It never fails that when a group, or in this case, an army, such as ISIS starts carrying on in ways that the majority of people would never dream, that apologists will come out and say "remember that this isn't a reflection of the true faith".
It is important to learn, if we wish to fight against this profane intrusion, that there is no true faith. Regardless of the religion, there is no central authority that can claim to know the absolute tenants of any religion.
500+ years ago the catholic church notoriously tortured, killed or ex-communicated numerous people that were seen as enemies of the faith. We may look at that now as barbarism but at the time it was completely believed, by the "central authority" of the church to be acceptable, and they had the power and authority to carry it out.
We can't say that a group within a religion is acting outside the true faith just because we don't like what their beliefs are or that the majority of people in that particular faith don't believe in the same things. We can't pick and choose what central tenants we believe constitute the true faith. In 20 years we could easily say that speaking out against homosexuality is wrong and not of the true faith, but how can we know this? 20 years ago it WAS acceptable to speak out against it by all monotheistic religions.
Religion will get away with what they can. It only drops the more brutal or socially unacceptable beliefs when humanity calls on them to be more humane. Let's not kid ourselves, the leaders and fighters in ISIS are strong believers of the islamic faith.
If we believe that an angel revealed God's word to an illiterate desert merchant, then it's impossible to claim what the true belief is. We can only claim to know based on what sounds reasonable to us. Unfortunately for those of us who believe in the rights of man, ISIS believes that cutting the heads off of unbelievers is reasonable and directed by their texts.
Boko Haram - have you heard of them?
This is a releatively young terrorist organization who operate under an islamic banner. The meaning of their name translates roughly into "Western Education is sinful". Once again their religious fanaticism affects those who are young and often, as of late, female.
The group is believed to have kidnapped some 200 teenage girls and sold them into slavery. I'm always amazed that organizations such as these will committ acts that would be considered despicable by 99% of living adults and justify these actions against a sin (education) that 99% of people would not view as sinful.
Fighting against theocracy is important and will continue to grow in importance in years to come. I have to shake my head at the fact that this group is against an education that the leaders themselves have probably never received and would know very little about. It is similar to catholic priests teaching the poor and ignorant about prohibitions on sex and birth control - when they themselves are virgins.
The preachments of Boko Haram; anti-education, sharia and islamic fundamentalism forced on the populus is an attack on freedeom and other innate rights that we possess. The government and army of Nigeria have the job to protect their citizens against attacks that will collide with their freedom. And the rest of us have the job to educate all that we can around the world about the dangers of theocracy. You need to remember in past ages how governments and churches worked against truth and wisdom when they felt they had god on their side and the right to dole out judgement against those who disagreed. Little has changed on the other side of the world- where women and children and even men are under the thumbs of those who apply their beliefs on others and feel justified by the almighty.
There is no need to extend any form of respect for their religious beliefs. As always, they should be free to believe whatever they want, unhindered in the privacy of their homes, so long as they leave us alone.
Although I feel strongly about the need for individual freedom - there is a time where it brings such suffering to others that it needs to be debated. The importance of religious freedom has been well documented and in most cases is an acceptable premise. However, religious fanaticism rarely affects those that promote it. So often the victims of such fanaticism end up being children and in many cases females of any age.
What has spurned me on to write this was the recent story of a Pennsylvania couple who had recently lost their SECOND child to a disease that in no way should have been a death sentence for the child. They belong to a christian sect that believes that the crucifixion of Christ, and the resultant flow of blood during that execution has broken the power of evil and that divine healing is the only acceptable form of recovery. As such, they are against all medical intervention in fighting diseases; the power of god will take them through it.
Their pastor, who I am sure is a real delightful gentleman, said that the death of the children was due to a spiritual lack in their lives. Once again, the deranged belief of adults results in suffering of those who have no choice but to take part. The truly despicable part is that the parents will hide behind the bible while the children sit and suffer - it's not the parents whom are diseased, it's the children, who look to their parents for help and comfort.
Get used to this. And not just in North America but around the world. There are islamic fundamentalists who are so sure of their doctrine and faith that they will murder school children to keep them from learning what they believe is "western education" (or stone women suspected of indecency). When you quickly look into it, it becomes apparent that they are simply against learning period. The acquiring of knowledge, and applying it to the betterment of your life has been a hostile point for religion whether it is to apply such learning to medicine, or in the case of radical islam, to pull oneself out of poverty.
The more you look outside the window, and LEARN about the world and what it has to offer, the quicker these religious beliefs are seen as a shallow attempt at redemption that most of us can clearly see. It once again becomes a sad incident, that in the case of children, many of them are indoctrinated or in other ways harmed before they are able to truly open their eyes and think for themselves.
For various reasons I felt it necessary to take a hiatus. However, due to a recent event, and some non-events which I will discuss in a moment, I felt it was time for a comeback.
While I have often spoke out against government and other systems that take away our freedom I do feel that attacking individuals who aim to do the same is just as important.
Earlier this week, a man by the name of Harold Camping passed away. Some may know him as the doomsday pastor who, in 2011, had predicted the end of the world. Speculating that the date would be May 21, 2011, he spread his message of doom to his followers.
Much satire was directed at this group for their end of the world preachings, which involved teaching that the rapture was coming, followed by the end of the world as told in biblical scripture.
I don't mind if he kept his ridiculous teachings to himself, but of course when you are given the secret words of god how can you? A huge advertising drive went out across the US warning the country about the coming day of wrath. But perhaps most insidious of all, the organization he was part of took money from followers, who had quit their jobs and sold their belongings, to ready themselves for the day of the rapture. The money was used to broadcast their message from sea to sea.
Many may question, what is so wrong with the faithful unloading their bank accounts into the organization ? Let them join into this folly. The issue once again though is the uninteded consequences it has on innocent children who had to sit through this laughable exercise. What damage has been done to them in the form of ridicule from peers or perhaps worst, the financial position their parents are now left in.
It's time for this foolishness to stop, and to bring up children to acquire knowledge and respect for themselves and others. I fail to understand why anyone would want to throw that aside and instead follow fleeting promises of a deranged preacher.
You gotta love union representatives. I have no problem with unions existing in the private sector but I don't like it in the public sector where these employees and departments enjoy monopoly rights for their jobs.
The federal government is attempting to lower spending and has chosen to reduce the number of employees at the border services agency. Of course these employees are represented by a union and the union has decided to fight this. That is their job but I find this type of argument insulting;
Jean-Pierre Fortin, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, said 1,026 jobs will be eliminated within three years, and that represents a "direct attack to our national security and public safety."
Holy crap, just throw whatever comes to mind to justify your position... "A direct attack on our national security". We better all build our bomb shelters now, you have 3 years to complete it.
It is his job to fight for the employees in this union (I wont argue if those employees should have union rights in a public department) but at least fight without throwing a bunch of misguided and dangerous statements, aimed at scaring the public into demanding these jobs stay put.
A direct attack on our national security is the result of meddling in the affairs of other countries overseas. The need for border agents should be reduced because the drug trade will not be won, so quit trying to stop them at the border. Quit trying to see how many t-shirts we bought on our trip to the U.S.. Stop the provincial monopolies on liquor so that you don't have to ask us how much liquor we have brought back with us.
It's our business, not yours. Saying you need more employees at the border to monitor our purchases is just another step to a police state, and moves away from a free society.
We're at the point where we need a call to arms, both here in Washington and across the country. I'm not talking about firearms. Those of us who care need to raise both arms and face our palms out and begin waving and shouting: Stop! Enough is enough! It should include liberals, conservatives and independents. We're all getting a bum rap from politicians who are pushed by polls and controlled by special-interest money.
One thing is certain, no matter how morally justified the programs and policies seem, the ability to finance all the guns and butter being promised is limited, and those limits are becoming more apparent every day.
Spending, borrowing and printing money cannot be the road to prosperity. It hasn't worked in Japan, and it isn't working here either. As a matter of fact, it's never worked anytime throughout history. A point is always reached where government planning, spending and inflation run out of steam. Instead of these old tools reviving an economy, as they do in the early stages of economic interventionism, they eventually become the problem. Both sides of the political spectrum must one day realize that limitless government intrusion in the economy, in our personal lives and in the affairs of other nations cannot serve the best interests of America. This is not a conservative problem, nor is it a liberal problem – it's a government intrusion problem that comes from both groups, albeit for different reasons. The problems emanate from both camps who champion different programs for different reasons. The solution will come when both groups realize that it's not merely a single-party problem, or just a liberal or just a conservative problem.
Once enough of us decide we've had enough of all these so-called good things that the government is always promising – or more likely, when the country is broke and the government is unable to fulfill its promises to the people – we can start a serious discussion on the proper role for government in a free society. Unfortunately, it will be some time before Congress gets the message that the people are demanding true reform. This requires that those responsible for today's problems are exposed and their philosophy of pervasive government intrusion is rejected.
Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy. A few have, and others will continue to do so, but too many – both in and out of government – close their eyes to the issue of personal liberty and ignore the fact that endless borrowing to finance endless demands cannot be sustained. True prosperity can only come from a healthy economy and sound money. That can only be achieved in a free society.
By Ron Paul - 2003
I didn't think he would get this much traction, but here we are....Ron Paul may just win the Iowa Caucus but should arrive in a very respectable 2nd. The charade is over. Pretending he doesn't exist or that he only has a few kooky followers. His ideas are becoming mainstream and more people are waking up to this fact.
