Deepak Chopra Shoots Self In Foot Over Mumbai

Deepak Chopra is an MD with a practice in Boston. He is a spiritual guru who is into eastern mysticism and writes books with spiritual themes. I first learned of Chopra while I was listening to tapes by Tony Robbins some years ago. Intrigued, I bought and read three of Chopra's books: Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, and How to Know God : The Soul's Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries.

I found Chopra's books intellectually stimulating and even daring, particularly Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. However, I couldn't completely buy into them. Nevertheless, it is good to have one's perceptions challenged and stretched, and in that regard, Chopra's books were useful.

Chopra discussed "Magical Thinking" in one of his books (I forget which one). Magical thinking is our desire to fool ourselves that we can change the nature of reality with just our thoughts. Thinking young is a useful philosophy, but it can't actually make you young or reverse the aging process. In all philosophy and spirituality and the nature of existence, reality refuses to be abolished and must inevitably be taken into account. Reality can be a pain in the ass.

I was grateful to Chopra for pointing out the nature of "magical thinking" so I wouldn't be tempted into believing in fairy tales. At the same time, however, it is worth noting that we human beings do not have the complete picture of what reality is and how we fit into it. Not believing in fairy tales is one thing, but it is healthy to have an open mind about the universe and the nature of existence and our place in it. The sum total of reality is more than our perceptions born of our five rather limited physical senses. That's where Chopra shines, I think, in that he likes to probe the boundaries of what is known and what is yet unknown but possible. Basically, he's a good and decent man. I am disappointed that he has associated himself with the moonbat left of the Huffington Post.

Deepak Chopra may understand what "magical thinking" is, but he is not immune to it. Chopra is a liberal and liberals are prone to magical thinking. It explains all their well-meaning policies and projects that don't work and that do more harm than good. Chopra wrote a book that I haven't read and do not wish to read: Peace Is the Way : Bringing War and Violence to an End. When dealing with enemies who can kill you and who hope to do just that, magical thinking can be fatal. Having a peaceful philosophy or having peace in your heart, or meditating on the Kama Sutra, or burning incense, or chanting, or whatever Chopra recommends in Peace is the Way won't magically bring peace.

Liberals seem to think that we can control hostile enemies by how we think, what we believe and by holding loving and peaceful thoughts and intentions. This is magical thinking. It holds that if our intentions and attitudes are right, this will magically transform our enemies and change their enmity into love and trust. In other words, our internal thoughts and feelings control outer reality.

It isn't true.

Islamic violence isn't born of a big misunderstanding between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world; it is born of Islam itself. Islam is a violent ideology that is built upon a violent, cruel and ruthless god, Allah. Islamic scripture clearly teaches that Muslims are to violently conquer all non-Muslim peoples and forcibly convert them to the faith, or to kill them, with one caveat: if the non-Muslims will accept a humiliating status called dhimmitude, they may be allowed to live among Muslims as third-class citizens. They are required to pay a high tax for the privilege of drawing breath and may be abused, even murdered, by Muslims for almost any reason. In other words, they live on the level of slaves, in a constant state of humiliation, deprivation and anxiety for their very lives.

Recently, Deepak Chopra voiced the opinion that the Mumbai masscre by violent Muslims was the result of the War in Iraq. It was what they call "blow back." Never mind that the War in Iraq liberated millions of Muslims from a ruthless dictatorship and greatly improved their lives in the process. However, the point is moot. Muslims have been murdering Indians for centuries, particularly Hindus, and U.S. foreign policy had nothing to do with it. Hindus, not being Muslims, were an automatic target. Anywhere from 60 to 80 million Hindus have been slaughtered by Muslims over the centuries. Mumbai was just another installment in the continuing saga of Islam.

The truth is that Deepak Chopra's opinion was based on his personal politics, not on his informed knowledge of facts. It was intellectually dishonest. It had an agenda other than truth. He referred to the Iraq war as "disasterous." It has proven disasterous only to al-Qaeda.

For these reasons, Chopra has deserved the flood of criticism his comment invoked.

A-Qaeda's Last Stand in Iraq

The Times of London reports what the American media won't: Al-Qaeda is on the verge of extinction in the War in Iraq.

American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror. After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul. A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.

Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects.

Read the whole thing.

Artist Donates Paintings of Fallen Soldiers to Families

Kaziah Hancock is an artist who lives on a ranch in Utah. When the first U.S. soldier from Utah was killed, she painted his portrait and made it a gift to his parents. But she didn't stop there. She kept on painting portraits of fallen U.S. service men and women, nearly 250 of them, from almost every state. She frames them and sends them to the parents, a gift of love. She refuses to accept a single penny for her work, which normally brings in thousands of dollars for each portrait or landscape she paints.

When she painted the portrait of Dale Panchot, a soldier from Minnesota, she said that he should have been a husband and a father, and should have lived to age 80. "I sure wish I didn't have to paint his portrait," she said. Dale's parents were touched to receive the painting, which now hangs in their living room.

Kaziah Hancock is one great lady, doing her part in the best way she can, armed with love, canvas and an artist's paint brush.

See her story at the Military Times website.

First photo: Kaziah shows a finished portrait ready for shipment to parents.

Second photo: Portrait of Dale Panchot

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Kaziah's Website

Kaziah has a website at this link. You can view all of her paintings of fallen soldiers there, too - she calls them Portraits of Heroes.

Hat Tip for Story: Larry Bovshow. Larry is a long-time reader of Saber Point. He's a real estate broker in Beverly Hills, California. Larry, the next time I am out that way, I want to buy dinner for you and your wife.

The Washington Post: "Al-Qaeda Losing the War"

From the Voice of Liberalism, the Washington Post:

Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In a strikingly upbeat assessment, the CIA chief cited major gains against al-Qaeda's allies in the Middle East and an increasingly successful campaign to destabilize the group's core leadership.

While cautioning that al-Qaeda remains a serious threat, Hayden said Osama bin Laden is losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world and has largely forfeited his ability to exploit the Iraq war to recruit adherents. Two years ago, a CIA study concluded that the U.S.-led war had become a propaganda and marketing bonanza for al-Qaeda, generating cash donations and legions of volunteers.

Read the whole thing here.