Martyrdom: the weapon of choice for brilliant men across the world.

     Now that the Osama hype has finally fallen to a realistic level, we can examine how much of an impact he truly had on our country. Honestly, I don't know much about him pre-9/11, but I do know that for 10 years he evaded our military. Albeit he did obviously have help from the Pakistani government, he plain outsmarted us. Even above all of his unspeakable acts of terrorism and cold-blooded massacre, though, his message shines clearer posthumously than it did in life.
   
     Even the likes of Bill Maher could have predicted that Al-Queda would be furious about this. When it comes down to the bottom line, they are just a depressed group of opportunistic imbeciles. Expecting them to shy away from this would be foolish. Sure, the man was just a spokesperson for a group of animals that solely thirsted for American blood, but he was the leader. Although they worshiped Allah, never Osama, he rallied for them and raised morale with plans of ultimate destruction. They all shared a distinct, pure hatred for our pluralistic society. He became the essence of the extremists perspective of Allah. Bin Laden did not invent martyrdom though. He is just the most recent version.
   
     Civil rights activists like Ghandi, Chavez, MLK, and even Kennedy became martyrs. Obviously, Jesus is the ultimate martyr, but defending that statement is like defending a lion. It doesn't need any help. I guess you could make it your goal to be a martyr, but honestly, stating that you intend to be a presence once your time is passed pretty much erases your credibility. Usually, the people we recognize as martyrs today were sincere. They were people that didn't beat around the bush. I don't think Osama was messing around when he plotted the September 11th attacks, so you get what I'm saying. The reason the power of martyrdom is so immense is because the ideals of one man can be polarized within a massive group of people. It's called groupthink. For example, if you had a discussion with someone who also believed that laissez faire is the key to success, you would come out of that conversation with a stronger belief in your opinion.

            "You should read history and look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing. They always happen to the best men, you know."

                                                    -George Eliot   


  
     In closing, matter how scandalous it may be, never undervalue the power of the man that lives on.

                                                 Highlander- There can be only one