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

“You read the papers and you’re led to believe that the world is a big, scary place," Austin wrote.
“People, the narrative goes, are not to be trusted. People are bad. People are evil."

“I don’t buy it," he continued. "Evil is a make-believe concept we’ve invented to deal with the complexities
of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own... By and large,
humans are kind. Self-interested sometimes, myopic sometimes, but kind. Generous and wonderful and kind.”

Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, who were both in their late 20s, quit their jobs in 2017 to embark on a trip
around the world. Austin, a vegan, and Geoghegan, a vegetarian, decided that they're were wasting their lives
working.

"I’ve grown tired of spending the best hours of my day in front of a glowing rectangle, of coloring the best years
of my life in swaths of grey and beige,” Austin wrote on his blog before he quit. “I’ve missed too many sunsets
while my back was turned. Too many thunderstorms went unwatched, too many gentle breezes unnoticed.”

The couple documented their year-long journey on social media until it came to a tragic and gruesome end in
Tajikistan, a country with a known terrorist presence.

Austin and Geoghegan were riding their bikes in the country on July 29 when they were rammed by a car, according
to CBS News. Five men got out of the car and stabbed them 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.

I bet their cubicles are looking a whole lot better to them now -- wherever they are.

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

http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/dc-cyclists-killed-in-isis-claimed-attack-in-tajikistan

Let's not forget about the other lady who went there for the same reasons and was raped and killed.  I think she was from Sweden recently.  But I know there have been a few Americans who had the same fate.

Let's not forget about the other lady who went there for the same reasons and was raped and killed.  I think she was from Sweden recently.  But I know there have been a few Americans who had the same fate.

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.

The best was the protest on a college campus.  "Gay's for Islam" banner.  How about they go be openly gay and go to any Islamic dominated country.

Well at least their deaths are not in vain!

Well at least their deaths are not in vain!

Please elaborate.  What did their deaths accomplish?

If you're thinking, "At least they proved there is evil in the world," I don't believe that's true.

The people who already believe in evil need no convincing.

The people who think like they did, that evil is a made up concept to demonize people we don't like, won't be convinced.  Somehow, they'll decide it was Trump's or Bush's fault.

Not being racist or anything, but why are almost all of these idealist type people NOT Asian, Black, Polynesian, Indian or Hispanic?

Some people are MORONS. 

Some people are MORONS. 

I foresee a Darwin Award nomination in their near future.

I know a guy who rode his bike across Iran and he said they were the coolest people he ever met. Everyone wanted to invite him to stay in their home wherever he went. I think he even went skiing. It was very repressive with lots of religious propaganda but most average people were curious about Americans. Of course this was before we ruined the international goodwill towards Americans after 9/11. Probably now it would be a different story thanks to all the bad faith spread by John Bolton and the rest of the imperial suicide squad.

My buddy definitely took a risk, but I'm pretty sure he would never waltz into IS territory. That's like swimming in a crocodile pit.

I know a guy who rode his bike across Iran and he said they were the coolest people he ever met. Everyone wanted to invite him to stay in their home wherever he went. I think he even went skiing. It was very repressive with lots of religious propaganda but most average people were curious about Americans. Of course this was before we ruined the international goodwill towards Americans after 9/11. Probably now it would be a different story thanks to all the bad faith spread by John Bolton and the rest of the imperial suicide squad.

My buddy definitely took a risk, but I'm pretty sure he would never waltz into IS territory. That's like swimming in a crocodile pit.

Everywhere I've traveled, it's not the average "living life day-to-day" people you worry about. You have to be careful of where you go, who you socialize with, and staying in well-populated areas.

Riding a bike across a desert with no security and no idea where the nearest Taliban, Al Queada or ISIS groups are isn't very security-conscious.

I've been to Los Angeles, but I couldn't tell you what the gang 'hoods and Skid Row looked like, because I knew not to go there.

Please elaborate.  What did their deaths accomplish?

If you're thinking, "At least they proved there is evil in the world," I don't believe that's true.

The people who already believe in evil need no convincing.

The people who think like they did, that evil is a made up concept to demonize people we don't like, won't be convinced.  Somehow, they'll decide it was Trump's or Bush's fault.

Yes, that they proved there is evil. The people who have their minds made up might not be convinced, but the people who aren't so indoctrinated might have their eyes opened.