scholars on this list is not to get caught up in relating
the "causes" to improve the working conditions of human beings throughout
the world, excellent causes in their own right, with a cause to destroy
human life because of a radical interpretation of the basic tenets of
their religion. I think it would be folly to align the causes underlying
your scholarship with the causes of this radical Islamic movement.

Yet all of this is something that each of you must ferret out and try to
understand.

Lastly America is a country of rebels who sought to establish conditions
of freedom not found in the civilized world since the just before our
declaration of independence. We created a Nation far from perfect but one
that has contributed significantly to economic and technological
advancement in the world by developing its resources and valuing
individual freedoms. We are a country that has opened its borders to all
races and religions. And we are now damned mad at what is perceived to be
an attack on our way of life and the symbols that stand for it. As a
country our anger is beyond description and our resolve to impose justice
on those perpetuating this attack, resolute.


Mike Chumer