Thirsty

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Suicide bombers

Last night, a Japanese news show broadcasted a fragment of a video made by a terrorist group in Iraq just before one of their fellow companions drove his truck full of explosives towards the end of a bridge. The man's meaning of his individual life lay in killing six US soldiers, thereby fulfilling his duty and obtaining grace by Allah. In a way, for suicide bombers like this man, life has meaning, a preset goal. We, "normal human beings", do not share this relief of knowledge. We continue to ponder on why it is we have fallen onto this earth. In a way, self-sacrifice could be considered a flee from this insecurity, an escape from the ever arising doubts of daily life. In essence, it is this sense of "reason" that constitutes the popularity of religion.

Giving oneself unconditionally to a larger cause makes the individual transcend his own boundaries in favor of that cause. In an ideal way, he should feel no affinity with his individual self. He should have thrown away all attachments to the self. Yet, the fragment broadcasted last night contained the man's last words: "Don't forget about me."
This man, although he was about to sacrifice his own life for the larger cause shining brightly through Allah's blessing, expressed his extremely individualist desire to be remembered. "I, me, am doing this. Remember ME." Although this man was about to give his life for Allah, as a means of revenge for the loss of his inmates and relatives, he couldn't fully transcend the boundaries of his individual self. In a way, he sought for acknowledgement, he sought for a way to continue his life in the memory of his companions and all who would see the video. It was as if his belief in the transcendental didn't suffice for him to complete his mission, his mind needed extra recognition. His words were an expression of a frightened soul trying to grasp eternity, needing of the comfort that he would be remembered.

Belief can only be acknowledged by something or someone in this world, in this life. If there is no connection whatsoever, no sign or token of this transcendental world, one can never really know for sure there is one. If other people believe I am doing this for the right cause, then it must be the right cause. As the ancient Greek sophists said: "The truth is what everyone thinks is the truth." But these 'everyone' are not part of the transcendental world I believe I am about to enter, they are part of this world, the only world I know for sure.

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