Friday, October 24, 2014

Worst Enemy

A strong culture or weak culture is relative.  Each consists of features, some strong, others weak and must be updated, even discarded, to remain relevant to changing times.  When people believe that they suffer injustice from those of a different culture isn't it proper, even prudent, that they examine features of their respective culture believed to be hampering their defense?

One wouldn't be surprised to think that what he's hearing from a criminal is a lie, especially if the criminal is on trial for murder and is facing the death penalty.  But when an accused from a certain culture places his or her hand on the Bible and swears to tell the truth and nothing but the truth there are millions of people who snicker or cover their mouth to keep from  bursting out laughing.  Experience has taught them by being of the same culture as the accused and being the lowest people on society's economic totem pole, for whatever reason, that stealing anything from a shoe string to a doughnut hole and getting away with it by lying in court then he or she is worthy of kingly or queenly respect and admiration.  In the streets crowing "No justice, no peace!" and bellowing their empty-headed anti-police harangues encourages radicals to join them to raise hell even if they know they're lying about something.  Only once, to be excused from jury duty, was one heard to say:  "The truth, your Honor, is these people have such a reputation for bending the truth that I'd believe almost anything a policeman said about him or her."

In the Middle East, for millions of people, lying and deceiving are such centuries-old practices that they are accepted as an integral part of most cultures and have had countries and tribes imbroiled in an endless circus of assassinating, kidnapping, terrorism, murdering, gassing, overthrowing governments and tribes, enslaving, warring, and massacring.

Many of these whining bellyachers are renowned for saying:  "We're our worst enemy."

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