A Final Victorious Ride

In the movie, El Cid, starring Charlton Heston, the story is about a knight, a strong and courageous knight who was above all righteous and honorable. He was, according to the movie and legends, above all a pure knight, a man who was honorable and willing to put his life and his fortunes on the line for honor and truth.

I will not go into all the historical discrepancies and conflation and stick to the myth at the center of the movie and of El Cid's legend.

In the last decade of the 11th century, Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar fought with the Spanish Moors who had made a home in Spain after previously conquering much of the southern part of the country. The Spanish Moors (similar to our modern day Muslims) were being overwhelmed as the more militant arm of Islam responded to Allah's call that all infidels were to be converted or murdered and beheaded, and that included Moors who had assimilated into the countries they had previously conquered. The Pope in Rome called a series of Crusades to take back the Holy Land (Jerusalem) from the evil and murderous Moors and Christians killed and burned Moors wherever they found and defeated them even as Moors beheaded and forcibly converted Christians, Jews, and infidels who would not pay homage to Allah and convert.

The areas in Spain where Moors were prominent were areas of beautiful architecture where education was extended to all comers, including women, though the women must remain veiled. Toledo, Seville, Badajoz, and Valencia were part of the Islamic controlled areas and their buildings and works remain even in the 21st century as some of the most beautiful architecture. In the 11th century, Toledo, Seville, and Badajoz were bastions of learning where advanced medical practices were taught as were mathematics and the literature and science of Islam. Though the Moors came from Mauretania originally, they became a part of Spanish culture that echoes still throughout the centuries.

Into this blended culture where Muslims were reviled by the Christians as the Christians were reviled by the Spanish Moors came Don Rodrigo de Vivar. Rodrigo's father was the Spanish king, Fernando's, champion. When he was slain, Rodrigo took his father's place as the king's champion. No doubt, Rodrigo had killed and burned many Muslims as was the custom, but when he heard of a new jihad coming up from Africa into Spain for the sole purpose of destroying all Christians and Christian rule, Rodrigo thought more for his country than for himself. He was acquainted with some Muslims and, as the king's champion, stood for honor and right, and the honor and right he saw did not include continuing to kill Muslims that had assimilated into Spanish culture in the face of a greater horror, a new jihad that put the Spanish Moors at as great a risk as the Christians. The Spanish Moors were a strong force in Spain and had continued and improved the Roman roads and aqueducts, but they were considered too tolerant of infidels and must be eradicated if they would not turn back to true Islamic worship and policies.

An alliance was formed between the Spanish Moors and Rodrigo, who had been cast off by King Alfonso after Don Rodrigo made him swear on the Holy Bible that he had no killed his brother, King Sancho, with whom Alfonso shared the kingdom. King Alfonso banished Don Rodrigo for publicly embarrassing him and making him swear he had had no hand in King Sancho's death.

Don Rodrigo had only his unsullied reputation and his strength of arms, but men followed him in spite of King Alfonso's edict that any who gave aid and comfort to Don Rodrigo would themselves die. The Spanish Moors respected Don Rodrigo's strength as a warrior and his honor and called him The Lord (El Said, which became El Cid). They allied with Don Rodrigo whose growing army followed him on foot, on horseback, anyway and anyhow they could to fight the invaders, even to being willing to fight alongside the Spanish Moors to repel the gathering horde of Islamic invaders, the Almohades, coming from the Atlas Mountains of Marrakesh to unite Spain under Islamic rule and destroy the Spanish if they could not be converted and subjugated.

El Cid and the Spanish Moors fought the Almohades for years, eventually resulting in a fatal wound that cost the Cid's life. The Spanish were so close to victory and Don Rodrigo's death so close to victory would look as if God had abandoned the Spanish and give new life and strength to the Almohades, even though King Alfonso had relented and joined forces with the Cid, providing a united front against the invaders. There was only one remedy for the dire situation and that was to strap Don Rodrigo to his charger so that he might still lead the Spanish forces against the Almohades and send them to Hell or back across the Straits to Africa in utter defeat.

El Cid was fastened to his horse and rode out against the Almohades who fled in terror from a man they believed was dead and they were routed.



I remember my tears and the smile and the feeling of pride as El Cid rides out against the jihadists in the above last scene from the movie, El Cid, starring Charlton Heston. I cried for his decision when El Cid could have been saved, for his honor and his dedication to Spain and King Alfonso and the men he led against the jihadists. I was young, but old enough to see that a man, even in a movie, willing to lay down his life for his country and his people was a great man who put his country's needs before his own, even when it meant he would leave behind his wife and children. I cried as they strapped El Cid onto the horse and fixed his banner in his mailed fist unsure whether he was clinging to life with his waning strength or already dead. When he rode through the gates of Valencia and against the jihadists so certain of his death and their victory, and as they scattered in terror before the man they believed already dead, my heart was full of admiration for his sacrifice and sorrow for his death. That is what the director wanted everyone to feel as they saw Charlton Heston ride forth against his country's foes. The hero rides against the villains and triumphantly into history.

I know the story that was created for that movie is a blend of lies, half truths, conflations, and murky history, but it is the thread that Joseph Campbell called the Hero's Journey, the same thread that runs through any tale where the hero faces great odds and triumphs against great opposition with his honor intact. It is as much a great feat to fight against oppression and opposition while clinging fast the ideals that prompted the hero to sally forth in the first place. The hero battles greed, fame, self-aggrandizement, and Faustian deals in his struggle for what is an honorable quest. And the hero emerges changed, scarred, and hopefully humble and willing to sacrifice what is dearest to him.

When I read that it was being considered that Hillary Clinton would use the powerful image of El Cid to show her as the wounded hero willing to sacrifice all to win the election I was appalled. I would feel the same way if Donald Trump ever considered the same maneuver to bolster his campaign. Neither are worthy of even the myth of El Cid let alone the truth of a crusader who fought for his people and held his king to the same honor and truth he demonstrated and which he held in high regard.

No matter the rhetoric and speechifying about how Hillary and Trump will unite us against political corruption and the boogeymen of China, Russia, and North Korea, they are not worthy to clean Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar's horses hooves. They have not held President Obama accountable for his actions nor have they acted honorably during their campaigns. Children squabbling over whose turn it is on the swings have more honor than either of them.

No, I do not see Hillary allowing herself to be strapped to a white charger half dead or as a corpse to ride forth against this year's political boogeymen. I do see her making a deal with Satan for more time, more money, and more power as she connives her way into the Oval Office as Commander-in-Chief. The US military might follow Trump into battle and grit their teeth and take the field as Trump slopes off to a safer position far from the killing zone, and they might frag Trump afterwards at their first opportunity. Fragging Hillary would likely happen a lot sooner, if the military will stand and fight for her at all. Hillary's disdain for all soldiers in all branches of the military has been too marked to be mistaken for anything but hatred, and not a little jealousy that they serve and she was denied enlistment.

No, I do not see Hillary as El Cid, not even when she was younger and far more healthy than she is now, nor do I see Trump as El Cid courageously risking his life to save the country. Do you?

That is the question you must ask yourself in the days before the election in November. Do you believe either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump would sacrifice their lives for the sake of the country -- if no money was involved? Forget the media manipulation and the empty speeches and focus on the future. Do you want either Hillary or Trump in control of your future and the future of this country?

Let your answer be your guide as you enter the polling booth to pull the handle to select the next President of these United States.

That is all. Disperse.

Happy Friday the 13th

It is Friday the 13th with all that entails and a whole lot of bad news coming our way.

Like the massacre in Paris that purportedly is another in the round of Muslim extremist violence in European cities where the jihadists have settled. I am always reminded of one of my boys' science experiments for school where he kept rats. He found out that a large population of rats in a very small space turn to cannibalism to free up room. Since radical Muslims tend to congregate in enclaves, I wonder when they will stop their violence against their host cities and begin cannibalizing their own. It's a thought that seems appropriate on this day of ultimate evil.

Aah, superstitions. Where would we be without them? For one thing we wouldn't be looking forward to yet another installment of Jason on Friday the 13th dismembering and massacring whoever gets in his way. Combat the fear by checking out these fun facts.

I'm not superstitious unless you consider that I consider it unlucky to debate morons and I have come across a whole group of them since I went back to Facebook to see pictures and videos of my granddaughters. Their mother shortly thereafter took a Facebook break, leaving me with the crazies and the political nuts that consider me dangerous because I promote the idea that not all religions, people, and policies are bad and because I frequently refer to historical facts that fail to prove their point. They counter with calling me names, the last bastion of the schoolyard bully and the bullies yes wo/men adherents. I always thing of A Christmas Story and Scut Farkas's toady with the green teeth. The Democrats call me a Republican and the Republicans call me a Democrat, having never actually read all -- or any -- of my posts and comments. The most pernicious thing I do is disagree with them or caution them to try another perspective. After all, if all one sees out the window is a garbage dump, it's time to find a window that doesn't look out on the garbage dump or at least buy some curtains.

The latest inhumanity I have perpetrated is in saying that not all Muslims are evil, murdering extremists -- because they aren't. I pointed out that Jews and Christians have done their share of murdering, bullying, destruction, and eradication of whole peoples and their written history only to be told that I should focus on more modern facts not contained in the Old Testament. The fact that Islam has been around for less than a century and is not featured in the Old Testament or that first century Christians massacred pagans and Jews and unbelievers, driving opposition from their new homes and destroying the history and writings and people of every non-Christian is met with more disdain and demands that I live in the real world in this century. Of course, they conveniently forget that modern day Christians even in the 20th and 21st centuries continue to murder, massacre, and destroy the people and anything in their path escapes them because all Muslims are evil. That smacks of the thinking that permeates George Orwell's 1984, another fact that eludes them.

Take Ireland for instance that has suffered through bombings, murders, massacres, and destruction that continues to this day. And they are Christians. Of course, they seldom wreak worldwide havoc, although Irish bombers have been known to sell their services to the highest bidder to continue bombing and murdering because it's a habit they're not likely to give up now that they have tasted its flavor.

There are Christians of every stripe throughout the religion, just as there are in Jewish and Muslim sects, that live to murder and destroy. But we're not supposed to hate all Christians because of the acts of a few, which is contrary to the idea that we are supposed to hate every Muslim for the actions of a few extremists. The connection is lost on the Christians calling for eradication of all Muslims. "Bomb them all and let Allah sort them out," in righteous anger as the Muslim jihadists scream, "Convert or die," to everyone else. None of them pay attention to history or how they keep reenacting the same bloody scenes as though caught in a time loop in the Grand Guignol. 

Here are a few of the highlights of Christian extremism.  A Sinhala Buddhist sect promoted violence against Christians and Tamils in the 20th and 21st centuries in Sri Lanka and Aum Shinrikyo engineered the Sarin gas attack in Japan in the mid-1990s using Buddhist and Hindu beliefs to justify his acts. In the 1940s Zionist Jews carried out terrorist attacks against the British.  And the list goes on and on. There are the Browns Shirts in Germany, the Red Brigade, and numerous other terrorist groups that have nothing to do with Muslims and all operated within the last 100 years.

The only thing these terrorists have in common is that they are all humans, members of mankind. They use religion to justify their acts and refuse to see themselves as terrorists or wrong and they won't listen to any arguments that humanize their targets. That is the point. In order to function as they do and believe their acts are justified by their chosen deity they dehumanize their targets. That is the first rule of any terrorist act for whatever reason one chooses to use: dehumanize the enemy.

As long as people are involved, there will be blood and terror and destruction because that is how they survive and thrive. One must blind themselves to truth in any form, demand proof that fits their warped view in order to continue their reign of terror. It is the basis on which war atrocities are made palatable and justified and how people willingly commit unbelievable inhuman acts of violence. They soothe themselves by claiming they are different, that their religion is peaceful, that their aims are right, and they are justified in ridding themselves and their region, state, country, and the world of such brutal animals never realizing that they have become just as brutal and vicious in their holy war against the opposition.

Until humans see themselves in an undistorted mirror they will continue to call for the eradication of those who sin against them and call it good, and they will condemn anyone who steps up to hold that mirror to their faces and asks them to look without the blinders and hatred obscuring their vision. More often than not the one who holds the mirror will be pushed aside and even murdered in order to maintain their shattered sight as if the Snow Queen's mirror shards are permanently lodged in their eyes, ears, and heart.

Humanity will never progress unless and until people are willing to give up their prejudices long enough to consider that not all people are evil and only the guilty should stand for their crimes, not their whole religion or the entire population of their kind. I hope that day comes soon.

That is all. Disperse.