{"id":199913,"date":"2019-03-20T15:04:52","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T09:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=199913"},"modified":"2019-03-24T00:00:10","modified_gmt":"2019-03-23T18:30:10","slug":"from-individual-atom-to-god-almighty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/from-individual-atom-to-god-almighty\/","title":{"rendered":"From Individual Atom To God\u00a0Almighty"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Roberts<\/a> –<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Michael Roberts<\/p><\/div>\n

With the growth of Western civilization from the 16th<\/sup> century onwards and its sweeping sway in the world today, we have seen the power vested in the individual atom known as \u201cman\u201d in its non-gendered sense. Individuation, and its blood-brother, egoism, is the warp and woof of everyday living in most parts of the world and is most pronounced in the states identified with the \u201cWest.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is imprinted and glorified in many sports competitions: say, surfing, marathon-running, motor-cycling, gymnastics, et cetera. Its imprint has been expanded by new technology such as skateboards and fancy bikes. There are also age-old sports which sustain the emphasis on intense individual action: for instance, fishing and hunting.<\/p>\n

In some nations, as we know, the rifle and revolver hold a hallowed place as an essential instrument of one\u2019s lifeworld for a significant proportion of the population. This holds true for many parts of USA and Canada, while Australia hosts a political party<\/a> known as the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party. It is perhaps no coincidence that the expressions of \u201cWhite racism\u201d emanate most strongly from within such entities.<\/p>\n

Brenton Tarrant, the mass murderer at Christchurch<\/strong><\/a> in March 2019, is clearly one such White racist \u2013 alas one who has been under the radar of security networks.[1]<\/b><\/a> But he is clearly an individual proficient in the use of modern video technology to advertise Self and Cause. In targeting mosques and persons of the Islamic faith, he has also set himself up as a forceful answer to the spate of extremist Islamic attacks in many parts of Western Europe in recent years \u2014 with, say, the bomb placed by Salman Abedi<\/a> at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester<\/a> on 22nd<\/sup> April 2017 serving as our illustration.<\/b>[2]<\/b><\/a> <\/b>We are only too aware that extremists at one end of the pole promote extremists at the other end \u2013 just visit Sri Lankan history over the last seventy years for proof.<\/p>\n

So: we now have fanatical extremists at opposite ends of the divide setting Islam vs the Christian West. In numerical terms they may be few \u2014 but they are deadly given their access to guns, video, tweets and other social media.<\/p>\n

Where the Atom becomes God Almighty<\/b><\/p>\n

In pursuing their causes these extremists have assumed the position of God Almighty, namely, exercising the power to take lives. Before we get trapped in the study of extremist causes, however, we must pause and turn our gaze on the recent instances of mass killings without a specific cause. Take the instance of the 64-year old Stephen Paddock who took a range of automatic weapons into his suite at a Las Vegas hotel and on 1st<\/sup> October 2017 fired systematically at a crowd of country music fans<\/a> in the plaza below, killing 58 and wounding another 400 or so. The fans included Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites \u2013 Americans all. Paddock had no political cause. He seems to have been an embittered man. He became a killing God, denying life to unidentified others \u2013 assisted, of course, by the resources enabled by USA\u2019s gun culture. Just look at the armaments spread across his room.<\/p>\n

It is too easy to point one\u2019s fingers at those immersed in the world of guns and sporting pastimes dependent on guns. I pause here to remind myself \u2013 and thereby all readers \u2013 of my life world as a young boy and teenager in the age bracket 10-16 in the town of Galle. Neither my household or that of my middle-class friends in the suburb known as \u201cThe Fort\u201d owned guns. But as youngsters we played cowboys and crooks, watched cowboy films and war movies. For my part I poured over the tales and pictures of World War Two in the London illustrated News<\/i> stocked at St. Aloysius College Library. I read war stories such as those focused on \u201cBiggles.\u201d I watched many war films, with Audie Murphy in his roles as a GI serving as my favourite fare.<\/p>\n

So, I was intensely engaged in a vicarious form of make-believe gun culture.<\/p>\n

The question, then, is this: did that make-believe world ingrain a capacity to take another life in pursuit of a good cause? That is, did it insinuate a capacity to play God? My firm answer is \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overview<\/b><\/p>\n

The caution introduced by this biographical interlude should enter our reflections on the interplay between egoism, individuation, gun culture and extremist political projects, whether White racist, Islamic or nationalist. The Las Vegas Case is a salutary warning in this regard. One can play God and deny life to many just because you are furious with self and world \u2026. And have access to the wherewithal of mass death.<\/p>\n

The Treadmill as Engine of Self-Absorption<\/b><\/p>\n

In highlighting activities that have generated and sustained egoism and individuation, let me add the related concept of \u201cself-absorption.\u201d While this is implicated in several of the sporting activities that I have marked above, it is also encouraged by (A) the worldwide participation in selfies promoted by modern phone and photographic technology; and (B) the expansion of gyms in towns, cruise ships and hotels \u2013 gyms that sustain pursuits of physical \u00a0fitness through such \u2018gadgets\u2019 as treadmills.<\/p>\n

Reflect awhile on the treadmill \u2014 with an individual as often as not wearing\u00a0earphones playing music and stepping forth purposefully in the work of sustaining his or her body. What dedication! What commitment to sustained boredom! What commitment to self! Having committed myself to such a task on the odd occasion (usually on ship or river cruises (when I had nought to do and no tennis court nearby), I cannot think of a more boring and more self-absorbing activity.<\/p>\n

So: do these strands of activity and interaction in the modern world contribute to the deepening of individuation to the extreme point which leads X or Y to play God \u2013 eliminating enemy entities in the manner Tarrant and the manner Salman Abedi, or just anyone in the manner Paddock?<\/p>\n

BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/b><\/p>\n

ABC<\/b> 2009 \u201cSri Lankans \u2018petrified\u2019 after Sydney acid attack,\u201d http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2009-05-18\/sri-lankans-petrified-after-sydney-acid-attack\/1686912<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adelaide Now News Limited Network<\/b> 2013 \u201cBoston Marathon bombings bear marks of \u2018lone wolf\u2019, says expert,\u201d 17 April 2013, http:\/\/www.adelaidenow.com.au\/news\/world\/boston-marathon-bombs-made-from-pressure-cookers-packed-with-ball-bearings-stashed-in-black-nylon-backpacks\/story-fnd11ay0-1226622132249<\/a><\/p>\n

Drummond, Andrew<\/b> 2009 \u201cMan charged over acid attack,\u201d http:\/\/news.smh.com.au\/breaking-news-national\/man-charged-over-acid-attack-in-sydney-20090701<\/a><\/p>\n

Ferdinando, Shamindra & Others<\/b> 2008 \u201cTigers break promise, attack sports event,\u201d http:\/\/www.island.lk\/2008\/04\/07\/news.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Ferdinando, Shamindra<\/b> 2013 \u201cJeyaraj\u2019s widow compares Weliweriya blast with Boston attack,\u201d The Island<\/i>, 16 April 2013.<\/p>\n

Maley, Paul<\/b> 2013 \u201cStamp of lone wolf more than al-Qa\u2019ida\u201d The Australian,<\/i> 17 May 2013.<\/p>\n

Maley, Paul & Chip Le Gande 2017 <\/b>\u201cPolice to zero in on lone wolf \u2018obsessives\u2019,\u201d 23 December 2017, https:\/\/www.theaustralian.com.au\/national-affairs\/national-security\/police-to-zero-in-on-lone-wolf-obsessives\/news-story\/c44a902a4dead0794dd8baf810717431<\/a><\/p>\n

Ramachandran, Arjun <\/b>2009 \u201cAcid Attack: Attempted Murder Charge,\u201d http:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/national\/acid-attack-attempted-murder-charge-20090701-d4mz.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Roberts, Michael<\/b> 2011 \u201cCricket under Siege: the Lahore Attack, 3 March 2009,\u201d in Roberts, Incursions & Excursions in and around Sri Lankan Cricket<\/i>, Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, pp. 139-63.<\/p>\n

Sky News 2018 \u201cManchester Attacker Salman Abedi\u2019s Journey from Student to Suicide Bomber,\u201d31 July 2018, <\/b>https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/manchester-attacker-salman-abedis-journey-from-student-to-suicide-bomber-11455107<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Sri-Skandarajah, Usha S. <\/b>2013 \u201c<\/b>Bikkhu Brigade, Dr Roberts And The Tamil Spring,\u201d 6 April 2013, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/bikkhu-brigade-dr-roberts-and-the-tamil-spring\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Stewart, Cameron<\/b> 2013 \u201cTerror returns to America\u2019s heart after deadly Boston bombings,\u201d The Australian<\/i>, 17 April 2013, http:\/\/www.theaustralian.com.au\/in-depth\/boston-bombings\/terror-returns-to-americas-heart-after-deadly-boston-bombings\/story-fni3117f-1226622063564<\/a><\/p>\n

END NOTES<\/b><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> The widespread criticism of security agencies seems ill-advised. They cannot keep tabs on every which person.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> See https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Manchester_Arena_bombing<\/a> and<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-england-manchester-44129386<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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