This is the first post of what is ostensibly an academic, journalistic, informative, and analytical “blog” site. It is purely experimental. Driven by a desire to learn and understand the dangers in fanaticism and radical religious ideology, I created this site in order to present articles of both current and past events related to the global and American confrontation inflicted upon us all in the name of God or religious righteousness. It is an undeniable fact that religious radicals have upended our society and changed the way we live. Christian nationalism is more than ever an existential threat to America and our way of life. Extremist Islam and jihadists have entrapped us in the quagmire of ceaseless warfare for well over 20 years. There are various other religious radicals causing death and chaos in the world in multifarious religions. Inherently, Christianity, Islam, and many other religions of the world are peaceful and benign. Doctrines created by the insane, unstable, and malicious in the name of these religions, however, bring us to the aforementioned chaos.
I intend to focus on the conflicts of the Global War on Terror as well as the threats posed by Christian Nationalism. I will do so in both simple articles and robust series. Or at least I shall attempt.
Mainly because our generation was reared and raised in the Global War on Terror, it is what we are most familiar with. Now, with the malevolence of Christian extremism looming in this country, our focus is finally turning to that threat as well.
At the age of eleven I began to voraciously absorb the news cycle presented on cable television and slowly understand that the religious concepts I held dearly were used across the world for political and ideological gains, and often combined with violence to create what we know as terrorism. Between 1996-97 the Khobar Towers bombings in Saudi Arabia which killed 19 US Airmen and were carried out by a Saudi Hezbollah affiliate; an interview with al-Qaida founder and leader Osama bin Laden; and finally, the dual suicide bombings in the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, conducted by Hamas, were my initial exposures to this form of radicalism and militancy. Of note, the July 1997 Mahane Yehuda market bombings were followed by a triple suicide bombing in September of the same year, in the same location. Therefore, to me it became apparent that these events were not anomalies, but potentially perpetual. In this country we faced similar events at times as, in 1996, Christian terrorist Eric Rudolf conducted a series of bombings in the name of extremist Christianity against abortion clinics and even the Atlanta Olympics. Thus, I began to study the causes and attempted to understand why people would kill themselves to murder others, why they would condone it in the name of supposedly loving gods, and what type of people were manipulating them to do so. More often than not these events are political at their core, commandeering religion and twisting these beliefs into their most evil incarnations.
After the August 1998 East African Embassy bombings, my primitive research (on old computers and inchoate internet access) focused almost exclusively on al-Qaida. The USS COLE attack during my freshman year of high school cemented in me the love for the US Navy and desire to fight against radicalism. In this country, watching churches, families, friendships, commitments, and communities disintegrate because of Christian extremists’ hatred of their own fellow Americans over sexual orientation, immigration status, religious affiliations, scientific beliefs, medical knowledge, etc, was a prominent warning that we were not immune to the disease. After the 9/11 attacks became the paramount moment of the new century, we were destined as a nation to face radical religious nature, both abroad and domestically.
I will start by writing of current events and conflicts, beginning with our continually escalating conflict with Iranian proxies due to the Israeli-Gaza War (commenced by the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023). Then I wish to move to subjects I have intently studied revolving around al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and al-Qaida core command structure in the Afghan-Pakistan theater. I am not an academic nor am I a journalist. I am merely an amateur researcher and writer. Probably not even an adequate one. I enjoy making connections where others have missed in their reporting. Often, only to find that a deeper delve into the internet reveals that someone has made that connection already. Regardless, I thrive in the journey, and wish to share that with whoever might listen. Forgive my verbose and loquacious tendencies and enjoy the journey as well.
Experimental. Remember that word. I begin next with a series on the current international conflict with the Houthis of Yemen.
Chronicles in Zealotry 