Friday, July 01, 2005

Worthless Lives

This is truly horrible. While I was browsing MEMRI (an invaluable resource about what is being said in Middle Eastern Countries), I came across this transcript and video. I am going to excerpt two parts, the first is Dr. Basima Al-Haqawi, a professor of social psychology (!!!)from Morocco:

I want to say in this matter that our families have been lacking a role model. The mother is no longer a role model for our boys and our girls, and neither are the father and the eldest son. The events in Palestine have given us an opportunity to turn the martyrs and (suicide bombers) martyrs in Palestine into the role model that our sons sought. Because they have not found a role model, they have turned Michael Jackson, Sophie Marceau and other actors and artists into role models. (The child) had no goal. Now there is a goal, because we have a cause. Now when we imitate our Palestinian brothers, our role model is that (suicide bomber) martyr in Jerusalem, and the new Palestinian Khansaa, who utters cries of joy [Khansaa - an ancient poet who thanked Allah for the martyrdom of her four sons in battle] when informed of the martyrdom of her son, and says to her son, 'Don't come back unless you are martyred.'
Such events have revived the role models in us, created goals on our horizon, and given life a goal instead of a worthless life.


and here is the second from Sheikh Abd Al-Hakim from Lebanon:

My daughter is nearly four and a half. She regularly sees these sights on television. I always develop in her a hatred of the Jews. (I tell her): 'These are little children, see how the Jews are killing them, see how the Jews are massacring. See how the Jews demolish homes, see how the Jews...' Now, although she is small, every time she sees someone on the television news she says to me: 'Daddy, is that a Jew or a Muslim?' This queen has begun to hate the Jews because the Jews are our enemies...


These two excerpts are from a program called "Life is Sweet", if you can believe it. When another person was horrified and tried to intervene by commenting that such images of violence on TV were psychologically destructive of children, this was the response of the interviewer:

Anyone who differentiates between Jews and Zionists and says that there are among the Jews good and gentle people - this is merely maneuvering.
The truth is that every Jew is a Zionist inside.


It is truly astonishing for those of us who live in a society that values life and liberty to listen to the perversity and hatred that is a common, every-day occurrence in the Middle East. It is as if they have been infected with a virulent disease that has rendered their rational faculties unusable. The paranoia and projection are so...banal and matter-of-fact. They go through their thoroughly worthless lives uttering these things and they have no doubt of their absolute and irrevocable truth.

The Palestinian suicide bombers are role models.
Suicide bombers have given the people of Islam a purpose and goal in life.
Mothers should tell their children, "Don't come back unless you are martyred."
Suicide bombing is all that makes life worthwhile.
Always develop in children a hatred of the Jews.
There are no good and gentle Jews.
Be proud of your toddler if he/she hates the Jews.


Please note that this is a regular TV show. Please note that these people are from Morocco and Lebanon. The one person who put up a protest at such attitudes was from Jordan.

There is something profoundly disconcerting to me to listen to these attitudes (and believe me, as a psychiatrist for 25+ years, I have heard everything; I have seen and witnessed profound evil and been a witness to most of the depravity that the human spirit is capable of). Yet, this kind of thing routinely bowls me over in disbelief.

This is a culture and religion that --whatever it has been in the past--has evolved into a death cult that worships a ruthless and horrible god. Like the Kali cult of India that celebrated death and suffering, the same rot is eating the souls of the followers of Islam.

What else can one conclude except that they are under the influence of a religiously-induced drug that dulls the rational faculty and converts individuals to frenzied and mindless mass murderers. In this, and this alone, perhaps Marx was right about the opiate of the masses; but he should have specifically mentioned Islam as the quintessential modern-day religion that exemplifies his point.

Their lives in such a religious stupor are most certainly completely worthless.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think this is horrible and insightful. It must be a combination of factors; education, economics and a pathological hold on the past. Maybe things will get better when they all have facebook and just stay inside. I came here after searching for "worthless lives" on google. Thanks.