Too Much Credit Given To The Tool

We live in a reality of action and reaction; cause and effect. This leads us to misunderstand the role of tools and actions. Far too often people credit (or blame) the tool for the action rather than the actor.
Below is a retort to common situations where the tool is blamed for the effect of the action...

Nobody was killed by guns.
No houses were built by hammers.
Nobody was saved by surgery tools.
Nobody who hanged themselves was killed by a rope.

We hear these logical fallacies often: It is the President's fault, it's your fault, it's their fault, it's because of guns, it's in God's hands, it's because of  this or that.

All the while the only thing accomplished is a passing off of personal responsibility. By "personal responsibility" I don't only mean the self (although self-accountability is a form of personal responsibility), but also the blame we assign to something arbitrary to the committer of actions. For example, a great many people blame all Muslims for the acts of Islamic extremists, they blame guns for the acts of murderers, they blame the alcohol for their buffoonery, they blame the President (scapegoat/figurehead) for the effects of a broken system.

Often the person is overlooked and we search for some factor that played a part in their actions, and there are external factors, but those external factors may have different effects on different persons. We can see this in experiments where results are not conclusive.

• Some tests show that heavy metal music kills plants. Some tests show that heavy metal music helps plants grow. Heavy metal cannot be blamed entirely for bad actions.
• Some Muslims study the Koran and (along with political influences) become violently radicalized. Some Muslims study the Koran and become vessels of peace. Islam cannot be blamed entirely for bad actions.
• Some people take LSD and go insane. Some people take LSD and become enlightened. LSD cannot be blamed entirely for bad results.
• Some people use guns to commit murder. Some people use guns for self-defense, sport, or hunting. The gun cannot be blamed for it's actions or use.
• Some people eat chocolate and experience bliss. Some are allergic and almost die. Chocolate cannot be blamed entirely for death.
• Some people use a hammer to build a house. Some people use a hammer to beat someone over the head. The hammer cannot be blamed entirely for the malicious intent.
• Some people are rich and become greedy. Some people are rich and practice philanthropy and charity. The money cannot be blamed entirely for the greed of the individual.

Truthfully, we can change the battery of a car a hundred times, but that will never fix the broken transmission.

A Simplistic Explanation Of The Modes Of Reality

In Hindu philosophy there is an excellent model of examining reality that states that the functions of reality operate in three modes (Gunas): Sattva, raja, and tamas, which translate to goodness, passion, and ignorance, or knowledge, attachment, and oblivion/destruction.
They vary like levels on an equalizer, or to use another analogy, like primary colors that mix to varying infinite colors.
All actions operate within the three modes. Ghandi acted mostly in the mode of goodness; Bill Gates in the mode of passion; Charles Manson in the mode of ignorance. This is a simplistic example. When we look at the world with the model of the three modes we can see the functions more clearly.

Bigotry = ignorance
Nationalism = goodness + ignorance
Terrorism = passion + ignorance
Greed = passion + ignorance
Fear = ignorance
Charity = goodness + passion
Art = goodness + passion
Ideology = goodness + ignorance or passion + ignorance
Belief = goodness + ignorance
Narcissism = passion + ignorance
Helping someone pick up something they dropped = goodness
Sharing knowledge = goodness
Sports = passion
Feeding the hungry = goodness
Politics = passion + ignorance
Teaching = passion + goodness
Science = passion
Lust = passion
Love = goodness
And so on...

We all live within varying degrees of these modes in a world that functions in these three modes.

A Predicment, a Persian, but No Morbid Angel

Here is a story about one of my many interactions with Muslim people....

I have personally never had a negative experience with a Muslim person. I have encountered many over the years through daily life, wrestling life, and my cultural explorations, and I call several my friends. Yet, these days the ignorant masses try to assure us that these people are blood-thirsty monsters ready to kill us all. It simply is not true. Here's one story:

A couple of years ago I was driving from home base Austin TX to San Antonio to see a Morbid Angel concert. Just as I arrived on the outskirts of San Antonio my tire blew. No problem, I went out and did my manly deed of changing to the spare tire and continued down the road towards the concert venue. Then the old spare blew less than a mile down the road. Now I'm in a predicament, broken down on a dangerous overpass.

It was night and my phone was dying and there were no open tire places nearby. So I decided to walk to the nearest Walmart seven miles away to buy a spare so I could limp the Jeep back to Austin. At this point I had given up on my chances to get to the concert, but as luck would have it I would see Morbid Angel (with a proper musician line up) two times in the year after.

The plan was to buy a tire and take a cab back to the Jeep. The price of spare donut tires had risen considerably since I last noticed, and I spent almost all of my $100 to buy the best one that could last the trip home. I figured I could carry it the seven miles back since I had no money left for a cab.

I left the store with the tire on my left shoulder. I stood there at the parking lot curb thinking of what I could do. From my right I heard a man's voice with a Persian accent.

He said "Brother, do you need a cab?"
I replied "No thanks. I spent all my money on this tire. I can walk back to my Jeep."
"Flat tire? How far is it?" he asked.
"It's far. Just over seven miles." I answered.
He said "Pahlavan, I see your ear. I will help you. I will give you a ride for free."
("Pahlavan" is a wrestling reference in Iran that means "champion". His reference to my ear was about my cauliflower ear, which is noticeable damaged cartilage from years of wrestling. Wrestling is a national sport in Iran.)

He gave me a ride all the way back to my Jeep and wouldn't even accept the $2.37 change I had in my pocket. His kindness helped me out, and it motivated me to get my task done.

During the ride we had some light conversation.

Driver: "Where were you going in San Antonio? To see a girl?"
Me: "No. I was going to see a concert."
Driver: "Which concert?
Me: "Morbid Angel." 
Driver: "What kind of music is it?"
Me: "Heavy metal."
Driver: "Ah! Many people in my country like heavy metal!"

He dropped me off. I thanked him and he wished me well.

I put on the spare and drove 20 miles per hour on the service roads all the way back to Austin.

It was a long night for me, I missed the concert and spent many hours trying to solve the predicament, but it was made a little shorter and easier by a Muslim who treated me like a brother.

The moral lesson here about our society's general judgment about Muslims is one I had already learned, but it is worth sharing.