Aaah no don't get me wrong... Nothing wrong with religious people at all. I am well aware that religion and liberalism are not enemies... I certainly do know some fine churchgoers, mosque-goers, and visitors of temples of all kinds.
Please don't feel tarred with a brush of any kind. I am mostly in favour of the teachings of Jesus and others. It just disturbs me that people who Believe can be so easily manipulated into thoughts and actions that are so clearly contrary to the teachings of their various prophets...
It's just very sad that many (by no means all) of those who claim to follow these prophets don't seem to understand their teachings... It's sad that the words and deeds of good people are so often hijacked for political reasons.
I guess I object to that particular approach to religion that leads the faithful to unquestioningly believe certain statements, when there is no evidence to support those statements. Perhaps that's ok when you're asking whether or not God exists, or whether or not it's ok to eat pork... But I do think that often the readiness to blindly accept questionable "statements of fact" can easily be a trait that spills over into other aspects of life, such as whether or not Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11.
It's a difficult one.
I wouldn't ban religion -- anyway it would be unenforceable. But maybe I wish it had never existed in the first place...
Oh, if only wishes really WERE horses...
I must say I feel sorry, in a way, for US Liberals, because you don't seem to have a voice. In fact, in the States, the word "liberal" seems to be a euphemism for "eater of babies". From here in the UK, it seems to me (and many others, believe me) that the current administration's policies are one small step away from fascism, and heading rapidly in that direction.
I don't really know what you readers of this blog -- reasonable people, by the look of it (stand up straight and call yourself "liberals" for God's sake!) -- are supposed to do. Reasonable, sane viewpoints, grounded in reality, are sorely under-represented by the US media as far as I can see... From an "outsider's" perspective, it looks as though America is full of insane, stupid, bloodthirsty bible-bashing freaks, every bit as bad as such Bond-villains as Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein -- perhaps worse.
I've been wondering about the future for a while... How can we un-brainwash the american populace?
I don't know. I really don't.
In the end, I hope someone over there realises that the sorts of policies implemented by the Oil Regime are almost certainly the reason why the 9/11 attacks happened in the first place. Torturing and bombing the innocent, lying to everyone about everything, stealing from the poor to give to the rich, theft of the oil-wealth of other nations, total and blatant corruption of government, you name it. It's just incredible that these people can get away with it -- and it's very hard for me to understand how it's possible until I remember that only 20% of US citizens even have a passport... And that suggests a depth of ignorance (of the majority) I can barely conceive of.
Amazing. Just amazing. And it makes it hard to remember that many of the very best things (concepts, products, writing, everything!) come from the USA.
I can't speak for everyone in the UK -- many British people are also unbelievably stupid -- but certainly there is a general feeling of disgust and horror at what the US Government is doing in the name of the American people, in the name of "democracy".
In mainland Europe, I'm sure this feeling is much stronger.
I genuinely believe that Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Ashcroft et al should be tried for war-crimes -- although I'm not sure this is possible since various international treaties which ought to apply here have not been signed / ratified by the US.
Blair also should be prosecuted -- and that IS possible.
The alternative to prosecution is basically an acceptance of this shift towards global fascism and policies of hatred. That will suit the politicians very well, no doubt. The problem with politicians, of course, is that they do not act in the interests of the people they pretend to represent (except perhaps coincidentally on occasion), but in their own interests.
The people who are, in the end, going to suffer the most are going to be the ordinary people. Now and in the future, you will be hated -- unjustly -- around the world because of the despicable actions of your (and our) so-called "leaders". These people do not represent you; they never intended to represent you.
It's hard to accept because once you do accept it, you realise that there is no way out short of revolution... and of course a revolution will just replace one set of evil people spouting empty rhetoric with another, spouting slightly different empty rhetoric, and maybe wearing different coloured hats.
The Oil Tyrants have been very clever to talk so much about Jesus. It seems that in the US, many many people will believe anything at all as long as a few evil people claiming to represent Jesus tell them that it's what Jesus would have wanted.
Absolutely incredible -- Bin Laden's tactics precisely, and the Believers can't see it. Too busy thinking about Jesus's amazing love for us all to notice that the guy in front of them is just a demon with a crucifix around its neck.
Honestly, I think religion is the problem. Not a specific religion, just religion in general -- and for me, that includes both atheism and scientific dogmatism. Any fixed system of belief inhibits rational thought, because it acts as a filter on truth -- people see what they have been brainwashed into expecting to see, rather than what is actually there. Religion should be stamped out -- how else can religious people be saved?
But then... because I am a baby-eating liberal, I don't believe in victimising people for their beliefs. Unlike the so-called "Christians" running both our countries right now.
What would Jesus say about all this, I wonder? : "Life's a funny old game, mate... But never mind, eh? Just enjoy life as long as you have it -- the good things -- that's my advice... Yeah, I've mellowed a little in the last two thousand years -- used to be a real firebrand, me -- but I've grown up or something. I just don't let things get to me -- life's too short. This time round I ain't got the stomach for all that politics. Just gonna chill out with a few beers and watch the football, instead. The apocalypse can wait."
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| 2005 | 3 |
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