When I was a little girl, my biggest fear was the monster that laid in wait underneath my bed as I tried to go to sleep. No matter how my parents tried to help me rationalize this, nothing eased my anguish. The solution was to place an old cloth doll under my bed and give shape to my monster. I made sure it was there every night and found it comforting to know that what I feared most was embodied in an object I could see and touch. As long as the doll was under the bed, I was safe.

As adults, we measure our maturity in our ability to discern the dangerous from the harmless, our friends from our enemies, our angels from our demons. We use life experiences and beliefs as backdrops to our reasoning. But it is common to go through life never fully exploring how we come to our views. We lull ourselves into believing we are sophisticated in the way we negotiate and identify the face of the unknown. We falsely assign ourselves the qualities of civility and reason, although our methods of perceiving the world are still subconsciously driven by infantile fear and superstition, just as when we were children.

Americans were all aware that horrific things existed in the world before September 11, but never had to consider them in terms of everyday existence. The country's psyche has undergone an undeniable shift. Our worst fears have all been played out in living color on the evening news and irreversibly etched onto our collective consciousness. We’ve heard first hand accounts; cell phone recordings and even footage of the most horrendous ways imaginable that a person can meet their death as a result of another's actions... One by one, our monsters have come out from under the bed.

Now the country struggles to put a face on this evil and personify its fears in the aftermath. People who knew or cared nothing of foreign policy and with whom a broach of the subject would garner nothing but a glib stare a couple of months ago are now experts, wrapping themselves in the flag, cheering as the Bill of Rights is fed through the paper shedder with the PATRIOT Act and proclaiming our god-given right to avenge this horrible deed. The phrase “God Bless America” adorns store windows; bank LEDs, changeable letter boards, websites, t-shirts and bumpers everywhere you look. Every other SUV you pass has a plastic old glory flapping in the wind as they head off to the sushi bar early enough so they can get home in time to catch Survivor.

It’s only natural that people turn to their religion or a sense of nationalism in the face of this horror. There is an immediate need to be a part of something larger than ourselves. And we're angry. Somebody has to be, to borrow a term from brother Dick Gregory, “Great White Brother’s Injun.” People look to the news media to educate them as to why and how this could have happened. Why does this bin Laden and the al Qaeda hate America so much? But in times of conflict, correspondents often become tools of propagandists promoting particular perspectives. 

This is especially true in this country, since a large portion of mainstream media have shared interests with the largest defense contractors, who by no surprise are the only companies that actually made profits in the weeks following the attacks. The NBC Nightly News is broadcast every night from the General Electric building. The FCC, who regulates and issues broadcast licenses to all media outlets, is currently being run by Michael Powell, son of General Colin Powell, who has a definite interest in how the "War on Terror" is being reported.

After World War I, it became evident that many claims made by the U.S. government blaming Germany for the responsibility for the war or for many purported German atrocities were false. Considerable criticism of the U.S. government's manipulation of information and public opinion during the war ensued, and the term "propaganda" entered into popular usage referring to a deceitful, dishonest or slanted communication. The term was subsequently used to refer to many communications of totalitarian regimes, such as the fascists and Marxists, which promoted their particular ideologies. The "Big Lie" technique was popularized by Josef Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, who believed that people would believe anything, no matter how blatantly false, as long as it was repeated consistently and confidently.

They feed our illusion of separateness by using the old stand-bys, religion and political ideology. The rules of propaganda are simple. Attack the person, not what he is saying. Muslims faction’s demands that the U.S. pull its troops out of Saudi Arabia and end its unconditional support of Israel, (over three billion dollars a year in military and economic aid), are never addressed in public forum. Use repetitive phrases that short circuit thinking and have emotional appeal to the audience or arouse feelings in favor or against a group or person. Bush repeatedly refers to the Taliban as "evil doers". Oversimplify complex theories and causes of events and cite lofty reasons to justify your own actions. This results in many statements that are non-sequitur where the conclusion does not necessitate the premise. The Taliban are oppressors of women, so we're going to carpet bomb some villages where these women live. If the Bush Administration thought the Taliban were so bad, why in May of 2001, did they give them $43 million dollars?

Since fundamentalists currently run both regimes at war, an examination of the two respective religions is necessary. Bin Laden, al Qaeda, the entire mujahedeen are considered fundamentalist and all actions are done in service to Allah. Bush rose through the ranks during his presidential campaign by appealing to the religious right and claims he prays to God everyday in the Oval Office. He is flanked by the man he appointed to enforce the law of the land, Attorney General John Ashcroft, a holy roller Pentecostal that anoints his feet, refuses to dance and who espouses that anyone against  U.S. government actions - as they strip away your civil liberties - is supporting terrorism and in league with evil bin Laden.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are closely related. All three revere Abraham as a spiritual ancestor so they are called Abramic religions. But like any other family, just because they share common patriarchs doesn’t guarantee they will all get along. Most of the religiously motivated genocides and crimes against humanity from the Crusades to present day, have been committed between Muslims and Christians. Iran, Iraq, Bosnia Herzegovina, Cyprus, East Timor, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Philippines, Sudan and Turkey have all seen their share of conflicts between the two religions.

Generally, Muslims and Christians both recognize the term “fundamentalist” as used to refer to as the most conservative wings of their religion. They make up the extreme and relatively small cabals that believe modern influences will erode or even eradicate their faith and morality. They are both more than willing to use guns and pay a human cost to sustain their belief systems. Both regimes package it so genocide appears for the greater good of all concerned and appeal to the collective fears held by their people. The job of sheep tender comes easily when the fences are all built in the minds of the herd.

In America, the term “fundamentalist” became commonly used after the “Scopes” trial in Dayton, Tennessee during the mid 20s. John Scopes, a high school biology teacher was on trial for teaching contrary to the state act, “any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught by the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” Although Scopes was found guilty, he won a moral victory. Today, fundamentalists are the most vocal group in opposition to abortion access, equal rights for women and legislation to prevent discrimination and hate crimes against homosexuals, physician assisted suicide, the use of embryonic stem cells for medical research, comprehensive sex education classes in public schools, anything that slightly resembles progress is considered an offense.

Fundamentalist Christians typically believe the bible, although written by man, was divinely inspired by God, and is internally consistent and free of any error. It is the final word of spiritual law. To question the word of God or to practice any other form of worship will jeopardize your standing with the creator. Christians typically believe that through obeying the laws as given to Moses on Mt. Sinai and by accepting God's only son, Jesus as your savior, you can be saved from an eternal life in Hell.  Most Americans are at least familiar with the story of Adam and Eve.

Let us consider Genesis, also known as the Book of Moses. For millennia, different cultures have been describing deities forming bodies out of clay and bringing them to life. Surely Moses, the author of Genesis or the Pentateuch, was familiar with the golems of ancient Hebrew phenomenon when he wrote the story of Adam. From the Hopis to the Hindus, Egyptians to Christians, this is a common theme. The story of the great flood, virgin births and resurrections have been integral, core parts of many religions, long before Christianity spread its tenants across the globe.

Fundamentalist Muslims are now seen as threats to all things Western, therefore regarded as terrorists. While true, many of the terrorists are fundamentalists; they share little with their fellow Muslims. Fundamentalist Muslims strictly follow the teachings of Mohammed, read the Koran, and attend mosque. Unlike Americans, many Muslims promote theocratic government, or Islamic law, where church and state are one. They consider the West ungodly and decadent. The prophet of Islam, Mohammad, was born in Mecca. While meditating one day, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and gave him the Koran and Islam was born. He denounced the evils of drunkenness and impurity and proclaimed there was only one god, Allah. He amassed a following, but fled to Medina after learning his life was in danger from the idol worshipers. The day of this flight marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar in 622 CE.

The presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia is seen by many radical Fundamentalist Muslims as a desecration of Holy Ground. The two most sacred places in Islam, Mecca and Medina, are located in that country. The fuel keeping that radical flame burning amongst the Muslims are social, religious and economic oppressors. Unelected leaders, no human rights, extreme wealth for a privileged minority and often-extreme poverty for most of the population, millions of refugees, high unemployment. Sound familiar?

Both religions preach, “Do not kill,” but routinely send their youth to die in the name of God and country. The Taliban and the Department of Defense eagerly pay the same “collateral” costs as the elders of both tribes sit back in safe zones and watch. Al Qaeda and the Bush oil baron elite call for war and have no moral conflict whatsoever killing innocent people. The Taliban think the dead go to a paradise full of virgins. Most Americans are convinced they’re ultimately headed somewhere over the rainbow where the streets are paved with gold. Americans and Muslims are both doing what they’ve have been indoctrinated to do.

The need to construct an archetype is not unlike constructing a transistor receiver set for a particular station. The prophet we adapt in our own interpretation of existence, whether it is Jesus or Mohammed, or some other invisible emissary from the Creator, should celebrate each human expression of desire to transcend and evolve into a higher being. Perhaps we are just a fortuitous concurrence of atoms, or could we have great purpose to our consciousness. In order for us to assign our rightful place in the Universe; we have to rescue from degradation the archaic truths that lie at the basis of all religions, and to discover the fundamental unity from which they all spring. But no religion of the world can ever answer for certain what lies beyond or describe the absolute order of the universe.

We must employ our own inner scale to measure information presented as truth. It is with notes that resonate within ourselves we should compose our individual spiritual or political convictions. To argue or fight or kill each other over the often-abstruse imagery of the world's sacred literature is the real blasphemy. As long as we surrender the reigns of reason and analytical examination over to the powers that be and allow the media, government or religious leaders to tell us what to think, we shall encounter endless legions of monsters and will never experience what it is to be truly free.