Latter days

Often when I read books, especially fiction, I have wondered how people can think so much before they respond to certain questions. This had never happened to me in real life and that made it even harder to get a good feeling about how exactly would you react to certain questions for which you'd have to weigh the possible answers before you actually give one out. It happened to me yesterday.

Two young women, may be in their twenties, have moved in to the same building as where I live. They always wore a badge on their shirts and I wondered what was written on those badges because I figured that it was not just their name but something more. Another reason why I paid attention to these women is because they said that I drove a cool car. "Look he's got a hybrid!" - I heard one of them tell the other when I pulled into my parking lot and the other one responded "Hey, nice car!". Yes, I drive a gas-electric Toyota Prius and I'm very proud of it because it is a good car, saves money on gas (I'm sure I have not attained break even yet), it is technologically advanced and I'm a tree hugger (I have read that the emission from this car is comparable to liquid propane) and so I like people complimenting me on driving it.

Yesterday, on my way to the soccer game, I ran into these women again. This time I was close enough that I could read their badges. One of them had already passed me and the other was on her way in to the building and I was between the two. I didn't want to look like a pervert staring at this woman's shirt and so decided to ask her if I could read her badge. The first line was her name, which I don't remember any more, and the second and third lines read "The church of the latter day saints". I read this loud enough that both the women could hear what I had just read.

At that moment this woman asked me if I have heard of their church and I instantly said yes and that is when it all happened. Her next question was "From where?" Boy, was I in trouble? From the moment she asked that question and till the time I answered her, I had a fraction of a second to think and also say something. Within that fraction of a second so many thoughts went through my mind. Actually so many replies came up in my mind. This is how Roby's mind worked in that infinitesimally small period of time:

Response: I have read that your church allows, sorry used to allow polygamy. Some of your members who call themselves 'fundamental Mormons' still believe and practice polygamy.
Possible outcome: I thought if I say that they might get offended.

Response: I have heard that you claim that there is a fifth Gospel or something similar.
Why I didn't: I wasn't sure what exactly was it that they claimed.

Response: I have heard that you believe that by living in a certain way you can be God.
Why not? I heard this from a so called protestant evangelist who said on TV that "Catholics and Mormons claim that by being good, you can become God". I certainly know that Catholics do not believe that. What these guys preach lacks credibility and so I don't trust anything that they say. So I couldn't tell her that either.

Response: I watched the movie "Latter days", a movie in which a few Mormon guys live in an apartment in LA, and one of them is gay and falls in love with another guy who lives next door, gets caught kissing him, gets excommunicated, is put in a mental asylum and so on.
Now that is one response that I certainly didn't want to give. There are several reasons why I didn't want to say that. First of all, they might get offended, secondly, it could be embarrassing for them and last and perhaps the most important one was they might think that I'm gay. I will have to explain to them that I'm not (I'm married to a beautiful woman) and that I have watched many independent movies and this was just one of them and so on. That involved a lot of talking to save my skin.

I was aware that time was running out and that I had to giver her a response because other wise I would look like an idiot who said something just for the sake of saying. Then I remembered the music CD that some group that is affiliated to this church released a couple of years ago. The CD was a collection of Christian devotional songs but compiled and based on Mormon believes. I told her that I have seen commercials of this CD on TV. Well, I got away with a response. It was still not the best because she herself was not aware of this CD but I'm certainly glad that I didn't give any of the other responses that came to my mind before this one and found myself walking towards my car giving the excuse that I have to go as I had a soccer game to play in.

Among other things, I had a good weekend.

Conspiracy Theory

Kevin Barret, a UW - Madison professor is offering a course in Fall 06 on Islam. He is also the founder of the Muslim Jewish Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth. According him, the 9/11 plot did not happen as the government says it did. This, he says, he concluded after three years of research and evidence from the rubble of the collapsed building. When any one reads this or perhaps have heard about this on TV or elsewhere would wonder what kind of a "nut case" is this man. I probably did too. A theory like this would face outright rejection because people will wonder why would the government come up with a plot like this at the expense of innocent lives.

Yesterday, British intelligence agencies announced that they have foiled an attempt by terrorists, who might have links to al-Qaeda, to blow up nine airplanes midair killing all those aboard. The airlines chosen were American, United and Continental all of them leaving for different destinations in the United States from the UK. This, if carried out, would have caused mass destruction of life of innocent civilians. The suicide bombers had intended to carry liquid explosives on board and detonate them using electronic devices like cell phones or MP3 players.

This, obviously, has resulted in heightened security arrangements at all airports causing delays and cancellation of several flights all over the world. Several passengers got stranded at different airports and there was utter chaos and confusion. It is a great achievement in the fight against terrorism. This has lead to the prevention of loss of innocent lives and other economic impacts on the world. This has also lead to a situation where the world, rather the western world, might look down up on Islam and Muslims.

What makes me wonder is if this is a conspiracy theory as well. GWB and TB are not the most popular leaders of the world any more. I don't know if they ever were but yes, their popularity has declined at home and abroad. Why not come up with a theory about such a break through and look good. One might ask, why would governments commit such preposterous actions causing pain and suffering to the people all over the world. If you think about it, if the conspiracy theory on 9/11 according to people like Mr. Barret is true, there is no reason why one should not suspect another conspiracy theory. The American stand on the Israel - Lebanon conflict has not received wide acceptance in the international front, Bush's popularity rating at home is at an all time low, November elections are around the corner; give me more reasons why one should not think about such an idea to divert people's attention.

Well, I hope this is not true but given the circumstances that we are living in, I could not help but wonder.