Uncouth PerspectivesNot on the rug, man.

We are left with the images of the devastation wreaked by the terrorists and a persistent, nagging question: when will it happen again?

To answer that question, I wonder if we really need to look beyond our own border. America does have its infamous militias. These inbred, bucktoothed, self-proclaimed protectors of America (protecting what, exactly? The right to bear children with your cousin?) already have at least one building in Kansas City to their name. Unfortunately, we can no longer expect these people to be satisfied with outrunning Roscoe P. Coltrane and getting Daisy all molared up off some high-powered corn whiskey from the local still. Now they also would like to advance their political agenda and send America back to the 1950�s, or worse.

But the group that really scares the hell out of me is the right-wing extremist faction of the born-again Christians. (I�m talking specifically about the abortion-clinic bombers and doctor-killers, and not about the zealots that wander around college campuses and get into theological arguments with drunken frat boys.) These folks could be our biggest homegrown terrorist threat because they hide themselves behind religion and their Constitutional rights. When all else fails, they hold up a Bible and use it to justify their actions.

Isn�t it interesting how dissimilar these groups appears on the surface, yet how much they have in common when you look a little deeper. Think about it: they hate what America has become, they think that they are the chosen people to solve the perceived problem, and they believe the end justifies the means. The common thread is a violent reaction to the source of their hatred; namely, the rest of us.

It is also interesting how often violence is committed in the name of religion. The Middle-East terrorists hate us because of our perceived loose morals and decadent lifestyle, but really it all comes down to America�s support of the Israelis in their fight with the Palestinians over the same holy land. Like anything else, the Koran can be interpreted many ways and the fundamentalist, hard-line groups like the Taliban use it as a justification for their oppressive modus operandi.

In similar fashion, the Bible-thumpers pervert the Word of their Lord to their own foul purposes. They use the commandment, �Thou Shalt Not Kill� as justification for terrorizing and, ironically, sometimes killing abortion workers. Never mind that most people find early-term abortions to be morally acceptable. These wild-eyed maniacs do not really care about what anyone thinks� except themselves.

Frankly, having someone�s religious views pushed on you is onerous in itself. Violence certainly compounds the problem. But perhaps the worst part is all of these fanatics are really missing the point of what their religion tries to teach them in the first place. After all, isn�t religion really just a framework for how to morally better oneself in a civilized society? And at the heart of this philosophy is forgiveness and love for one�s fellow man. The violence is just a symptom; the blatant hypocrisy is the disease.