Manchester, London and Sun Tsu.



O.K. so... following the recent Terrorist incident in London. I posted the following.

"The Islamists seem to have found the measured response of the British people to the Manchester bombing unbearable. And have further tried to provoke hate, through acts of pointless violence on and near London Bridge, tragically with serious injuries and reported deaths.

The result will be the same. The British will still keep calm and carry on."

In a comment on the thread linked to the post, another poster +Christian NNalletamby, asserted the following....

"There is no peaceful Islam, check the sources.

There are "peaceful" Muslims, who finance and support the killers.
Willingly or not, at this point, makes no difference."

I felt I wanted to distribute my response to this a little more widely. Mostly because it seems to represent my view well. And I think it is a constructive view. So essentially this is me casting seeds wide.

Because as soon as I thought this, I had already thought of things I might add or say differently. So inevitably I had to have a little tinker. And therefore....this is an expanded version of the response I gave him on the thread.

The problem is.. that from the point of view of Sun Tsu, sage author of the art of war, one should seek to disrupt enemy alliances. The alliance between 'moderates' and 'radicals' in Islam, would seem to be a prime target to be disrupted. It would not make sense for such an alliance to be strengthened. As it would be by declaring, "all Muslims are the same!" Pushing moderates towards extremists.


And we must of course be defending our own alliances. These include those in our own communities, with people of many faiths and origins, going back generations. Often their presence here is linked to our imperial past. (which was not our finest hour). And are communities with long standing histories of embracing and helping shape British values. Not least when they were the ruled. Ghandi for instance is as significant in British history, as Britain is significant in Indian history. Both contributing to each others cultures.

And Ghandi  said when asked if he was a Hindu "Yes I am. I am also a christian, a muslim, a buddhist and a jew."  

I disagree with the notion of a 'god', and would dissuade Muslims of that, as I would dissuade Christians, or other theists.

However most people in the world are just looking for a quiet life to raise a family and do stuff they enjoy. It seems profoundly unjust to tar all with the same brush. And Frankly unlikely.

As to 'peaceful muslims financing the violent', a 'peaceful muslim' who knowingly does so is clearly not peaceful.

As to those who simply 'go along', because it seem easier or safer, I would dissuade them, since  it is ultimately 'harder and more dangerous. Though I recognise that 'going along' through fear, might well be justified for a persons percieved safety. This is how terrorism works.

And those who are truly 'unknowingly' funding anyone? Then they are as much victims as anyone. The best strategy there would be to demonstrate such funding was taking place, and communicate it effectively to those who are being so exploited.

And I think most Muslims are trying to find a way through the mess the radicals have created, where they and their kin can survive, prosper, and do stuff they like doing.

I can't think that the Manchester Muslims expressed their horror and abhorrence, and offered their services for free to help in the immediate aftermath of the incident, as some kind of community 'trick'.

That is evidence to me that people get their basic morality from being people, rather than religious texts. And I hold the same view with Christians.

Radicals running round killing people is not evidence the moderates I would like to encourage in their opposition to the radicals, (and did so vocally after Manchester), are radicals. I would strengthen and build the alliances between all British communities.

And this of course provides further moral authority to the position of democracies. Something Sun Tsu thinks is a key factor in determining the outcome of conflicts.

I would give the moderates courage and definitely encourage them, to follow Frank Herberts advice. Which I put on a short blog post a little while ago. Mostly to save time in writing it out every time.

http://djthetrainmanwalker.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/every-time-suicidal-nut-jobs-do.html

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