by Christyl Rivers

Created on: February 10, 2011   Last Updated: February 11, 2011

Terrorism is a tool to frighten people into panic and it works very well.

In a panic people supported invading a country and killing hundreds of thousands who lived near a neighboring country from which some terrorists came. Several nations got behind this panic, and other wars.  Their people died too.

It didn’t matter that terrorists come from every nation, even yours.

Religion is one of those land mine words.  It effectively stirs up panic as well. For thousands of years, people with different names for the same God:

Allah, Yahweh, and, well, God, have used the panic power of suggesting a vilified them is threatening “our” religion.  It is Them versus Us.  Our way, of life, they tell us, is based on our strong values of this One True Lord. We better defend it. Who is this Almighty, God? Oh, you know, the father who commanded us to love.

He is that sky guy who taught us to love enemies, friends, creation, and religion itself. So what has gone wrong?

Let’s, for the sake of raising hackles and eyebrows, say it is testosterone.  You know, the stuff providing the energy to make people gullible enough to go all jihad and/or medieval on our/their enemies. We do have female soldiers, we’ll get to that.  Testosterone is a wonder drug.  It is like fossil fuels, if over-used, it causes addiction and bizarre saber babbling.

Testosterone, like blind faith, does not check in with God’s rules about loving your enemy.  It is just the right magic juice to pump up fresh dupes who rich guys -all mushy for their lost testosterone—need, to go in and get them more filthy money.  Old men miss their young, testy, guy power, but have learned that money power is an effective substitute. They can buy stiffy pills with it, and some pretty big boats.

Anyway, lest you think we have veered way far off from religion, we can follow this hop-scotching, land mine riddled path, back to how religion fuels terrorism. But nothing exists in a vacuum, and the blood-soaked, dappled path has many, many signposts and exits, which we all learn through lifetimes of training to thoroughly, and effectively ignore.  Why do we deny insanity?  It’s because we have to live with ourselves.

In a nutshell, which is where every kind of nutty ideology belongs, (but it’s too big too stuff ) in there:  We have people in power telling people without power that if they die for some God power, they will earn points. BIG points.

Reward points can be exchanged for honor, glory, maybe some artificial limbs, and on some sides, even some sex crazed virgins, and a nice plaque. Frequent flight or fight testosterone points will even provide your community with rewards too.   They will provide musty older, misty-eyed, guys lucrative defense contracts, brass, and desks.

They will provide entire countries with a sense of something worth dying for.

Reward points inspire even our young girls to serve this Religion-sanctioned cause. Girls today must be stunning in stilettos, capable in combat boots, and as unquestioning as Barbie dolls propped up on parade floats. Shut up, wave, smile, repeat, reload.

Reward points sell something as down home as apple pie, as pure as a politically kissable, Caucasion baby’s cheek, as amber as a waving alert,  as tough as a cowboy boot on a rifle butt, as red, white, and blue (or insert your national colors here) as a lapel flag pin on a designer suit, yet as sacred as Christ on a stick.

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