On this
day, eleven years ago, I was undertaking my recruit training. I was sitting in
the RAP (Regimental Aid Post….like a medical centre) and was watching the TV,
which was a novelty as I had not seen TV for a few weeks, and all that was on
was the attack on the World Trade Centre. Little did I realize that this event
would overshadow my entire military career due to the increased level of
security and the massive increase in operational tempo that is still ongoing
today.
What did
strike me was massive sadness. It is the same sadness that I feel each year on
the anniversary o the attacks. Sadness at the loss of innocent lives. Sadness
at the loss of personal freedom in the name of anti-terrorism. Sadness at the
ongoing erosion of human rights and our privacy in the name of anti-terrorism.
Sadness that the terrorists won, and have no doubt they have well and truly
won.
Look at
what we have given up. Look at the losses we have sustained on all fronts. The initial
loss of innocent lives. The subsequent loss of lives in other attacks. The loss
of our rights and privacy, the loss of freedom. The loss of thousands of
soldiers around the world who were doing no more than following the orders of their
governments. The loss of thousands of innocent lives in the Middle East.
And what have
we gained from this? Is Al-Quada done? Is the Taliban gone? Is the fighting in
the Middle East done? Are we free from fear and fear-mongering? Have our
respective governments given us back our privacy and freedom? Do the people in
the Middle East feel more secure or safer? Have we made the world a better
place for our children? No, no, no, no, no, no, no and no.
What we
have achieved is massive loss of both civilian and military lives. Our
governments have more power than ever. We have even managed the impossible and
managed to erode the freedom of the internet.
This year
one emotion hit me even more than sadness….anger. Why was I angry? Well apart
from the stuff detailed above, there was one clear reason. This morning I was
listening to speeches on the radio and sound bites of people in the USA. Across
the board one thing struck me and got me really angry. They all thanked God and
praised him for helping them and the nation.
I am going
to say this loudly….WHAT THE FLYING ROLLERBLADING JESUS FUCK?
Am I the
only one who can see that the whole reasoning behind the attack was religious?
This would never have happened if religion did not exist.
What makes
you think that your God is the correct one? Why is the Christian God real but
the Islamic God is made up? From what I have read all the Gods are essentially
the same but the rules and regulations are slightly different regarding how to
worship him/her/it. If your life is so devoid of love and life that you need a
God to make you feel like you have a purpose than at least choose an
interesting one like Zeus. He can throw fricking thunderbolts people and
removed his siblings from his father’s stomach. Or, speaking of his father,
what about Cronus, he castrated his father with a sickle. Forget turning water
into wine (hell I can turn water into beer in about 6 weeks without too much
effort) that is some proper cool god shit.
Please stop
thanking God. If it wasn’t for the belief that all the religions have that they
are correct and everyone else is wrong then we would need to remember these
people in the first place. God is that last person you should be thanking, it
was the various versions of God that caused this tragedy in the first place.
Peace will
only come through acceptance. I am not asking that you change who you believe in,
but how about allowing others to live their own lives without interfering. Mind
your own business, love your fellow humans, love the animals and stop fucking
about with things that don’t concern you.
P.S. same
goes for LGBT marriage, abortion, government and the internet. Stop sticking
your fucking religion where it doesn’t belong and isn’t welcome.
