The stories of the attacks. -------------------------- "Ultimately, I think the deepest understanding in public life comes from understanding the stories (histories, worldviews, myths, explanations) that give rise to people's behaviors and to their reactions to the policies and actions of others. ... I think that this insight can be applied, as well, to the big picture(s) that we each inhabit and use to make sense of the world we live in. "People who believe in these perspectives have amassed extensive data to support their stories, and have articulate spokespeople who have written articles voicing their views -- and challenging the views of others. These (or summaries of them) could be studied by participants in the study circles on terrorism. "a) The US spreads freedom and economic opportunity around the world, and helps other countries in many ways, and always has. Evil people (or regressive ideologies) try to stop America's good influence -- and those evil people and ideologies must be eradicated for the benefit of the whole world. "b) The US arrogantly manipulates other countries' economics, politics and cultures for America's own geopolitical and economic benefit (e.g., CIA's extensive involvement in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan) at the expense of Third World countries and communities, so it's understandable that powerless people who have been hurt by the US would react violently. Perhaps (but not likely) the US -- now as vulnerable as the rest of the world -- will stop acting so arrogantly. "c) The US is the evil vanguard of materialism and technology that is everywhere seducing and destroying traditional cultures and beliefs -- especially Islam and tribal cultures -- and must be stopped by any means necessary. (This is the terrorists' perspective.) "d) Powerful people and groups in government, corporations, militaries, and criminal and religious organizations are battling each other for global and regional dominance, manipulating and harming ordinary people all over the world in the process. This whole crisis is actually a battle between those powerholders, at the expense of the rest of us. We ignorantly do our part by cheering for whatever powerholder is manipulating us. "e) This is a powerful stimulus for us to grow up. We are falling short spiritually and as human beings. We don't understand, love, or care for each other as we should. We have not developed societies that adequately meet human needs, or that serve life well. This tragedy is a global wake-up call to transform ourselves and our societies to be more enlightened and compassionate. Above all, we need to listen to each other and to Spirit, and to support those who are suffering. "f) It's all about oil. If we'd just cure our addiction to oil -- through conservation and sustainable energy technologies -- this whole problem would just go away. We'd leave these Muslims and Middle Eastern folks alone at last, and they could sort out their own affairs. We'd all be better off -- not just us people, but the environment, too. "g) Problems like this will continue happening to us as long as political and cultural institutions impede, rather than help, people working through their differences creatively. When we use war rather than systems of international justice, we're being as uncivilized as the Wild West. When we use power politics and manipulated public opinion instead of well-facilitated and well-informed citizen deliberations to guide our public policies, we get solutions that generate more problems. We need national and international institutions guided by dialogue, truth and human welfare rather than by power, manipulation and reactivity." ------------------ Tom Atlee http://www.co-intelligence.org/ mailto:cii@igc.apc.org ------------------ The above was taken from a letter written to the Study Circles group. While the text is all his, I have edited its sequence so it can stand alone. rlh.