{"id":122,"date":"2014-11-07T13:57:09","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T18:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/?p=122"},"modified":"2014-11-07T13:57:56","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T18:57:56","slug":"viruses-and-the-ideological-canary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/?p=122","title":{"rendered":"Viruses and the Ideological Canary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"canary<\/a>The \u2018canary in a coal mine\u2019 was a primitive technology used before the age of sensors:\u00a0 The bird can sense the presence of noxious gases far earlier than humans; thus, when the canary starts to gag, it\u2019s time to run for the top.\u00a0 The canary, being more sensitive, is the first to go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Illnesses work the same way.\u00a0 They first affect those most susceptible, or live in environments where the virus (or bacteria) can thrive and be easily spread. \u00a0The first attack most susceptible, the aged, the immuno-depressed, the already sick:\u00a0 Such victims are the \u2018canaries\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about the similarity between such viruses and the \u2018virus\u2019 of ideology, which does not affect thebody, but the mind.\u00a0 \u00a0Such as we witness with Islamic radicalization, a fanatical adherence to Muslim \u2018ideals\u2019 (as my last blog mentioned, it is difficult, if not impossible, to discern the true ideals of Islam, not having an official teaching authority).\u00a0 Those most susceptible to such radicalization are those in a more weakened state, the mentally fragile, the outcast, the loners, those who have lived for too long within the confines of their (usually mis-educated) minds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What we witnessed here in Canada a couple of weeks ago were the actions of a couple of ideological canaries:\u00a0 Two individuals with troubled histories who succumbed to the virus of ideology of radical Islam.\u00a0 Yes, I am aware that, unlike ebola victims of the physiological virus, who are blameless for their condition, the killers of the two soldiers may well be more culpable for allowing their minds to be so affected, and the actions that flowed therefrom, but we must leave their judgement to God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Were they terrorists?\u00a0 It depends on how one defines that term.\u00a0 Yes, they attacked representatives of the government (soldiers) in an act of rebellion, in some attempt to get a message across, and they have instilled fear into a certain segment of the populace (soldiers were told not to wear their uniforms in public, an ironic act of \u2018submission\u2019 to Islamic ideology).\u00a0 Let us hope that they were nothing more individuals who went on a brief, poorly planned, apparently impulsive rampage, before being quickly subdued.\u00a0 Imagine if, instead of one assailant armed with a deer rifle, or a car, there were five men with automatic weapons, carefully planned and staged, with military training; imagine a thousand such men, and the harm and fear they could inflict. \u00a0Such was the testimony of the killer of the three RCMP constables earlier this summer:\u00a0 As he claimed, if he alone could wreak such carnage, what could a cadre of like-minded men accomplish?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One may define an \u2018ideology\u2019 as a set of principles that are immune to rational analysis, or any sort of criticism.\u00a0 Being infected with an ideology more or less shuts down one\u2019s reasoning \u00a0faculties.\u00a0 Now, we will disagree until kingdom come on whose belief system is an \u2018ideology\u2019 and whose is not, but we must at least have a basis for disagreement (and, of course, agreement).\u00a0 That is why Pope Benedict, in his Regensburg address of 2006, asked that we as human beings, regardless of our religion persuasions (natural or supernatural), always remain open to rational dialogue and discussion.\u00a0 It is reason <\/em>that makes us human, and it is on this basis that we can lead each other towards the truth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yet ideologies maintain some<\/em> aspect of reason in the host, much like the virus.\u00a0 Ideologues think they are acting rationally, even when their principles and actions fly in the face of reason.\u00a0 They are locked within their own brains.\u00a0 G.K. Chesterton once wrote that the insane have not lost their reason, they have lost everything except their reason<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Arisotle and Saint Thomas define truth as \u2018adequatio rei et intellectus\u2019<\/em>, an adequation or conformity between the mind and reality. \u00a0Our thoughts are only true to the extent that they conform to what actually is<\/em>. We should always be humble (that is, rational) enough to compare what we think to be true with the reality outside of us.\u00a0 This is the whole basis of scientific experimentation and verification, but also applies to moral principles.\u00a0 When we act, we should think:\u00a0 Is this how I would want to be treated?\u00a0 Could I make my action a universal premise to guide all behaviour?\u00a0 Is what I am doing building up society, or tearing it down?\u00a0 Do my principles lead to the flourishing of human beings, or their degradation?\u00a0 And so on\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We are all prey to some<\/em> form of ideology, holding on to principles that are dear to us, but perhaps false; we are all, to some extent, a little tiny bit \u2018in-sane\u2019, or unhealthy in our thoughts, and life is an ongoing process of becoming more grounded in the truth.\u00a0 Such a foundation in the truth is the best immunization againt ideological infiltration.\u00a0 But some ideologies are really bad, and deviate from reason in a radical way (sawing off the heads of innocent journalists and kidnapping underage girls come to mind). \u00a0\u00a0There is a point wherein ideologies must be confronted with the full force and power of law to minimize the damage they cause.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"isis<\/a><\/p>\n

A virus, physical or ideological, that is very deviant eventually burns its host population out, and the same will eventually happen to ISIS (or ISIL, or whatever they call themselves nowadays).\u00a0 The same happened with Nazism and Communism.\u00a0 Like a \u2018house divided against itself\u2019 they could not stand, for their anarchic principles could not maintain a long-term society.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We can hope that most of their members return to normality soon, so the havoc they wreak can be minimized.\u00a0\u00a0 And we should do what we can, when we can, to \u2018convert\u2019 ideologues back to the truth.<\/p>\n

November 3, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u2018canary in a coal mine\u2019 was a primitive technology used before the age of sensors:\u00a0 The bird can sense the presence of noxious gases far earlier than humans; thus, when the canary starts to gag, it\u2019s time to run for the top.\u00a0 The canary, being more sensitive, is the first to go.   Illnesses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,5,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126,"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnpaulmeenan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}