Millennial Couple Bikes Through ISIS Territory to Prove ‘Humans Are Kind’ and Gets Killed

[TGO David]

https://www.pluralist.com/posts/1824-millennial-couple-bikes-through-isis-territory-to-prove-humans-are-kind-and-gets-killed

 

"Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans."

An idealistic young American couple was killed in an Islamic State-claimed terrorist attack last month while on a cycling trip around the world. 

Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, who were both in their late 20s, last year quit their office jobs in Washington, DC, to embark on the journey. Austin, a vegan who worked for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Geoghegan, a vegetarian who worked in the Georgetown University admissions office, decided that they're were wasting their lives working. 

However, Austin and Geoghegan's dream trip came to a tragic and gruesome end when they got to Tajikistan, a country with a known terrorist presence. They were riding their bikes through the country on July 29 when a car rammed them, according to CBS News. Five men got out of the car and stabbed the couple to death along with two other cyclists, one from Switzerland and the other from the Netherlands. 

Two days later, ISIS released a video showing the same men sitting in front of the black ISIS flag. They looked at the camera and vowed to kill "disbelievers," according to The New York Times.

...

Read more at the link pasted at the top of the article.   This seems like a self-rectifying problem to me, but it's a shame that people are really this damned stupid.

 

[Omega]

I always say we should remove all warning labels and let nature take its course.  ID 10 Ts are everywhere.

[GlockSpock]

There are two extremes. One is clearly detailed in this article; The other extreme is those that do not leave their home city because everywhere else is "unsafe".

I hope I"m closer to the middle, but fear I'm probably more cautious that that. I'm not telling anyone how to live their life, but I do think people should be carefree enough to enjoy reasonable travels. However, any reasonable person should be able to observe that traveling through ISIS territory as these did would be foolish. 

The couple in the linked article were too idealistic, too naive, and probably too attention seeking. They wanted to be able to claim on social media, to friends and family, etc that they were the ones that went and "proved" that ISIS/Radical Islam was not a problem. Well, they made the news alright. I do feel sorrowful for them. It doesn't sound like they were bad people, had bad intentions, etc; They just had a different world outlook and died because of it. Hopefully their deaths are not in vain, hopefully someone with a similar viewpoint to theirs will see this and reconsider certain viewpoints.

Edited August 16, 2018 by CZ9MM

[Erik88]

If the couple had been older I wonder if the title would have read "Gen X couple..." He could have just said "Naive Idiots....."

 

[QuackerSmacker]

So these millennial wizards thought working was a waste of their lives.  Bad calculation --- they got their lives wasted.  Darwin Award?

[Grand Torino]

[Omega]

55 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

If the couple had been older I wonder if the title would have read "Gen X couple..." He could have just said "Naive Idiots....."

 

No because if they were older they would have kept their jobs and stayed out of ISIS territory.

[Omega]

11 minutes ago, Grand Torino said:

ID 10 Ts are everywhere.

[gjohnsoniv]

As much as it would be great to be able to travel the world without fear for harm or death, that's just not the case. Being an American in terrorist controlled areas goes against any logic. Perfect example of idealism gone wrong. 

[bersaguy]

The terrible decision was qitting their jobs. Anything that followed that was just plain old stupidity.............JMHO

[TGO David]

1 hour ago, Erik88 said:

If the couple had been older I wonder if the title would have read "Gen X couple..." He could have just said "Naive Idiots....."

 

It would have been listed as Fan-Fiction then. 

 

[JeffL]

Killed them with kindness, and also knives.

[res308]

17 minutes ago, JeffL said:

Killed them with kindness, and also knives.

Hmmm...."Kniveness"?

It is tragic that people are willingly ignorant to this extreme. Almost like running into a burning building to prove that fire doesn't hurt. 

[DaveTN]

“Stupid is as stupid does.” – Forrest Gump

It’s a shame it cost them their lives. And it’s a shame no one talked them out of this. 

[peejman]

I feel for their family. Maybe they were all so idealistic that they thought they could pull it off. Anyone with a shred of realism knew how bad an idea this was.  

[gary_boom]

I always thought you were suppose to work.

[xsubsailor]

 I wonder what being a vegan and vegetarian has to do with this 

[DaveTN]

14 minutes ago, gary_boom said:

I always thought you were suppose to work.

Only if you have to. At least that's why I did it for so long.

[Erik88]

14 minutes ago, xsubsailor said:

 I wonder what being a vegan and vegetarian has to do with this 

About as much as being a millennial. The author clearly had something to prove. 

[Garufa]

1 hour ago, Erik88 said:

About as much as being a millennial. The author clearly had something to prove. 

Stop worrying about being a millennial.  When you see what a train wreck the generation that is coming after you turns out to be you’ll get your chance for payback.  

Gen-X rules.  

Edited August 16, 2018 by Garufa

[A.J. Holst]

1 hour ago, Erik88 said:

About as much as being a millennial. The author clearly had something to prove. 

Concur.

Yes, they made a poorly informed decision which resulted in a horrific, evil act by religious fanatics.

To denegrate their personal behaviors to infer, attempt to label, and group "all / most millennials" (AND those nutty veggie folks) is a form of modern yellow journalism.

I also wonder who encouraged or were unable discourage these young people and will keep them in my prayers tonight.

[Someotherguy]

Guess they should've listened to the rhetoric.........

[Garufa]

24 minutes ago, Gotthegoods said:

I also wonder who encouraged or were unable discourage these young people...

Other millennial vegans, duh.  

[owejia]

Guess ISIS has figured out how to cure stupid.

[bersaguy]

7 hours ago, CZ9MM said:

There are two extremes. One is clearly detailed in this article; The other extreme is those that do not leave their home city because everywhere else is "unsafe".

I hope I"m closer to the middle, but fear I'm probably more cautious that that. I'm not telling anyone how to live their life, but I do think people should be carefree enough to enjoy reasonable travels. However, any reasonable person should be able to observe that traveling through ISIS territory as these did would be foolish. 

The couple in the linked article were too idealistic, too naive, and probably too attention seeking. They wanted to be able to claim on social media, to friends and family, etc that they were the ones that went and "proved" that ISIS/Radical Islam was not a problem. Well, they made the news alright. I do feel sorrowful for them. It doesn't sound like they were bad people, had bad intentions, etc; They just had a different world outlook and died because of it. Hopefully their deaths are not in vain, hopefully someone with a similar viewpoint to theirs will see this and reconsider certain viewpoints.

If they were seeking attention they found it. Not the good kind but none the less it was attention............JMHO