WHEN YOUNG MEN TURN THEMSELVES INTO BOMBS....

One of the most interesting things about the blogosphere is that it proves the existence of vitality among us in places we've never been able to see before....in fellow citizens of virtually every flavor....by the millions. Remember this when you're told that Americans are intellectually shallow, hollow, immature and gauche. Oh, yes, there's plenty of that, but look through The Blogs to see some brilliant analysis, excellent writing and authentic knowledge.

Today I ran across a blog from a guy in the Seattle area, a place where we lived for five years in another lifetime, and which we still remember fondly. He writes about a contemporary literary event in Seattle.

Are we going to win the war on terror by talking our way out of it or by shooting our way out of it? Jonathan Raban, a well-known British writer who lives in Seattle, thinks we can talk our way out of it. Celebrating the launch of his new book, My Holy War, Raban is being lionized in Seattle with public readings, a cover article in the Seattle Weekly proclaiming him the best writer in Seattle...

For Raban the jihad terrorists are confused young men in the grip of a cultish vision of religious superiority. He reminds us that many of the jihad killers are educated and well-traveled. They read and understand computers. And their religious fanaticism is not foreign to Christendom and the west, not by any means. All we have to do is rattle around in our historical memory, summon up the crusades or examine our own strains of religious fervor. Voila! We will be able to connect to the jihadists and maybe even talk them down from their suicide perches. If host countries would only relax, step back and observe that these are wonderful intellectual sensitive boys – some of whom have read T.S. Eliot – boys who have taken a wrong turn – we could dissolve the war on terror without bombs and bullets.

At first glance this seems to be putting forward a case for some kind of pre-mortem compassion for the jihad murderers. But think about what he is saying. How generous of Raban to invite us to forgive acts of unsurpassed viciousness suffered by others. How noble of Raban to ask us to commiserate with fascist murderers as "human beings" when they themselves have worked so hard to scour humanity from their souls. As if the finalizing act of mass murder were not a final statement but one more conversational gambit among many. In assigning free and open societies the task of reaching out to murderers, Raban passively accuses them of not really being free and open; the truly open-minded embrace their own extinction.

When young men turn themselves into bombs they forfeit the privilege of having their root causes examined by victims of their fury. The young murderers have already abandoned their own root causes literally, in every way. To even speak of causes requires a community that values the discussion of those causes along with their diagnosis and proposed solutions. Mass slaughter is simply not in the equation. Mass slaughter is a forfeiture of everything the civilized community builds around a potential cause and its solution. To preserve a world in which causes can thrive sometimes you must put down your root-digging spade and take up a rifle.

When was the last time you saw that kind of writing in your local newspaper? Have a look at this guy's blog and decide for yourself.