Can we, just for a minute, dispense with the ... and ... that the problem Israel and the ... have with one another is actually their mutual solution to the problem of being Can we, just for a minute, dispense with the hand-wringing and acknowledge that the problem Israel and the Palestinians have with one another is actually their mutual solution to the problem of being mortal? Of course to understand what I mean it is first necessary to recognize that it's not love or sex or money that makes the world go around but the fact of death; that what drives virtually everything we believe and do is the need to reduce, to at least a manageable degree of fear, the terror and panic the anticipation of death causes us. (If you can't quite grasp this notion, if you have to be reminded that terror and panic constitute the human default condition, then whatever you're believing and doing is working for you.) Of the myriad subtle and blatant ways we've come up with to make living with an impossible reality tolerable, one example would be the symbolic immortality we assure ourselves of by leaving behind a scientific discovery, or a work of art, that will continue to have an influence on the world. Another is the accumulation of inordinate wealth. The god-like trappings great sums of money buy enable us to feel not just superior to the common man, but less vulnerable to the common fate. Still another is getting high, which is about getting above the body that we know will one day be our undoing. And then there's our invention of an afterlife. Presenting us with a chance to survive deathif we honor the pronouncements and follow the dictates we've assigned to deities of our own fashioningit's this immortality illusion that's at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arabs are qualifying for eternity by doing what they've determined to be God's work, which is to make war on those who, ignoring or questioning His authority, are undermining His plan for the planet. And Israel, dropped in the Arab's midst, its diverse culture implicitly challenging the validity of Arab beliefs, provides the Arabs with the infidel they need to carry out their mission. For Arabs, it's not about killing Jews, per se. Jews are simply a fortuitously placed means to a purchase on heaven. (You could say thattheir culture being, by all appearances, limited in its repertoire of immortality illusions to the resources of Islamsuicide is the only instrument of self-perpetuation available to the Palestinian terrorists.) On the other hand, the Arabs afford Israelis an opportunity to continually certify their biblically bestowed "chosen" statusand to assure themselves of the post-corporeal rewards implicit in the anointmentby constantly threatening, but never accomplishing, Israel's destruction. Persistently testing Israel's exalted designation, but never disproving it, enabling Israel to be embattled and remain intact, the Arabs are every bit the blessing to Israel that Israel is to the Arabs. It follows that the violence each side visits on the other must be measured; balances and proportions need to be kept. For one side to win, after all, would be for both sides to lose; would, that is, end the game and return both sides to a contemplation of the void. We might call this aiding and abetting of one another's immortality illusionsthe cooperation and the accommodations it requires--the deeper definition of the "social contract." So we can engage ad infinitum in the most earnest discussions about anti-Semitism, about Hamas, about Sharon, about territory and occupation, and forever miss the real dynamic of the situation. The Arab-Israeli problem is, again, a solution to a more pressing problem, to what is, literally as well as figuratively, the mother of all problems. And what accounts for the tenaciousness of the conflict is the ongoing success it's enjoying in the service of its underlying agenda. As long as this holds true, Arabs and Israelis will, for all the anguish it induces, remain at odds because the enmity between them is their buffer against the spectre of oblivion.The pain we are witnessing is a palliative. These are not the worst of times in the Middle East. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .
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A review of Idmobile.com
Idmobile.com offers both pay-as-you-go and contract plans. Pay-as-you-go plans are ideal for customers who don't want to be tied down to a long-term contract, and they can purchase bundles of data, minutes, and texts as and when they need them.
Idmobile.com offers both pay-as-you-go and contract plans. Pay-as-you-go plans are ideal for customers who don't want to be tied down to a long-term contract, and they can purchase bundles of data, minutes, and texts as and when they need them.
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Why its Important to Manage Your Holiday Calendars?
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More than 90% of teenagers use social media and 71% of them have more than one account in these apps. It’s easy to see why social media is popular, but what are the effects or even risks of using social media on the teenager’s brain. A study done at UCLA...
There are truckloads of unconventional habits that you should be participating in. If you wanna know about them, curb your desire to puke and sit tight! Do you secretly indulge in questionable habits? You’d be lying if you said no to this! Come on, we all have our fair share...
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Norman Vincent Peale, author of the book The Power of Positive Thinking once said, “Change your thoughts and you can change your world.” Many of us, when we face challenges in life, aren’t interested in people telling us to “look on the bright side” or to keep a positive attitude....
Psychological problems and the treatment is within you Why isn’t pulling your hair considered a socially acceptable way of dealing with distress while smoking is? The worst case scenarios ... Psychological problems and the treatment is within you Why isn’t pulling your hair considered a socially acceptable way of dealing...
This has led towards the rise of political functions with agendas catering to one or a mix of these teams. Events in India also concentrate on people who find themselves not in favour of other functions and use them as an asset. The president is shifting his messaging within the...
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PM Narendra Modi in 2015 launched Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is an Accident Insurance Scheme (AIS) supplying demise and incapacity cover as a result of an accident.Insurance isn't a newer concept to India; however, its attain is still tons limited. In spite of...
The Government of India has regularized specific saving schemes for the welfare of citizens. These schemes are added into movement with one common objective- a guide to all individuals. One such scheme is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana introduced by means of the Prime Minister of India on 15 August...
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Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
The Government of India has regularized specific saving schemes for the welfare of citizens. These schemes are added into movement with one common objective- a guide to all individuals. One such scheme is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana introduced by means of the Prime Minister of India on 15 August...