May 13, 2004

Riding the Edge of the Wave with the Blogosphere

Part of being a blogger is, you say things that you at least haven’t heard anyone else say, and in a few days, you notice other people saying the same thing. It gives you a good feeling of being on the same wavelength as others who are looking into the same subjects, of being one of many people who made a similar observation at the same time.

For example, from my April 29th post:

...we’re really blessed in this country to have the Judeo-Christian tradition of wanting to love each other and help each other have better lives and to enjoy life and be good to each other. As opposed to the tradition of some Islamo-fascist localities where they do the reverse sending their own children off to be blown up.

Later I put that in the upper-left hand corner of the front page here. Since then I’ve been thinking that that’s what this is all about—about our tradition, which celebrates love and caring, versus a subset of another culture, which celebrates the reverse.

And they do celebrate it. They pass out candies, which they revoltingly call sweets, when they kill civilians; they send their children off to be blown up; they say you get virgins in heaven when you kill civilians; and on and on and on. We’re all hoping that that’s just a small subset of Islam, and judging from many of the Iraqi bloggers, there’s reason to hope that it is. But the tradition of love in some Muslim nations surely needs some shoring up.

Anyway, to get back to my point about being on the same wavelength as others, tonight I was reading Command Post, where Alan juxtaposes the love and caring shown by a good American, Susan Tom, with the evil shown by the Islamofascists who so self-revealingly murdered Nick Berg:

Well, I’ve decided what to make of it all, and what I’m going to make is some good. Susan Tom is a hero one of millions waking each day with a commitment to make the lives of others better through love. Hers is an example to which humanity should aspire. So my response to the murder of Nick Berg and the inhumanity it represents is to use it as motivation to give to Susan Tom and the humanity she represents.

...For the next three days, between the time stamp of this post and Midnight EDT Friday night, Michele and I will contribute all donations made to The Command Post PayPal account (the button’s below this post and also over in the right-hand column) to the Tom Family Education Trust.

...How do you win the war of Good and Evil? You fight Evil, and you strengthen the Good. And it’s something we should always do: as we move to eradicate Evil, we should also move to strengthen the Good.

It’s not exactly what I said, but it’s not far off either. So first of all, go to Command Post and contribute. I’m in for $10.

And to conclude, it seems to me that this is what the war is all about. Our culture of love and caring, versus a culture that celebrates the reverse and wants to destroy us. We’re not fighting just for ourselves; we’re fighting the good fight for the whole world.

To help you and inspire you, here are the words of Army Spc. Joe Roche, who is on the ground in Iraq fighting Muqtada Al-Sadr _(via Everything I Know is Wrong ):_

I ask that the American people be brave. Don’t fall for the spin by the weak and timid amongst you that are portraying this battle as a disaster. Such people are always looking for our failure to justify and rescue their constant pessimism. They are raising false flags of defeat in the press and media. It just isn’t true.

Update 5-13-04:

Strengthen The Good Update

My God. We’re a third of the way there. Between my post of last night and now, Command Post readers have raised over $3,400 for the Tom Family Education Trust. Thank you to those who have given from the heart so far (many of you giving $50 or even $100), and thanks to the bloggers who have linked to the original post (and in particular, Glenn, who sent an Instalanche our way earlier today).

Update 5-14-04:

Strengthen The Good Update

We did it. Sometime early last night we broke through $10,000, and the contributions keep coming it. We’re now at $11,338 and building

Update 5-15-04:

Strengthen The Good Update

The final total: $14,777.16, and my wife and I kicked in the difference to make it an even $15,000.

...I was on the phone with Susan when we announced it in the chat room, and she had the kids with her they were all thrilled. As I heard Hannah say in the background: That’s a lot of money! That’s right, Hannah, and we hope it helps you get a wonderful education.