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I Kill, Therefore I am


“Let France and those who walk in its path know that they will remain on the top of the list of targets of the Islamic State, and that the smell of death will never leave their noses as long as they lead the convoy of the Crusader campaign, and dare to curse our Prophet. . . .”  Thus goes the message of the IS delivered soon after the massacre it let loose on Paris.

Mourners near the Carillon café and the Petit Cambodge restaurant, two sites of terror attack in Paris. PHOTOGRAPH BY JEROME DELAY / AP

The smell of death seems to be what the IS has fallen in love with.  Andre Glucksmann, French philosopher who died on the 10th of this month, argued in his book Dostoevsky in Manhattan that modern terrorism including Islamic terrorism is nihilist rather than religious or political.  It is a wild vengeance which is founded on an irresistible urge to annihilate the other.  It is not motivated by any noble goals.  There are no human values which guide it.  It is an impulse, impulse to kill.

The IS calls France the “capital of prostitution and obscenity.”  Apparently, the attack is a holy war against the evils that the French have embraced with shameless immorality. 

Are the people in the countries from where these terrorist-moralists come free from the same evils which they accuse others of?  Is there no prostitution, no obscenity, in those countries where the women are forced to hide their very identity behind veils?  What sights would we behold if the roofs were to blow off in a miraculous storm and the sun were to shine down into the rooms where the salah is supposed to resonate fervently?  When can we expect the Arabs to stop hunting for young and temporary brides from states like Kerala where Arabi kalyanam (Arab marriage) has become a part of the common lexicon?  What are the human values, let alone spiritual ones, that one can learn from the Islamic nations today?

France is not hypocritical.  That’s the only difference.  The French roofs don’t have to blow off and the sun doesn’t have to shine on them in the midnight.  That’s the only difference. 

No, not really.  There’s a huge difference.  The French don’t go around preaching morality to others.  They don’t go shooting platitudes from machine guns.  They are not killers motivated by blind vengeance that masquerades as religiosity.  They don’t have to kill in order to find the meaning of their existence.   They don’t ask you to do anything that you don’t want to.

They are liberal, in short.  They are the descendants of the philosopher who declared that “I think, therefore I am” and founded a whole philosophy on that premise. 

When will the world be liberated from sanctimonious murderers who peddle God through the barrels of machine guns and shrapnel of explosives?



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Comments

  1. parwatisingariNovember 15, 2015 at 11:50 AM

    It is sad, lets pray and say rest in peace, and leave the rest of us in peace.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 15, 2015 at 3:51 PM

    Whether France is hypocritical or not doesn't matter. Even if it is, no innocents deserve to die, not by IS and not by anyone. But then what can we do? There's no dearth of brainwashed idiots around.

    Here's my post: Pray for the World - http://reveringthoughts.com/2015/11/14/pray-for-the-world/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 15, 2015 at 4:06 PM

      Unfortunately you're right, too many brainwashed idiots... Thanks for the link.

      Delete
  3. sunaina sharmaNovember 15, 2015 at 6:36 PM

    It is sad what has been happening in France. Nihilism is scary....It kills the very root of humanity. I wonder when this will end....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 15, 2015 at 7:18 PM

      The end is not in sight. The vast majority of people want peace but they get violence. A tiny minority impose their will on the majority. In god's name!

      Delete
  4. KalpanaNovember 15, 2015 at 7:59 PM

    Very eloquent Matheikal. I do believe it is sheer Nihilism as nothing makes sense otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  5. wingsNovember 15, 2015 at 8:48 PM

    Really a blood curdling massacre. How life has become so uncertain in this violence ridden world. A vehement expression in writing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 15, 2015 at 9:03 PM

      And they've promised more! The very word 'religion' begins to sicken...

      Delete
  6. HemaNovember 15, 2015 at 11:21 PM

    I'm sad, enraged and shocked and I'm wondering what kind of a twisted cruel world have I brought my child into.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 16, 2015 at 5:58 AM

      Those who are consumed with the zeal for their God(s) have always done this, Hema. Religion has always been more destructive and harmful than otherwise. Let's hope that your child and their generation will grow out of this infantile diabolism called religion.

      Delete
  7. Sunshine-struckNovember 16, 2015 at 6:05 AM

    Our freedom struggle never actually ended. Not in the year 1947. There is no freedom because we have not defeated these enemies by might or reason.

    And there is no absolute freedom because we have our own demons in mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 16, 2015 at 6:57 AM

      Indeed. My next blog, Terrorist, is precisely about those demons within ourselves.

      Delete
  8. UnknownNovember 17, 2015 at 9:21 AM

    So very true. This fanaticism would end only the day we stop painting the world with the colours of our own perceived religion.

    I agree with you fully on your views.

    Here's a post I have written on a similar subject:
    http://sanjaythampy.blogspot.in/2015/11/terrorism-has-religion.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 17, 2015 at 10:07 AM

      Idealism and frustration are two sides of the same coin. The terrorist is an idealist who is seeking his Paradise on earth. Frustration is his natural lot. And it leads to violence.

      Delete
  9. Afshan ShaikNovember 17, 2015 at 1:23 PM

    Other than feeling empty and sad due to freequency of attacks , I dont feel I can do anything other than venting out like this
    HELPLESS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 17, 2015 at 2:03 PM

      True, we the ordinary people are totally helpless. We feel frustrated by that helplessness. That's why I said in another comment that this post is not eloquence but outrage.

      Delete
  10. K V V S MURTHYNovember 18, 2015 at 9:37 AM

    It's nothing short of imperialism in the guise of Almighty , that works unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 18, 2015 at 7:18 PM

      It is imperialism. IS is doing just what America is doing. Only the approach is different. Both want to establish their hegemony over the world.

      Delete

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