What Would UNCLE Do?

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Today of all days we have to wonder about how the U.N.C.L.E.  would have responded in the wake of 9/11.  Would present day agents have been involved in seeking out the radicals who lit the match to a bonfire of terrorism on American shores?
I suppose if the series were set in modern day circumstances then it wouldn't be a Russian at Solo's side, rather someone of Middle Eastern heritage.
Go back a few years and we might have an Irish agent coming out of the 'troubles' in Nothern Ireland to help keep peace in the world.  History affords many opportunities to pull a hero from out of the rubble of hatred and violence, and MFU gives us the platform for creating solutions to the chaos.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.  television series was a ploy to help set our vision in alignment with a search for peaceful co-existence.  But the scales don't tend to even out, the pleas for peace seldom outweigh the efforts to quash all hope of it.
We can't give up though.
There are things that I personally believe are driving humanity, but I will continue to hope and pray that lives are spared and cultures survive in spite of the efforts to extinguish enemies of radical elements in our world.  Here in America, the day will honor those lost to the horrific events of September 11, 2001.  Like most acts of terrorism, the victims are not soldiers nor are they responsible for initiating any violence against the pepetrators of this act of war.
Some will say that these soldiers of radical Islam are sincere believers; I say that are sincerely deceived. That is not an excuse, their humanity has been compromised by believing a lie and yielding to something within them that crave the bloodshed of innocents.
Many evils have been done in the name of gods whose motives remain shrouded in mystery.  Man creates the lies surrounding a dogma or doctrine that supports the atrocities they perform.  Each of us will have an idea of where those ideas originate, I know I have mine.  Whatever the origin, the world must continue to stand against the evil of this radicalized element whose only quest is for the destruction of all who are outside of their very limited sphere of beliefs.
This band of criminals has targeted the entire world for extinction, so pray for peace; it is more powerful than the sword.

Comments

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

The destruction of the two towers on 11 September 2001 was one time when the conspiracy theorists might have been right, had they been looking. But as with the financial crash of 2008, no-one was looking in the right place, and might not have believed it if they had. Whether an organisation like UNCLE would have been on the ball is an interesting question, but probably has a dull answer. It was a relatively peaceful period, when you could imagine dreadful things being thwarted because they were so unlikely to happen in real life.

It's noticeable that, since real life got more risky, there has developed a need for more-realistic violence, and more of it, on TV, in films, and in public discourse. UNCLE was always a bit cartoon-like in its violence, the baddies were obvious and died very tidily. We have a more ambivalent awareness of goodies and baddies, now that more POVs are available for acts carried out by so-called goodies (i.e. the West) in the past. I've sometimes wondered about writing a story about someone like Osama bin Laden being mythologised in, say, 300 years time, by a prophet wanting to start a new religion. It's a matter of the point of view.

[threecee.livejournal.com]

Looking at the major world religions, it seems to me that all religions can affect their followers in two very different ways: some find it a source of brotherly love and the strength to help others, others find it a rationale for hatred and bigotry. It doesn't seem to matter what the religion is - people interpret it the way that suits their character.

Hatred, fear, greed, and violence seem to be dominant right now, in America as well as in many other parts of the world. I believe that it may be a long battle, but if we all do whatever we can to practice peace and compassion even in small ways, we may be able to change things for the better.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I do think we live in an age where people's sensitivities are akin to a person who drinks scalding hot coffee until he no longer feels the intensity of the heat.
Video games depict death, with the game player holding the weapon. Movies are increasingly violent and what was once vulgar and disapproved is now accepted as normal.
Up is down, and down is up. Terrorism calls itself religious while the truly devout and peaceful are driven to their graves by unholy alliances.
I'm not sure UNCLE could help, but it's nice to think they'd try.