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While officialdom could be wrong, those of us with suitably pessimistic viewpoints have a hard time seeing things looking up any time soon. So the question is: How does one properly live in such a world? Do we crawl like claustrophobics in drainage pipe? Do we shiver beneath our beds, like children hiding from a nightmare? Do we knuckle under and kiss our opponents' feet, as if we were French? The answer: Absolutely not. Instead, we must live with ruthless gusto. That won't be easy if the warnings come true, or at least not at first. After all, one can hardly imagine a more twisted or determined foe than the one breathing down our necks. Where we see a packed football stadium and an afternoon frolicking in the sun, our adversaries see a mass of blasted human flesh and an express ticket to Nirvana. Where we see an evening listening to a symphony, or perhaps contemplating Britney's perfect navel, they see a perfect place to unleash some nerve gas. These people have dreams, dry or otherwise, about nuking Phoenix and even Milwaukee. They long to cross the sea to visit Macy's — and detonate themselves beside the perfume counter. Indeed, one can reasonably imagine that the allure of blowing themselves up on live television must be overpowering. There's much to choose from: countless sporting events and all those meetings and rallies covered by C-SPAN and the cable news outlets, among other things. In the crazed regions, proud families may tune in to watch "Abdul Does the Orange Bowl." As the white flash goes off, eyes will mist in some Mideast shanty. "That's my boy." The first response on this side of reality may be to assume the life of a hermit. What better way to avoid a fatal surprise than to avoid the concert hall, the stadium, the pizza parlor, and all those bridges and tunnels. Do I really need to go to that tractor pull? Clearly, there would be a positive side to all this, especially regarding public entertainments. If an artist wants to draw a crowd, he'd better be worth dying for. With any luck, this evolving fact will weed out a lot of our almost innumerable cultural slackers. In the long run, however, the best response is to live with a vengeance. We should live thus anyway, of course. It does after all seem truly amazing there is life in the first place. As mentioned before, it's not as if the universe is teeming with hospitable neighborhoods, at least so far as we know. The environment that nurtures us is but a whisker in a boundless dead zone. Go down a few feet and you'll likely hit rock, drive up a modestly high mountain and it's time to don the oxygen mask. Whether this is by design or coincidence is a subject for other times (for the Absolutely True answer, please mail $10), but there's no denying the uniqueness of it all, and that's worth a perpetual toast. Unfortunately, we are not alone in the universe. A band of crazies is gunning for us. It seems that a fair number of them have moved into our country. They have been lying low, perhaps stealing explosives here and there from construction sites and armories, all the while waiting for The Signal. If our political leaders are right, that time is at hand. So let every day be Thanksgiving. Cherish the sunrise, and sunset as well. Appreciate the humble pleasures of the pizzeria and movie house. Do not take for granted the smile of a child, the chirp of a bird, the affection of a loved one, the opening bell of the Stock Exchange, the fact that you can buy 30 Budweisers for a song. Don't just look at that dog, bend over and scratch him behind the ears till his eyes roll. Patch things up with an estranged friend or relative. If the warnings don't come true, you can always take it back. And if we do come under renewed attack, we are an industrious people. We'll figure out how to whip the crazies and perhaps get their oil in the bargain. In the meantime, the winter winds may be colder and the wolf will paw at the door. As it happens there's a sensible cure for the wolf problem. Open the door, grab the bastard by the ears, drag him in, and eat him. — Dave Shiflett is coauthor of Christianity on Trial. |
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he
president says al Qaeda will strike. The vice president concurs. The defense
chief says terrorists will get nukes and use them against us, without
thinking twice. The FBI chief says walk-in suicide bombings are inevitable.
Every official who walks before a microphone, dogcatchers included, echoes
these warnings, which seem reasonable enough. Our world is full of fanatics
desiring a fiery departure to Paradise — a place where the doorman
offers the best tables to those who have dusted the largest number of
heathen at blastoff. Or so they believe. 
