Jonathan, I will give you a example how to deal with the past. It comes from China, where it was use in long distant history, that ALL enemy troops were beheaded.
Butr there is an important example how to deal with the political past. It is on display at LINTONG. Does it ring ? No, surely. The Lintong accident during the Chinese-Japanese War, when Red Army troups captivated the whole general-staff of Chiangkaishek & himself at this beautiful Tang Period thermae. There are some large pictures on display showing Mao Tse Tung, ChiangKaiShek, Chue-en-Lai, etc. standing in one line. The inscription reads: " ChiangKaiShek, a big leader of the Chinese People, who later went his own way". That´s how to deal with the past, not eradicate physically. This display has be seen by myself in place not now, after things have become quite liberal in China, but some 20 years ago & later on several visits. And further: we have to abandon our elitarian claim, that the Christian religion is the only one leading to the hail !!!! Other religions claim the same, but Buddhism is just a peaceful philosophy of life & every single individual has to find his or her path in life. The so called religion is just of help, if necessary & wished by the individual. Read elder etnological dictionaries or encyclopedias and wonder about the prejudice of OUR (white) ancestors. You would be terribly ashamed about their view. And this very particular (colonialist) spirit is still existant & wide spread. Has anybody ever heard about the daily murders in the Southern provinces of Thailand ? Where teachers, monks, officials, housewives, children are slaughtered in the name of Islam ? They talk about islamist, but the murderers are the former drug contrabandists, robbers of any kind, which are disturbed in their particular "business" by the presence of a large police & military force. Or do they just eliminate witnesses ? Sorry, things go off our horn topic due to the actual tragedies happen. ============================================================ ================================================ -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jonathan West Sent: Friday, July 08, 2005 1:27 PM To: The Horn List Subject: Re: [Hornlist] UK attack - NHR Bill, Hans, You are both right in your different ways, but without realising the fact, you appear to be addressing different questions. Regarding those who have already become terrorists, there is little that can be done except to maintain vigilance and work hard to hunt them down and put them in jail. Nonviolence is not going to persuade existing active terrorists to change their aims or their methods. Something more active is necessary. But that will not prevent ongoing terrorist attacks like the one in London this week, so long as the conditions remain that cause people to become so filled with desperation that a very small proportion turn to fanaticism, hate and terrorism, and a somewhat larger proportion provide varying degrees of support, ranging from providing money to merely looking the other way and not telling the police about anything they might see. Provided that there is a regular supply of new terrorists and adequate passive support for them, the problem will never go away. This means that political action is necessary to address the injustices suffered by the communities from which the terrorists come, so that those who are *not* terrorists see that there are other effective ways of getting justice. Only by doing so will the passive supporters be persuaded to withdraw their support. Only when the terrorists have been detached from their sources of support will it become possible to further restrict their activities and eventually capture those remaining. Note that I am not advocating "negotiating with terrorists", though of course that is exactly what the UK government did to successfully bring peace to Northern Ireland. I am advocating that western governments act in good faith to work to put right past and present injustices, and by this means show the people of other countries that they need not regard the West as their enemy. Given that western governments have a long history of empire and other interference in foreign countries, which has resulted in many injustices which are felt by people today, this is probably a task which will take a generation or longer to accomplish. All the more reason to start now. Regards Jonathan West _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans%40pizka.d e _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
