Sunday, April 19, 2009

Bonum Diffusum Sui

The following essay is a response by our guest blogger, Zenster.

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In a recent video Frank Gaffney said: "Bad behavior rewarded begets more bad behavior.".

This adage remains partially true, but it is no longer adequate to the task of pushing back against Islam. Time, along with technological progress and the development of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) have forever changed this once apt equation.

We claim that the only requirement for evil to succeed is that good people do nothing. Letting evil go unpunished ipso facto becomes the equivalent of rewarding it.

There is a theological principal known as: " Bonum diffusum sui *." Namely, that "good diffuses itself." This is the supremely magnificent aspect of positive intent or good will. Many would attribute a Divine character to it and not be at all wide of the mark.

Evil has no such beneficent characteristic. Much to the contrary, left unhindered, evil tends to concentrate in both power and force. It is neither benevolent nor compassionate. The ability for evil to grow relies upon the very worst attributes of human nature. Its lack of transparency, its need for furtiveness and a generally menacing disposition obliges evil to capitalize upon human weakness, fallibility and every shortcoming or deficit present in mankind’s makeup.

Throughout the vast majority of history these various negative aspects of evil have been self-limiting.

In the past, criminal conduct tended to be censured by a large portion of humanity who recognized its predatory nature. What’s more, immoral and unethical behavior usually carried with it numerous intrinsic penalties. Among them were more frequent exposure to bodily injury or lethal force, infighting and conspiracies, illness or disease, poverty, and deprivation. There were many other side effects of living as outlaws. The extrinsic consequences of apprehension, prosecution, imprisonment and physical punishment or execution only increased the negative effects.

The advent of modern technology has imbalanced the many pivot points in the workings of our ancient Social Contract. While modern medicine improves existence for good people it also extends the life of principal bad actors and the healing of their wounded accomplices. It equally enables the continued existence of unresisting human prey. These people – ill-suited to survival – might once have perished long before marauding forces could profit from looting or enslaving them.

These same refugees from reality – often in the form of liberals and socialists – bypass evolution’s normally unforgiving genetic obstacle course, managing to obtain an unprecedented degree of influence over political and economic systems. These same systems, once robust, would have had them yanked from the stage long ago. It is precisely this survival of the unfit that most imperils modern civilization.

Worst of all is the way in which an unfit yet active electorate is capable of steering democratic functions in order to affect larger geopolitical mechanisms. It is difficult to imagine a better example of evolutionarily unfit hands on the political tiller than – no, not Obama – the Gaza Strip. There, a totally dysfunctional Palestinian culture has empowered the retrogressive and parasitic Hamas regime. This has placed the entire population at risk of perishing from well-deserved Israeli retaliation against constant terrorist attacks committed by the ruling Hamas party. Illegal activities and the diversion of civil resources have resulted in deadly sewage floods, structural collapses and the untimely detonation of mishandled explosives, which only serve to jeopardize them further.

Palestine's existence is wholly dependent upon the poliltically driven lifeline of foreign aid. Without such an infusion this evil hybrid could not long survive. Thus does a dysfunctional culture continue in place because of external forces that artificially sustain its otherwise unsustainable pseudo-economy. The Palestinians are a micro-model of a much larger entity that has proven itself to be of a similarly dysfunctional nature. This is survival of the unfit writ large.

In its past and present manifestation, Islam is a pluperfect example of the way evil concentrates and does not diffuse. While good works unavoidably distribute their positive influence by increasing the overall quality of life, Islam can only spread itself by the sword. I doubt there exists a single historic example of a non-Muslim culture spontaneously and voluntarily abandoning its original belief system in favor of Islam.
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While this coercive and malign force has wrought unceasing damage throughout its nearly fourteen centuries of existence, nowhere has it ever been the threat it currently poses towards modern civilization. This emergency is due to a conjunction of Middle Eastern petroleum deposits and an exceptionally tolerant Western multicultural credo, both conjoined to Islam’s ability to survive through violent repulsion of external influences. This survival is due to Islam’s petroleum wealth, which gives it access to modern technology and thereby, ingress into Western culture.

High technology has brought even more efficient oil extraction methods and advanced medical treatment, but it also has facilitated the ease with which Weapons of Mass Destruction are produced. These factors have created a new sense of urgency to our interactions with Islam. Our global economy continues to reward the Middle East with unimaginable wealth even as Islam’s destructive barbarity increases in scope and dimension.

Despite periodic interventions by the West over the last several decades, much of the foreign policy of the West toward Islam has been a course of benign neglect. We have left Islam alone and – due to its persistent impoverished state – it was unable to impinge significantly upon Western civilization. A sea change in transatlantic pseudo-progressive political climate, along with the also noted conjunction of resources and technology, has changed all that. These changes are irrevocable without a revolutionary change in petroleum-based technology.

Islam has entered yet another aggressive cycle of expansion, this time driven by oil wealth and the reinvigorated puritanical sect of Wahhabism. The current manifestation is so predatory and hostile in nature that ignoring it has increased our own peril. We are assuring the survival of an entirely unfit entity. It is here where the original axiom of rewarding bad behavior breaks down.

Weapons of Mass Destruction facilitate and magnify Islam’s malicious aspect to such a degree that inaction is no longer an option if the West is to survive. Inaction does nothing to prevent the success of evil; it merely hastens its arrival. Concomitantly, reaction also proves to be of little use against the suicidal and violent constituents of Islam. Those Muslims who have overtly declared war on Western civilization justifiably interpret our passivity as weakness. Continuing to merely react to terrorist attacks is a passive response that will beget new attacks of greater magnitude and frequency.

The nature of Qur’anic doctrine is so intolerant and virulent that it cannot simply be starved out of existence through trade embargoes or economic boycotts. Sufficient wealth has been concentrated in the MME (Muslim Middle East) whereby Islamic jihad now can be carried on for decades without pause. During these same coming decades, the slow jihad of demographic invasion will see accomplished those assaults that could not be achieved through a direct application of force.

A soupçon of genuine wisdom lays concealed in the humorous adage that says:

“Friends come and go but enemies accumulate.”

The nature of friendship is such that it can be abandoned or lost without necessarily propagating any malice. Thus—"Bonum diffusum sui”—the goodness of amity diffuses but does not invert to any form of evil. No such process applies to good’s counterpart. Evil has a difficult time digesting goodness. Its appetite is upset by the conflict necessary to consume and destroy such a foreign body. Wickedness usually prefers a vector of hosts whose lax ethics and morals more easily propagate and spread its malignity. In this way, evil agglomerates the dregs of humanity and empowers those who would usually never merit recognition or attention from worthy people.

So it is that while Western nations dally part ways, our enemies inexorably gather on our borders and within what were once our fortresses. The inability of Western nations to cohere and provide a united front against Islam’s onslaught is the equivalent of indivdual inaction when confronted with evil. We are trilling upon diplomatic violins even as the inferno rages outside our windows.

Western inaction is upping an already hideous butcher’s bill. As members of America’s republican and democratic parties quarrel over the privilege of looting their nation and while the EU bickers over the exact methods to be used to neuter an increasingly restive indigenous European citizenry, our common enemy proliferates.

The West’s enlightenment and scientific supremacy was once a force for good that diffused throughout the world. Now our internecine squabbles distract us from the need to address with one voice those who would end the opportunities or freedoms to deliberate upon our future course. Islam intentionally steers against time’s current. It is determined to return us to the gloomy caves from which we emerged so long ago. Our collective inaction only speeds us towards the darkness.

Again, while once it was true that rewarding bad behavior only begat more bad behavior, we are now in an era where not punishing bad behavior is a form of furthering its evil intentions.


*With loving recognition and profound gratitude to Father Rex Alarcon of Naga City’s Metropolitan Cathedral in the Philippines for our lengthy discussions and the generous sharing of his immense knowledge that provided me with some of the deepest theological insights I have ever experienced.

8 comments:

babs said...

Excellent essay Zenster.
While reading it I was reminded of the pirates. Over the past few days both a Dutch Navy ship and a Canadian ship went to the rescue of commercial vessels in distress. In each case they thwarted the pirate attack and freed some hostages. But... they disarmed the pirates and released them too!
So now we are trout fishing in the gulf of Aden; catch and release. Why, because Dutch and Canadian law does not allow for the arrest of Pirates unless a hostage, a crew member or, very unlikely, one of the pirates is of their nationality. I am not positive but, I would guess that these rules are also in effect for the U.S. Navy and other NATO members.
This is insanity writ large...
Also, your comment regarding technology: I was taken during the recent U.S. Navy stand off with the pirates that they had and knew how to operate a sat phone and GPS. So we now have a bunch of khat chewing illiterates dialing home on a sat phone and giving their lon and lat to their compatriots all courtesy of western technology!
Indeed, your final thought rings very true to me:
"we are now in an era where not punishing bad behavior is a form of furthering its evil intentions."

Charlemagne said...

Great essay Z,

You touched on several points I mulled over this weekend. The Palestinian example reminded me of a discussion about the Somali pirates. As with the Palestinians, I think the pirates, and to a larger extent many of the problems in Africa, are in fact the fault of the West. However, not because of Western exploitation via capitalism or resulting from a legacy of colonialism but rather, their problems are a result of our misplaced compassion. Consider, what was the Maersk Alabama carrying? Food for starving Africans!
Western aid has created a giant welfare state on much of the African continent and has destroyed it much the same as welfare has destroyed many major US cities.
Poor African countries, due to Western benevolence, have grown populations beyond the carrying capacity of the land those populations occupy, or beyond the ability of those populations to make productive. And as in our big cities, welfare acts as a subsidy for population growth because there is no economic Darwinian price to pay for having children one cannot feed. If these nations were not subsidized by the West then perhaps they would devote far more energy to survival and not have the excess populations to export to the West or to cause global mischief.

And regarding colonization of Europe by Muslims I worry about the day when France is majority Muslim and those Muslims have the keys to France's nuclear arsenal. With advanced Western nuclear weapons at their disposal Muslim France can, and will, intimidate all of Europe. France owes it to the West to stop their demographic collapse.

The last point was regarding oil. The money the West transfers to the MME and the resulting power they gain from their wealth can be neutered if we in the US only had the political will to shut down the eco-Marxists who continue to deny us access to our own oil resources.
If we had the will to use our resources we could control the world price of oil and thus exert control over the MME. If they behaved poorly, we could flood the market and undermine their economies. This to me is another example of the Left either being useful idiots or colluding with Islam against us.

Cheers!
Charlemagne

PatriotUSA said...

Zenster:

Stand up great article and I think you have nailed it down quite well. I would normally comment but I just returned from watching a dear best friend of 37 years be removed from life support after being wasted by a drunk driver, illegal alien, no license or insurance. Too tired to post much, but wanted to support your awesome article. Great clarity of thought, explanation and writing.

Anonymous said...

These same refugees from reality – often in the form of liberals and socialists – bypass evolution’s normally unforgiving genetic obstacle course, managing to obtain an unprecedented degree of influence over political and economic systems. These same systems, once robust, would have had them yanked from the stage long ago.I think this is the key to finding a solution; defenders of traditional liberal democracy will have to move away from secular, progressive and liberal parties and return to more overtly Christian parties. In Canada we have a national party called the Christian Heritage Party which is, as the name implies, opposed to Sharia law in all its forms. It is also opposed to abortion, polygamy, child marriage, homosexual marriage and state-sponsored day care. In short, it is a socially conservative party open to all who agree with its few basic principles.

I realize for political conservatives, it's a stretch to join a socially conservative political party, but I personally believe this is the ONLY solution that will work in fighting Islamic expansion.

You can find the CHP here.

Zenster said...

First of all, I'd like to thank Dymphna for both a deft editorial hand and having sped this to press.

To follow, I would also thank everybody for their encouraging comments about this post. I've spent a few months ruminating over the many wonderful ideas that Father Rex Alarcon shared with me and it was very satisfying to bring one of them forward in this essay.

babs: I was taken during the recent U.S. Navy stand off with the pirates that they had and knew how to operate a sat phone and GPS. So we now have a bunch of khat chewing illiterates dialing home on a sat phone and giving their lon and lat to their compatriots all courtesy of western technology!.

My own feeling is that if these backwater thugs want to use our own best technology against us, then we should be showing them what it means to meddle with their betters.

The recent Bainbridge incident (Seals 3, Pirates 0), is both a local and global model for any future interaction with Muslim gangsters of all stripes and office.

Charlemagne: Western aid has created a giant welfare state on much of the African continent ...

As a form of agreement, please allow me to direct your attention to Kenyan economist, James Shikwati, and his excellent article, "For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!". Some excerpts:

Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid.

But it has to be the Kenyans themselves who help these people. When there's a drought in a region of Kenya, our corrupt politicians reflexively cry out for more help. This call then reaches the United Nations World Food Program -- which is a massive agency of apparatchiks who are in the absurd situation of, on the one hand, being dedicated to the fight against hunger while, on the other hand, being faced with unemployment were hunger actually eliminated. It's only natural that they willingly accept the plea for more help. And it's not uncommon that they demand a little more money than the respective African government originally requested. They then forward that request to their headquarters, and before long, several thousands tons of corn are shipped to Africa

... and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unscrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the UN's World Food Program. And because the farmers go under in the face of this pressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if there actually were a famine next year. It's a simple but fatal cycle
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[to be continued]

Zenster said...

The foregoing article by Shikwati is a must read and exposes just how perilous it is to keep propping up the Dark Continent's numerous kleptocracies. Anyone requiring further proof as to just how dysfunctional African leadership truly is need look no further than the ANC (African National Congress), and its recent refusal to censure Robert "Trillion Dollar Bread Loaf" Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

The importance of capping a few scurvy Somalian seadogs pales in significance compared with the need to halt Mubabe's continued theft of oxygen from far more deserving life forms like scorpions, lice and cockroaches.

I worry about the day when France is majority Muslim and those Muslims have the keys to France's nuclear arsenal.

This rather bleak scenario continues to plague me with the notion that, yet one more time, America may well need to rescue Europe from itself.

Metropolitan Paris, by itself, is the repository of so much Western heritage that it cannot be allowed to serve as an Islamic hostage so that Muslims may bully Europe. Far better would be to invade and overthrow any nascent Franco-Islamic government than allow it access to the French nuclear arsenal.

PatriotUSA: Please accept my personal condolences upon the loss of your longtime friend. No small part of my writings are devoted to increasing public awareness of how deleterious to America is the continued mass importation of Third World miscreants.

I would welcome your comments should you find time to contribute them.

Frank Hilliard: I think this is the key to finding a solution; defenders of traditional liberal democracy will have to move away from secular, progressive and liberal parties and return to more overtly Christian parties.

I argue that even such a move is totally inadequate to the task at hand.

Should the free world wish to withstand Islam's vicious onslaught, all genuine faiths will need to find common cause and band together in the fight against Muslim predation.

Be it Christian, Hebrew, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Zen, Zoroastrian, Coptic, Animist, Janist or any other belief system: All of them must unite to support true freedom of religion. Any further divisiveness regarding the free practice of benevolent faith will see all of them perish in Islam's indiscriminate maw.

Snouck said...

Zenster: "development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems."

Snouck:
this has been discribed by a UN commission in 1985, almost a quarter of a century ago. The report was published as: "Famine, a man-made disaster?".

It seems that it is impossible to make the institutions that are responsible for such disastrious policies, change course.

Regards,

Snouck

Zenster said...

Snouck: It seems that it is impossible to make the institutions that are responsible for such disastrious policies, change course.Welcome to a world that glorifies careerist politicians and administrators (or "'trators" for short). The governmental systems of many different Western countries are so beholden to this entrenched class of pencil-pushing and bean-counting bunch of elitist parasites that there is little hope for anything short of, regrettable, violence in order to remove them from influence.

While the ordinary electorate is, to some extent, culpable for the existence of this parasitic uber-class, its perpetuation has been wrested from the common voter's overall ability to control and placed in the hands of those who have the very WORST intentions for a free world.