Freedom of Speech and Religion

By now, the world has had time to digest the horrific attacks on the Paris newspaper which has resulted in the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie in social media.  Twelve people dead, four of them journalists and one the founder of the paper.

Sure, the paper was known for its harsh graphic criticism of Islam in the past, and had been firebombed last fall over previous drawings of Mohammed.  But did you know that it is also known for some pretty harsh stuff criticizing ALL religions?

I want to make my stance here perfectly clear.

In EVERY case, freedom of speech trumps anyone's heartfelt beliefs, whether religious or secular.  No belief system is sacrosanct against criticism.

None.

Not yours, not mine.

Criticism helps us grow, it points out our weaknesses, exposes our flaws.  Responding to criticism helps us sharpen our debating techniques, correct the flaws in our thinking and brings us back down to a human level, instead of existing in the clouds of our own perceived perfection.

I know, it's hard.  It often hurts.  Believe me, I am no angel when it comes to receiving criticism.

Ask my wife.  She knows!

But, really, at no time should criticism deserve a violent response.  Not a punch to the nose, not a pistol shot, not a firebomb.

Surely not a barrage of AK-47 bullets resulting in multiple deaths.

Any ideology or theology which requires, or even allows, the penalty of death for criticism neither deserves such protection nor can, obviously, tolerate it.

Our response should be to post the offending images, everywhere, spreading them as far and wide as possible, with the reason why posted prominently therewith.

Therefor, here is my contribution to that:

The Muslim world isn't sitting back silently, no matter what Fox News may want you to think. To quote:

“What have you really accomplished?” 

Yesterday you killed 12 people and freedom of expression. You say that you avenged the Prophet. You were violated because caricatures were drawn. Charlie Hebdo had a circulation of 50,000. You changed this yesterday. Those caricatures you thought were worth killing for, so that no one would ever again dare to caricature our prophet? Those cartoons had a circulation of 500 million yesterday. At the very least.

Newspapers worldwide have the cartoons on the front pagte today, online, on paper. Millions have changed their profile picture to a caricature of Muhammad . You said “Charlie Hebdo is dead.” The world responded by saying “Je suis Charlie,” “I’m Charlie.” You’ve made ​​Charlie Hebdo immortal. And freedom of speech has reemerged stronger than ever. And did you know that many Muslims, who in 2005 and 2006 were hurt and depressed over the Mohammed cartoons, yesterday wrote that they have changed their minds? They say that the killing of the defenseless is a far greater insult against Muslims than caricatures will ever be. They say: “Draw, draw, draw.” This is what you have achieved.

It's called the Streisand Effect, folks.  Try to suppress something today, especially on the Internet, and that WILL backfire.  So many more people will hear about it, you'll be sorry.

Instead of loading that AK-47, try sitting down and looking at yourself.  There is a reason millions of your co-religionists are also lambasting you on various Arab TV networks, including Al Jazerra.  Engage them, talk to them, learn from them.

By shooting your critics, you merely multiply them.  You hurt your cause, you do not help it.

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Changing course a bit here, and bringing up the criticism some have brought up against those who are pursuing what they claim is "Islamaphobia", I will only say this:

The suffix -phobia is intended to indicate a fear of something.  I do not "fear" Islam.  I abhor it and all religions.  Religion condones, teaches, and advances non-critical thinking, subjection to unquestioned authority and adherence to non-scientific, superstitious beliefs which do not advance our knowledge of the material world.  Such beliefs cause us to advance solutions to problems which do not exist and stop us from pursuing solutions to real problems.

This has real and extremely harmful consequences to real people, billions of them, worldwide, which deserves the full and most scathing criticism and/or satire possible.  Wherever we can, however we can.

Harmful theologies, as with harmful ideologies, deserve no respite from criticism, nor protection from satire.

If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

First they came for the Socialists...

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist. 

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 

Because I was not a Trade Unionist. 

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 

Because I was not a Jew. 

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. 

Martin Niemöller

The original intent of this remark, given in speeches around Germany, was to point out that Germans—in particular leaders of German Protestant churches—had been complicit through their silence in the Nazi imprisonment, persecution, and murder of millions of people.

Today, in the United States, the Republican Party is responsible for the intensification of racial animosity against minorities - blacks and hispanics in particular - and are the cause of much of the violence against blacks now being acted out on the public stage by the growing militaristic police presence in this country.  White militia groups, openly carrying loaded weapons, now patrol the US-Mexico border against the "incursion" of hispanic children!

Recent stories in the press, such as the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and several additional instances of such violence have resulted in a growing unease in social media about not just official violence against blacks, but the increasing trend of police violence against any public dissent against that violence, regardless of the race or ethnicity of the protestors.

Additionally, numerous Stand Your Ground laws in various States have resulted in civilian violence against minorities which have allowed the perpetrators to walk away without fear of prosecution.  These laws have been promulgated by Republican legislatures over the loud and vociferous protests of Democratic and pro-gun control groups.

I am greatly troubled by these various developments.

While law enforcement violence against blacks and hispanics is nothing new, especially in the South, to see such violence pop into the public eye in places like Missouri and California is troubling, to say the least.  And to see the situation in Missouri escalate into such a state that the police turn the town into an armed camp, arresting both members of the press and a State Senator, is beginning to border on the absurd and the alarming.

I add here the recent execution of Troy Anthony Davis (October 9, 1968 – September 21, 2011), an American man convicted of and executed for the August 19, 1989, murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia.  In spite of the recantation of numerous prosecution witnesses and the admission of guilt by another inmate, the State of Georgia went ahead with the execution.

I can add several more, indeed, four out of the top 5 wrongful executions in the US were of black men.  It is well documented that the US justice system, nationwide, is stacked against minorities.

It is an interesting phenomenon that the only groups of pro gun demonstrators "exercising" their open carry rights are white.  There are no documented cases of groups of black men so demonstrating their "right" to open carry anywhere in the United States.

I wonder why that is?

I think the situation is getting out of control.

I think the fact that it is out of control is deliberate.

Republicans have been running on a platform which asserts that the "government" doesn't work and is a burden on the American people.  They have worked very hard, using every opportunity to ensure that their assertions work out to be true, sabotaging good government at every possible turn.

They have ensured that American police departments, under the aegis of the "War on Drugs", have loaded up with as much militaristic weaponry and equipment as possible using Federal money to finance that buildup.

Their campaigns of fear and uncertainty aimed at the poorest elements of white America have stoked the fires of racial animosity and hatred in order to ensure the re-election of Republican leaders at every level of government, using State and local powers to subvert Federal laws and regulations wherever possible to foil the increasingly liberal march of American social beliefs and morals and any influence that may have on US law.

The trust and confidence of the American people in our police, in the courts, and in the prosecutors who administer our system of justice is eroding daily.  When police concentrate on blacks and hispanics, ignoring whites, and prosecutors apply different standards of justice to minorities, public trust in these institutions begins to erode.

When the courts begin to allow these other groups to violate the rights of minorities without consequence, the erosion of public trust accelerates.

Sooner or later, the people of this country will decide that they've had enough, and Republicans hope that they can cash in on that decision.

Don't let them.  Speak out!  The best way to do that is to vote.  DON'T STAY AT HOME!

This November, get out and vote.  Vote Democratic!  Toss out the Republican Party and force them to go into exile, where they can hopefully restructure their party and relearn what it is to be an American.

I think they've forgotten completely.

Concrete Angels Never Make it to Heaven.

For the first time in a while, I took a walk around the block this evening.  It was hot, and I'd changed into shorts.  I like to wear my headphones, too, when I'm going to be alone in a quiet space for a while, to listen to my music library.  It is an eclectic collection, ranging from country to celtic to classic and way back to the rock & roll of my youth. (Ha!  I had you there with all the c's, didn't I?)

When I set the iPhone music app to "songs", it bounces around and I never know what song will pop up next, or even which genre!  Kinda nice sometime.

I was about halfway around the block when one of my favorites came on, Concrete Angel by Martina McBride.  It's the story of a child, a girl, and how she is abused physically by apparently a parent or guardian, which results in her death.  Hence the "concrete angel" part, describing both her outer defensive facade in life and the statue on her gravestone in death.

The verses describe the story, which is literally legion around the world, and is not unique, so I won't bother to quote any of it here.  What I want to talk about is the refrain.

Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone


In a world that she can't rise above


But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place


Where she's loved 

concrete angel

Now, Martina McBride is a wonderful singer and performer, and her recording of this song is truly magnificent.  She is really one of my favorite country performers.  She is a devout Christian, apparently, and she makes no apologies for it.  Her music reflects that belief, which I do admire.  (The reflection of the belief, not the belief, folks.  I'm not re-converting!)

I also admire her use of her music and her public platform as such to stand against both child abuse and violence against women.  She deserves full and complete recognition and credit for doing that - many people wouldn't have the guts.

So, don't take this as any criticism against her personally.  It isn't.

This is something I noticed in the past week or so, but it really didn't hit me until now, listening to that song - the refrain, specifically.

There has been another spate of men being caught molesting children recently.  Some ministers, some not.  This is not a screed against religious guilt in child abuse.  Not today.  I want to mention that what I noticed is that we focus primarily on the abuser.

The stories always tell us about the abuser who commits these horrid crimes, but we quickly turn the page (so to speak) and shake our heads, thankful that another one is getting removed from where he (or she) won't hurt any more kids.  That IS true.  We ARE glad of that.

But what about the kids?

This country is supposed to have one of the best health care systems in the world (it really doesn't, by the way) but one thing we lack is a competent and easily accessed mental health system.  The system we have is expensive and is usually covered by health insurance only minimally, if that.

We know, from research, that children who have been molested sexually have a fairly high number of victims who turn into perpetrators.  And those who do have a fairly high rate of recidivism if not treated immediately after their victimization by competent mental health professionals who deal professionally and often with these victims.

As a country, we fail miserably to care for the victims of crime in general, but especially those victimized by pedophiles.  One reason, of course, is that it is a difficult crime to detect, and is often not reported or prosecuted properly.  Another, I think is embarrassment.

But, I have different idea why not.

Look at the refrain of the song.

But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place


Where she's loved 

It is often difficult to interpret someone else's poetry - and poetry set to music is what a song is.  It is often imbued with double meanings, and this one is no different.

Obviously, it speaks of her dreams in life - dreams of having a loving family or at least someone who cares and won't abuse her.  We do "fly" in our dreams, don't we?

But there is another meaning here, and the song's title reflects it.  Angels fly, too.  And they fly to heaven, where they will, in the modern sense of the Christian afterlife, be loved.  So, according to this song, even though abused and eventually beaten to death (Look at the video of the song, and that is heavily implied), she flies to heaven and is there loved as she never was in life.  The video implies that she will be joined with other abused kids there, where they apparently form a self-help group.

As an atheist, my attitude is different.

Having no faith in an afterlife, and having the belief that once dead, we simply cease to exist as living entities, I think this gives a false and deceptive picture of a happy ending where in life, sadly, there isn't one.

Every single child who is killed by an abusive adult will never grow up.  He/she will never know the pleasure of getting out from under the cruel control of that abusive adult, and experience the ability to control their own life.  This false picture of a happy ending gives us cover.

It gives us the cover to ignore how badly we fail to protect children from abuse and how badly we fail to provide the healing treatment needed by the survivors.  It gives us the false impression that even if we have failed (as God says we do every day) He will step in and take care of these kids in our place.

Forever, right?  So, hey, it might have been bad for them on earth, but they're in God's arms now, right?  Happy?  Loved?

Not so fast.

From my perspective and the perspective of every atheist on the planet, there is no heaven, no loving arms of god, there is only...death.  A life cut short, and not cut short by accident, but cut short in cruelty, in violence, in raw, unadulterated anger.  A loss for all of us, for all the decades of productive adulthood cut short and thrown away, like trash.

How can I convey the horror, the sheer terrible loss of just one single child, and the decades of life lost?  How can we, even with a false sense of relief over an imagined happy ending, ignore the cruelty of that child's death?  However temporary one might see this mortal coil to be, while here, it is very real, and we feel, deeply and at our deepest levels, every emotion, every physical cut or bruise or broken bone.

It should cut us to the center of our being, that failure to protect.  The failure of care, of healing for the survivors.

For some, it does, and those folks do all they can to help.

But for others, we see the false ending, the happiness of "heaven", and imagine that there is a god who has our backs.  And we sit back and turn the page or click on the next story.

Religion hurts.  It provides, every day and in a thousand ways, the excuses for us to sit back and keep on being comfortable in our faith that this deity, this "father" figure, will make it all right.

Well, I hope from now on, you'll see those concrete angels and remember.

Thanks, Martina, for a beautiful song, and for using your platform to speak of human cruelty and the need to fight it.

#childabuse  #cruelty  #mentalhealth  #healthcare  #martinamcbride  #concreteangel  #harmfromreligion  #violence  #violenceagainstwomen

Ukraine - worth fighting for?

Well, the world is again holding its breath over another stand-off between the US and Russia.  NOT the USSR, but the Russian Federation.  It seems that the invasion Putin has been panting for (ever since Palin "predicted" it five years ago) is on the near horizon.

Don't get me wrong.  This is another of those very complicated situations that gets simplified down to black-and-white by the nationalists on both sides and inevitably ends up with everybody concerned getting shafted.

In this case, the US is getting drawn into this by a complex mix of interests including the European Union, the Ukrainian government (the new one NOT aligned with Russia and Putin) and, of course, the old stand-by in the US, the Republican War Mongers Goading Obama.

In one sense, I get it.  A lot of ethnicities who are not Russian are threatened by an invasion intended to split Ukraine in two parts.  Inevitably, the line between Russians and non-Russians and where they live in that benighted country is not a clear one - there are large numbers of both in areas that are likely to be isolated from the side they'd rather be on once a line gets drawn, and the affects of being on the wrong side of that line are likely to be severe, no matter what your ethnicity.

So, yeah, this threatens to be a humanitarian disaster.

But then, isn't ANY situation involving troops and rattled sabers and slavering nationalists likely to end up as a humanitarian disaster?

In short, that is what makes me sigh, rub my face with both hands, look heavenward in a vain appeal to the Universe that, for once, can there really be a deity up there that gives a shit, and upon realizing that, no, there won't be this time either, drop my hands to my lap while I sit back and contemplate the multiple reasons why I hate nationalism.

No, I don't hate America.  I have lived here most of my life (less four years in Germany while in the US Army), and served this government for over forty years in both the military and civilian roles I have held.  I have driven across it either partially or all the way several times, and find the people to be in large part a wonderful group to be associated with.

Ok, I admit that there are some groups within this country I am NOT happy to be associated with, and I have distanced myself from them at every opportunity.  Republicans, Christians, Evangelicals, Right Wing theists and ::drumroll please:: Nationalists.

I use that last term loosely.  Mostly I use it to define folks who identify as rabid patriots to whom anything or anyone who doesn't identify as a white, Anglo-Saxon (kinda), Right Wing War Mongering Lover-of-All-Things-American is someone who must be either expelled as persona non grata or just shot out of hand.

Those kind of folks are Nationalists.  In other countries, that white Anglo-Saxon thing might be a bit different, depending on what ethnicity is the majority, but you get the picture - the rest of it fits just about any nationality - just change the country name.  And, make no bones about it, but the ethnicity makes a HUGE difference to Nationalists.

Don't forget - the idea of nation-states began as an extension of ethnicity where one had to hold on to territory that was the best for your culture's ability to use the resources available and make a good life.  It didn't matter that it might be a rock strewn, sandy dry piece of hell itself, if it fit your people's lifestyle, and if your people had been there since anybody could remember, it was YOURS, and you'd defend it to the death.

Never mind that you may have displaced someone else in your efforts to run from someone who'd run YOU out of an even older homeland - no, what mattered was what your generation could remember and where you were born.  You are there now, and by damn, you'll keep it.

Anybody who didn't look like you got run out or killed.

The problem is that during those hundred thousand years or so, none of the various ethnic groups of humans have managed to stay together.  Inevitably, when the group decides to move on, there's always some grumpy stay-at-homes who just don't have itchy enough feet, so they stay.  Or there are the women who've been raped by one side or another who bore children of mixed ethnicity, both in the group that's invading and in the group getting forced out.

Then some trouble maker in Mesopotamia about 5000 years or so ago got the bright idea of building a city.  For some reason, that started a whole new level of problems, because for some strange reason, when people build buildings, plan roadways, pave roads and build palaces, they get this feeling of "ownership".  "This is MINE, you can't take it!"  Whereupon, some testosterone laden fool with a sword takes the bet and the fight is on.

Well, thanks to a hundred thousand years of migration, exploration, sea faring, city building, and out and out invasion of just about every square piece of rock or soil on this wonderful green globe of ours, we've got almost all of it staked out and claimed except for Antarctica, which is just too damn cold.  Thanks in large part to our tendency to interbreed with anybody else in possession of two arms and two legs, regardless of the color of their skin or their hair or whatever (and sometimes because of it!) there just isn't a country in the world with a heterogeneous ethnic population.

So, when some rabid nationalist (see above definition for the reason I use the word "rabid") gets the idea that there's a piece of real estate he wants to call his own, there's going to be somebody that isn't going to fit his narrow vision of who should stay and who should leave.

All thoughts of past migrations, population movements, invasions, or peaceful vigorous lovemaking get tossed gleefully aside in the zeal to stake your claim to someone else's territory.

Hence the result of a humanitarian disaster.  In any past venture of this kind, NOBODY ended up happy.  Not a single soul.

Remember Bosnia?  Croatia?  The Balkins were exactly this sort of disaster.  Yes, we got involved, and in the end, nobody was happy.  Just like I expect it to be in Ukraine.

Damn it, humanity just doesn't learn.  Neither does the Republican party.

Other than as part of the major industrialized nations or the UN, this country must NOT get militarily involved.  Let's not let the War Mongers make more money off of another unfortunate third world country.

It just encourages the Nationalists for the next go-round in which nobody will be satisfied, but thousands will die.

Revisiting the Holocaust.

On Facebook a while back, someone posted a link to this web page that advertises a broadcast of a documentary made after the liberation of Europe in 1945.

The Documentary, "Memory of the Camps", was produced with the help of (among others) Alfred Hitchcock, but was put on hold by the British before it was broadcast for political reasons.  It was recently re-discovered and restored, and is set for broadcast on British television in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Europe.

The page includes a full length version of the film, and in spite of the horrific images it shows, is a must see for any thinking adult who gives a shit about the political health of his/her country.

Why?  Two reasons.

First is the lesson the film makers intended to teach - this can happen if evil isn't fought and thwarted.

Second is another one I'd like to talk about.  It is strongly related to the first, but is a bit more extensive in scope.

It is:

This can happen to YOUR COUNTRY.  It can and will happen if you and every citizen in your country do not pay attention and fight extremism at every chance and in every manner possible.

Nah, you say.  That can't happen HERE, can it?  My people aren't like that!  We'd never kill kids, never starve folks to death.  We'd never kill that many people in such a systematic way.

Huh.  Don't you just wish.  What about the USA?  The country that stands for individual freedom, for liberty and justice!

Estimates of native populations prior to 1500 CE range from as low as 7 million to as much as 54 million.  It is also estimated that as many os 50-80% of that population may have been killed upon contact with Europeans and subsequent infection by diseases they had no immunological protections against.

Native Americans were decimated by the subsequent warfare and pressure of relocation by the rapid and overpowering influx of white Europeans into the North American continent.  (This DOES include Canada!)  No reliable numbers of the affect of that on population numbers have been suggested.

But it must have been devastating.  Was that a genocide?  Or simply a conquest?  Does it matter?

The extremism manifested itself in the "Manifest Destiny" mantra that rationalized the conquest and massacre of natives on the basis of a supposed natural  inevitability of our taking the continent from those who had lived here for over ten thousand years.  That somehow, it was our "destiny" to engulf the continent and populate it.

Even if it did already have a population residing in it.

Could it happen here like it did in Europe?  Sure.  Extremism happens anywhere, and when we see headlines where American politicians justify forcibly keeping people in poverty by denying them an education or the ability to control their own procreation, it is obvious it IS happening here.

Republican Party politicians advocate policies that are hateful, discriminatory, and racist.  They advocate policies that are homophobic and misogynistic, hurting people on the basis of made up differences and ideological imperatives.

They advocate that States secede from the US in order to pursue that agenda, or at the very least, pass State laws nullifying Federal laws that set that agenda back.

Now, am I saying that Republicans WANT to take the same career track Hitler did?  That they intend to snuff out the lives of all who they see as different?  Of course not.  Certainly not the average Republican at the State or local level.  As a country, we see that as evil and bad.

But then, if you'd showed photos of the Holocaust to the average Nazi Party member in 1932, they would have thought of those photos of being the result of Communist activity.  They saw themselves as the savior party of their homeland.  Saving it from economic ruin and political suicide.  Saviors of the German way of life.  The belt buckle of every German soldier was inscribed with the inscription "Gott Mitt Uns", which means "God is with us".

Sound familiar yet?  Wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.  Exactly the same as the Republicans are today.

Saviors of America.  Defending the American Way of Life.  Saving us from economic ruin and political suicide.  Pointing at Socialists and Communists as the evil doers who threaten us.

Hitler, too, excoriated Darwin.  Hitler, too, outlawed abortion, to help continue the Master Race.  Hitler, too, was racist.  Hitler promised economic recovery and international power and respect for Germany.  Hitler, too glorified war and made military service seem desirable.  Hitler, too acted hand in hand with the economic powers of his country to put Germany on the course to war.

In the end, he brought ruin and disgrace and ended his life in an underground bunker at his own hand, too cowardly to face his crimes.

Is there an American Hitler?  Will there be?

Maybe not.  But, maybe so.

Is the slide into anarchy inevitable?  Are we doomed to repeat history?  Will we allow ourselves to be hoodwinked into voting for another National Socialist Party?

It doesn't have to be.

IF Americans who care go vote.  IF Americans who care educate themselves.  IF Americans - LIKE YOU - get involved.

VOTE this November.  VOTE to throw out the extremists, the political outliers who have contaminated American politics into something even traditional Republicans hate.

Throw the bastards out.  Throw them out so far they'll need to pipe in sunlight.

Child abuse - systemic and sickening.

If you go back and read all my posts (sit back and have a beer!), you'll notice that a majority of the ones about child abuse by clergy are about the Roman Catholic Church.  Not all by any means, but that's what was hitting the news at the time.

Today, I'm not sure if this has really hit the news, but this came sliding down my newsfeed on Facebook, and I just had to look.

One of the enduring themes on my blog is the harm religion does to society.  I try to note on a regular basis that I do recognize that not all religious people or religious ideas are in and of themselves harmful.  Yes, there have been good things and people come out of the various religions on this world.

But so have nasty, evil, harmful things.  Things that have been perpetuated over time and made part of the systematic inside workings of some religions.

Like a culture of raping young boys in the RCC, and turning an officially blind eye to the practice.  Enough news stories have come to my attention to make me believe that that particular practice is present in other religions as well, and may well be systematic in other places too.

Just such a story is what came to my attention today.

Take a minute to go and read the story.  Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here when you get back.  But, be warned!  The story is graphic, the description of the abuse will sicken you.  If you are in danger of flashbacks of similar abuse, I can excuse your refusal to read it.

This is a story of systemic, ingrained, oppressive evil.  This is what is known as evil incarnate.  If indeed, there could be a real, living breathing devil, he resides inside that community and grows stronger from the corruption, the pain and the horror of what transpires there.

If the RCC's systemic abuse of children is evil, this makes what they do look like cartoon caricatures of reality.

There is no way that an entire community where over 50% of the male population has been abused could be unaware of the situation.  This kind of evil enlists the whole group in its practice.  Through fear, corruption and violence, it perpetuates itself.  Since this kind of abuse tends, in untreated victims, to make its own new generation of abusers, how long until the entire group becomes one seething cesspool of corruption?  How long until the rabbis invent some theocratic justification for the ritual of abuse?  How long until it becomes a secret, but witnessed, rite of passage?

Is this what the Jewish religion has become?  Is this what they have allowed themselves to descend to after surviving the world's most terrible pogrom?

In the past, I have posted other news items citing similar abuse (but not so group-wide in its corrupting influence) in other religions.  Hindu, Islam, Christian and others.

What is it about religion that seems to target young boys?  Is it because they are more available?

One thing is for sure, this is NOT a sexually based crime.  I hope you understand that rape is a crime of violence and power.  It is intended to put the abuser in a position of power over the victim, to make the victim feel powerless.

As if speaking for a deity isn't enough power.  These people are insane.

More Religious Harm - Buddhism, It's Your Turn!

More than once, I've been told, after making the point that religion is harmful regardless of what it teaches, that Buddhism is a religion of peace, and its teachings do not lead to violence.  Well, I beg to differ, at least as to the violence that is possible - regardless of what it teaches.

Oh, you want links?  Why didn't you say so?

This story comes from a web site called Colombo Telegraph, and the story is entitled, "Full Text Of The Banned Time Story – “The Face Of Buddhist Terror” ".  The story is in part about this man:

His name is simply Wirathu, and he is an influential Buddhist monk in Mandalay, the second largest city in Burma.  Apparently, the government of Burma has banned the printing of this story in Time magazine, probably to avoid the bad press.

(I guess they've never heard of the Streisand Affect.  But, I digress.)

Anyway, this guy, in spite of being a Buddhist monk, is responsible for inciting the local Buddhist population into a frenzy of violence against Muslims.

“Now is not the time for calm,” the monk intones, as he spends 90 minutes describing the many ways in which he detests the minority Muslims in this Buddhist-majority land. “Now is the time to rise up, to make your blood boil.”

Ok, I do get it, that his sermons and incitements to violence are not exactly in sync with the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who supposedly lived and taught some 2500 years ago. For that matter, the actions of the Roman Catholic Church don't exactly mesh with the teachings of Jesus, either, but for well over 1600 years the RCC has justified torture, arrest, burnings and various other methods of death for a huge variety of offenses against their religion, based on what many Christians today would term twisted translations and interpretations of Old Testament verses.  There are even those who will claim that the violent verses of the Koran were superseded by more peaceful teachings later and thus should not be used to incite violence.

Which illustrates my points (made numerous times in this blog) that ANY religion can be subverted to the nefarious needs of intolerance, bigotry and sectarian chauvinism in the service of pure, unadulterated politics.  Of course, there is no doubt that virtually any ideology or creed can be so subverted for a time.  Mankind is particularly adept at twisting just about anything to serve in the name of its pet hatreds and it is not a surprise that religion can also be so twisted and melded to a cause too.

But, again, religion has a particularly nasty characteristic that simple political ideologies do not.  Religion, being the study and worship of the supernatural, has no reality check.  Since the rewards and punishments of either passing or failing a religious test are gained or suffered AFTER death, there is no way to tell if the claims it makes are true or false.

For political ideologies, there is a simple test - at some point, people will expect it to work.  Its claims of prosperity and well being must at some point be shown to actually come to pass as advertised.  If they do not, people will eventually turn to another ideology or method of governing.  If nothing else, they will compromise and add solutions seen to work elsewhere.

But for the religiously faithful how can one compromise with the devil?  If one's religious truth is revealed to you by a deity, to compromise those truths is to disobey your god.  Thus, political compromise is impossible.  Reality is ignored in favor of scripture, dogma and theology.  There is no test of whether the teachings and dogma of the religion  agree with reality.  Indeed, since the claims of most religions are about life AFTER death, a reality check is impossible.  The claims religions can make are limited solely by man's imagination.

Thus, we get, eventually, the kind of violence this story reports on.  Sectarian violence, killings and discrimination based solely on what supernatural myth you happen to think is true or on your rejection of someone else's superstition.

I guess my whole reason for tilting at this nefarious windmill is that the human race has so many different things we need to fix, and so many other ways to hate one another, why in hell do we need to make up more?

Aren't the ones we already have bad enough?

More Harm by Religion, but a bit outdated...

The New Atheist movement has been in the forefront of touting the Harm Done by Religion, and I've been riding that wave where I could find examples, in between my other posts.   As a movement, it isn't very old, as political movements go even in this country.

So, I figured as soon as I found this example of the Harm Religion Does, I'd better get it out there, so people could see just how pervasive and endemic in our society it really is! I mean, these guys should have been stopped, but I fear we're a bit late...

The reasons behind these bog body killings remains uncertain but Ned Kelly of the National Museum of Ireland has suggested a very interesting theory (see Archaeology, No. 63, Vol 3, May/June 2010) . He believes that “these men were failed kings or failed candidates for kingship who were killed and placed in bogs that formed important tribal boundaries. Both Clonycavan and Old Croghan men’s nipples were pinched and cut. “Sucking a king’s nipples was a gesture of submission in ancient Ireland,” says Kelly. “Cutting them would have made him incapable of kingship.” The bodies served as offerings to the goddess of the land to whom the king was wed in his inauguration ceremony. According to Kelly, both men’s multiple injuries may reflect the belief that the goddess was not only one of the land and fertility, but also of sovereignty, war, and death. “By using a range of methods to kill the victim, the ancient Irish sacrificed to the goddess in all her forms,”.

Oh, didn't I say?  This example is over two thousand years old... isn't it about time the human race grew up and stopped this nonsense?  I know, I know, religion these days doesn't do human sacrifice - we make our victims live out the pain and suffering long term, instead of killing them and putting them out of their misery.  We are much more sophisticated just how we go about it these days.

In a way, that's even worse.

The world is full of sick people.

In part, yes, I am talking about the terrorists who bombed the Boston Marathon today.  This is a terrible crime that will go down in the annals of American history as one of those things we all remember where we were when we heard about it.

Two dead and around a hundred injured, from spotty reports so far.  Other reports about supposed suspects, disarmed unexploded bombs, whether there was another bomb at the Kennedy Library or if it was just a fire - first reports of these things are always wrong and often exaggerated.

However it turns out it is a terrible thing, but whatever the outcome, this kind of thing brings out the additional sickos, and this time the Westboro Baptist Church has decided to join the bandwagon.

Only someone with a religious perspective can be so mentally twisted as to decide to take something like this, totally unrelated to their main goals, and mangle it so badly to make it fit.

Sick bastards, all of them.  You can include in that number any of the players in this drama you want to.

Is it really possible to get any stupider?

I am happy to inform you, dear cyber-readers, that the Conservatives in America have finally allowed their crazy feminine side to show!  Yes, folks, the crazy, nut bag idiotic statements made by right wing male idiots has been topped - not simply equalled, but topped - by a woman!

National Review, whose in-house editorial suggested Newtown was the price of the Second Amendment, published a piece on Wednesday from anti-feminist Charlotte Allen suggesting the reason the shooter was able to kill so many students was because Newtown was a “feminized setting:” 

There was not a single adult male on the school premises when the shooting occurred. In this school of 450 students, a sizeable number of whom were undoubtedly 11- and 12-year-old boys (it was a K–6 school), all the personnel — the teachers, the principal, the assistant principal, the school psychologist, the “reading specialist” — were female. There didn’t even seem to be a male janitor to heave his bucket at Adam Lanza’s knees. Women and small children are sitting ducks for mass-murderers. The principal, Dawn Hochsprung, seemed to have performed bravely. According to reports, she activated the school’s public-address system and also lunged at Lanza, before he shot her to death. Some of the teachers managed to save all or some of their charges by rushing them into closets or bathrooms. But in general, a feminized setting is a setting in which helpless passivity is the norm. Male aggression can be a good thing, as in protecting the weak — but it has been forced out of the culture of elementary schools and the education schools that train their personnel. Think of what Sandy Hook might have been like if a couple of male teachers who had played high-school football, or even some of the huskier 12-year-old boys, had converged on Lanza.

(emphasis mine)

So, of course, to make up for their slip at allowing a woman to publish anything of note, it had to be an anti-female screed.

Regardless, this is simply beyond ridiculous.  In shooting after shooting, males died as quickly and as easily as women.  They were, quite honestly, unarmed.  Even if they had been armed, they likely would never have been able to have gotten to their firearms in time.  What school teacher, in today's atmosphere, would walk around in school with a loaded piece on his/her belt?

Ignoring the stupidly obvious bad example it would set in inner city classrooms, or in any classroom, why would you want to carry a weapon that could be taken from you and used against you or anyone else in your classroom?  Statistically, weapons bought for protection are more likely to be used against the owner than against an intruder.  Teachers are not trained security guards.  They have other, more pressing duties which would distract them from being able to use that weapon in an emergency.

If you absolutely, positively must have an armed guard in your school, PAY FOR A POLICE OFFICER TO BE THERE FULL TIME!!  Don't be chintzy, don't be cheap, if you are that alarmed by the danger to your kids, do it right.  Stop this crap about teaching teachers to handle guns and making them carry in class.

You'd simply be giving the next mass murderer free access to his tool.

Old School Shootings prove the utility of modern assault weapons

The battle of words rages:  "Guns don't kill people, people kill people!"  vs.  "Ban guns!"

Well, I thought that perhaps a bit of historical perspective would shed a bit of light on the subject.  Of course, who did I turn to for that historical perspective?

Chris Rodda, of course!  Her work on debunking the christian lies and hypocrisy of David Barton is legendary, so I thought that her post on this at FreeThought Blogs might be informative.

Boy, was I right!  (I love it when I'm right...)

In her post entitled, "No, Mr. Huckabee, It’s Not Because God Has Been Removed From Schools", she provides an interesting perspective on his remarks.  But, more importantly, she also provides a detailed list of past school shootings - going back to 1840!

The list ends in 1962, when Huckabee says we kicked god out of our schools.  Not only does this list prove Huckabee wrong, but it conveniently shows something else - that when firearms had slower rates of fire, held fewer rounds and were harder and slower to reload, the casualties of these attacks were considerably lower than after more rapidly firing and reloading weapons began to hit the markets.

This is critical to the current conversation, when we need to limit the damage that can be done by limiting the ability of shooters to be able to kill rapidly by denying them the rapid firing military style weapons.

Go read it, and prepare yourself to be amazed at the differences between the shootings now and then - and the similarities.

A sampling.

First on the list:

November 12, 1840: Charlottesville, Virginia. University of Virginia student Joseph Green Semmes shot law professor John A.G. Davis when Davis attempted to unmask Semmes and another student, both of whom were wearing masks and carrying pistols. Professor Davis died three days later.

Last on the list:

October 17, 1961: Denver, Colorado. Tennyson Beard, 14, got into an argument with William Hachmeister, 15, at Morey Junior High School. During the argument Beard pulled out a .38 caliber revolver and shot at Hachmeister, wounding him. A stray bullet also struck Deborah Faith Humphrey, 14, who died from her gunshot wound.

Obviously, learning about god in school didn't stop the killings, nor did god take a hand in preventing tragedy.  Even where he was very welcome.

Hatefulness at its worst: Trigger Warning!

I'm not going to post much today - busy with holiday stuff in meatspace.  To ruin your Sunday, make you feel dirty and want to take a shower, here is an example of the nasty, hateful and ... well, words fail to properly describe the base human pettiness and intolerant hate that is spewed on the video I am about to show you.

Prepare your shower, you'll need it!

Introducing the Westboro Baptist Church!

Now, go, take that shower...

Fischer isn't alone, alas!

Mike Huckabee has, predictably, joined the crazies:

HuffPo — Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R) weighed in on the massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. on Friday, saying the crime was no surprise because we have “systematically removed God” from public schools.”We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools,” Huckabee said on Fox News. “Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?”


Have they no shame? Have they no sense of decency? Why do they have to use the deaths of these children and other victims as a springboard for their completely unrelated political goal?

If the rest of the christians in this country want us outsiders to see their religion in a better light, these men will be excoriated and shunned as a result of this stand they are taking. I know some of my friends on Facebook are with me on this. It needs to go viral!

Reactions to Tragedy

First thought:  "Not again!"

After that, things get a bit jumbled.  Grief, sympathy, sadness, anger all kind of roiling around, surfacing as I hear different parts of the story.

Two parts of this affect me the most.

First, the parents.  As a parent of three girls (all fortunately grown), I cannot possibly imagine the affect on me to hear if one of them had been killed at school by some nut with a gun.  Would I just sit down and cry?  Drop to my knees and just scream?  Stand stunned, speechless?  I just don't know - any and all of those are possible.  Having never been there, how can I?  All I know is that to even think about how those parents must feel is heartrending, and I just tear up.

Second, I cannot bear the thought of being the first cop or firefighter to enter one of those classrooms.  The images of dead children would haunt me for the rest of my life.  I don't know if I would have the strength to do my job.  I think the shock of such violence done to such young children would be too much to bear.

Or maybe the anger would take over and give me the boost I'd need to carry on.

How do you know until it happens?  You don't.  I understand that as a first responder, there's training to carry you on, training and instinct as the Sandy Hook Lieutenant said tonight.  He said it hits you later, when it's over.  If it is ever over in your mind.

Listening to the Ed Show tonight, I learned one shocking fact.  Since the Columbine shooting In Colorado 13 years ago, there have been 181 school shootings in the United States.  Look at that number again:

181

Not temples, not offices or businesses, of which there have been 64 since that time, in addition to the school shootings.

One hundred and eighty one.  In each one, at least one child died, in others, many more.   That is HUNDREDS of children - American children - who have died at the hands of some crazed killer with a gun.

Inevitably, the calls for gun control are beginning to be heard, and on the other side, the gun supporters are still saying that guns don't kill people, people kill people.  (When I hear that one, I remember the scene from one of the Harrison Ford movies where the dashing hero is standing in a marketplace facing a man carrying a curved, wicked sword, swinging it in circles, faster and faster, until he stops with a sharp cry, brandishing his sword at our hero - who promptly pulls a pistol out of his pants and shoots the man, turns and walks way, shaking his head at the fool who brought a sword to a gun fight!

With a gun, facing an essentially unarmed opponent, there's no danger - no possibility of harm, and the act takes no courage.  In fact, we now know that the majority of these killers are young people with a history of clinical depression.  By the time they get to that point, harm to themselves is actually part of their scenario - they often end up killing themselves at the end of their spree.  Courage is not part of their mental arsenal, an act which requires it cannot be carried out.

Which points to the solutions we must bring to the table - better efforts to make gun buying more difficult to help weed out spur of the moment impulses to violence, greater efforts to screen potential gun buyers for mental health issues, a greater effort to screen out teens and young people with mental health problems, especially depression, and a concerted effort to change the social attitudes in this country towards violence to end our acceptance of using violence to solve our problems.

The solution is NOT to get guns into the hands of teachers and other adults in schools!

And it did not happen because god isn't wanted in schools!

Warning - the subject of this post will sicken you!

I haven't posted anything about religion and my opposition to it in a while.  I've tried in the past to explain that my opposition to religion is NOT a criticism of all religion as practiced by many people, but the way that a whole lot of folks do practice it is in no uncertain terms sick, twisted and often simply insane.

I know that a lot of folks do a lot of good through their religion, and believe good things.  Kudos to them, and I mean that.  Please understand that what I am about to reveal to you is one of those sick, twisted things that some people do, and we are fortunate indeed that none of this is practiced in this country - or at least not that I know of.

But I want to make clear that the very existence of these practices, anywhere in the world, at least to me and a lot of other non-theists is plenty of reason to oppose religion of any kind and to work to reduce its influence wherever possible.   Because, you see, without the excuse of religion, this kind of cruelty would have at least one less reason to exist.

This article by the Huffington Post tells it all.  Children, some as young as eight, are denounced as witches, and their families often pay the accusing pastors as much as a year's wages to perform an exorcism to "remove" the influence of witchcraft.  These exorcisms often involve beatings, starvings, administration of such things as acid or being forced to eat cement.  Some children have even been buried alive.

As the article notes, these denouncements are driven by the need for churches to complete for attention, and being able to detect witchcraft in a society which believes in it is a valuable "skill".

All of this, of course, is nonsense.  Witches, like gods, do not exist.  Magic is merely the observance of natural forces unknown or not understood by the observer.  People, by nature, tend to see causation where none exists, and this is why man invented the scientific method to cut through the fog of our natural inclination to assign a cause where none exists.

As I noted above, however, this manifestation of religious fervor is beyond the pale.  To accuse innocent children is easy - they have no defense of their own and depend on the adults in their lives to protect them.  How can they protect themselves if those very adults are the ones perpetrating the violence against them?

Yes, these are extreme cases, and most christians or even practitioners of other religions, do not practice such horrifying activities - but were it not for religion and the superstitious beliefs that come along with it - especially in an ignorant and uneducated country - this would not happen.  I wish I could say that Americans were involved in trying to stop these practices - but the fact is that these things occur because of the spread of Evangelical Christianity - and it is the Evangelical churches in this country who are spreading their venom abroad.  Witness their active sponsoring of the "kill the gay" legislation in Uganda, for example.

All of this because of the christian imperative to spread the "word".  It is spread without concern or even knowledge of what the consequences are to primitive societies with already superstitious beliefs, which often destroys that society and combines in these horrific ways with these primitive superstitions to bring real harm to millions.

I am sorry, but missionary work to Africa should be illegal.  Period.

Even if they're no longer with us, they're with somebody...

One of the more discouraging aspects of today's political scene, as cracked and crazy as it is, is the fact that, even if the nut bags get sidelined by the voters, they're still out there, and at some point, somebody is going to have to put up with them.

Case in point.


Brad Staats, 43, who describes himself as a 'family matters' conservative, ran for Tennessee's tenth District seat in Congress, and was soundly defeated 65-33 percent by Five-term Democrat incumbent Jim Cooper.

Staats, who made a name for himself by publicly displaying his gun on his Facebook page and taunting President Obama, was arrested early on Sunday morning at his home in Hermitage, Tennessee.
Police had received a phone call from his wife Bethany Staats, claiming that he had slapped her during a disagreement.  When they arrived, she displayed a marked cheek as a result.

He was was booked into Davidson County Jail at 3.39 am on Sunday, and was charged with one count of misdemeanor domestic assault, posted a $5,000 bond and was later released. A trial date was set for February 7, 2013.

Family values, huh?  Now, where have I heard that phrase before?

Oh!  I know!  That's the phrase which has been bandied about by republican after republican before they got caught banging the secretary or a gay hooker or arrested in an airport restroom stall for having a "wide stance"...

Give it up, folks.  Nobody with two brain cells to rub together believes that crap anymore, and the ones with just one are beginning to wonder.  Family values are just right wing dog whistle phrasing for keeping the wimmens at home, barefoot and preggers, bruised, battered and bewildered.

One must point out that the spouses of men who own guns are something like five times more likely to get shot in case of domestic violence - and Mr. Staats bragged rather widely that he always carried that piece with him.

In this case, while the voters don't have to deal with this nutbag anymore, his wife does.

I am seriously wondering whether sending this guy back home was really a good idea.  I'm sure that his wife wishes he'd gone to DC.

Social sites are inaccurate, La. police say.

In Winnsboro, Louisiana, a black woman was set on fire by three young men wearing white hoods, who then vandalized her car with a racial slur and the letters KKK.  This story has gone viral around the world, and news sources as far away as New Zealand are reporting that she was wearing an Obama t-shirt at the time of the attack.

But, according to the police, those reports are not true, stating that their investigation is ongoing.  (I also read another report that said her mother also refuted reports about the t-shirt.)

Sharmeka Mofffitt was taken to LSU Hospital-Shreveport where, according to NBC affiliate KTAL TV, she is in the burn unit in critical condition.

My own take here is to not go off the deep end.  Certainly, such an attack is possible, and racial tensions have increased significantly during the election campaign.  But the tactic of using someone else's slogans or symbols have been used before to throw off the police and we should not make assumptions now, before all the facts are known.  After all, she may have been attacked by a former spouse or boyfriend, a jealous "other women" or simply three kids out for extreme mischief where race had nothing to do with it.  Using flammable material in such an attack, however, is usually significant of a very personal grudge.

For now, let's wait for the cops to do their jobs and not give the KKK any more publicity.  They certainly don't deserve any.

A Bridge Too Far?

Today, I am going to relate to you a story.

It is a story of courage, cowardice, intimidation, fear and an intense yearning for knowledge.  It is a story whose ending is yet unknown, but whose future hangs by a thread.

In Pakistan's Swat Valley, besieged by Taliban insurgents, the Pashtun people who live there are torn between three sides in a war they never asked for.  On one side is the US, whose drones target the Taliban insurgents fighting the Pakistani Army for control.  I am sure it isn't nearly so uncomplicated as that, but to my uninformed western mind, that is complex enough.

In the middle of all this are, as usual, the children.  One of these kids is a young woman, Malala Yousafzai, who has been blogging for the BBC since, I understand, she was 9.  She is now 14.

Malala was blogging to document the lives of the people of Swat in the midst of this horrific war they have had foisted on them by others who really probably have little interest in their well being, but simply want to either control them or prevent someone else from controlling them.  Her daily diary is an eye opening look into how ordinary people cope with their lives being pulled in multiple directions, while trying to survive a nasty situation.

I'll let her tell this part of the story.  Malala’s diary when she was 11 years old in 2009:

THURSDAY JANUARY 15: NIGHT FILLED WITH ARTILLERY FIRE
The night was filled with the noise of artillery fire and I woke up three times. But since there was no school I got up later at 10 am. Afterwards, my friend came over and we discussed our homework.Today is 15 January, the last day before the Taleban’s edict comes into effect, and my friend was discussing homework as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Today, I also read the diary written for the BBC (in Urdu) and published in the newspaper. My mother liked my pen name ‘Gul Makai’ and said to my father ‘why not change her name to Gul Makai?’ I also like the name because my real name means ‘grief stricken’.
My father said that some days ago someone brought the printout of this diary saying how wonderful it was. My father said that he smiled but could not even say that it was written by his daughter.
WEDNESDAY 14 JANUARY: I MAY NOT GO TO SCHOOL AGAIN
I was in a bad mood while going to school because winter vacations are starting from tomorrow. The principal announced the vacations but did not mention the date the school was to reopen. This was the first time this has happened.
In the past the reopening date was always announced clearly. The principal did not inform us about the reason behind not announcing the school reopening, but my guess was that the Taleban had announced a ban on girls’ education from 15 January.
This time round, the girls were not too excited about vacations because they knew if the Taleban implemented their edict they would not be able to come to school again. Some girls were optimistic that the schools would reopen in February but others said that their parents had decided to shift from Swat and go to other cities for the sake of their education.
Since today was the last day of our school, we decided to play in the playground a bit longer. I am of the view that the school will one day reopen but while leaving I looked at the building as if I would not come here again.
FRIDAY 9 JANUARY: THE MAULANA GOES ON LEAVE?
Today at school I told my friends about my trip to Bunair. They said that they were sick and tired of hearing the Bunair story. We discussed the rumours about the death of Maulana Shah Dauran, who used to give speeches on FM radio. He was the one who announced the ban on girls attending school.
Some girls said that he was dead but others disagreed. The rumours of his death are circulating because he did not deliver a speech the night before on FM radio. One girl said that he had gone on leave.
Since there was no tuition on Friday, I played the whole afternoon. I switched on the TV in the evening and heard about the blasts in Lahore. I said to myself ‘why do these blasts keep happening in Pakistan?’
WEDNESDAY 7 JANUARY: NO FIRING OR FEAR
I have come to Bunair to spend Muharram (a Muslim holiday) on vacation. I adore Bunair because of its mountains and lush green fields. My Swat is also very beautiful but there is no peace. But in Bunair there is peace and tranquillity. Neither is there any firing nor any fear. We all are very happy.
Today we went to Pir Baba mausoleum and there were lots of people there. People are here to pray while we are here for an excursion. There are shops selling bangles, ear rings, lockets and other artificial jewellery. I thought of buying something but nothing impressed – my mother bought ear rings and bangles.
MONDAY 5 JANUARY: DO NOT WEAR COLOURFUL DRESSES
I was getting ready for school and about to wear my uniform when I remembered that our principal had told us not to wear uniforms – and come to school wearing normal clothes instead. So I decided to wear my favourite pink dress. Other girls in school were also wearing colourful dresses and the school presented a homely look.
My friend came to me and said, ‘for God’s sake, answer me honestly, is our school going to be attacked by the Taleban?’ During the morning assembly we were told not to wear colourful clothes as the Taleban would object to it.
I came back from school and had tuition sessions after lunch. In the evening I switched on the TV and heard that curfew had been lifted from Shakardra after 15 days. I was happy to hear that because our English teacher lived in the area and she might be coming to school now.
SUNDAY 4 JANUARY: I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL
Today is a holiday and I woke up late, around 10 am. I heard my father talking about another three bodies lying at Green Chowk (crossing). I felt bad on hearing this news. Before the launch of the military operation we all used to go to Marghazar, Fiza Ghat and Kanju for picnics on Sundays. But now the situation is such that we have not been out on picnic for over a year and a half.
We also used to go for a walk after dinner but now we are back home before sunset. Today I did some household chores, my homework and played with my brother. But my heart was beating fast – as I have to go to school tomorrow.
SATURDAY 3 JANUARY: I AM AFRAID
I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools.
Only 11 students attended the class out of 27. The number decreased because of Taleban’s edict. My three friends have shifted to Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi with their families after this edict.
On my way from school to home I heard a man saying ‘I will kill you’. I hastened my pace and after a while I looked back if the man was still coming behind me. But to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone.

But eventually, the threats turned into reality and her fears were realized.  Malala is now in a military hospital, after being shot in the head and neck by the Taliban, who have accused her of spreading a secular message which they claim is anti-Islamic.  Her condition is guardedly optimistic, as the bullet missed her brain, but as of today, she is still suffering of brain swelling, which is life threatening.  And the Taliban has threatened to carry through again if she survives.

As you can clearly see from her diary above, her message was one in which her people had not asked for the heavily Islamic, extremist system to be imposed upon them, and clearly wanted their children, including girls, to be educated. This is the real reason the Taliban want her dead.  She has exposed the lie that ordinary Pakistanis want and accept their extreme form of Islam.  She has exposed the desire of ordinary Pakistanis that their daughters be educated alongside their sons!  She has illustrated that they are not welcome in places where the Pakistani people are educated.

Her father, which you can see at her side in interviews you can view on YouTube, had encouraged her to go to school, encouraged her to blog and had instilled in her a love for learning, for the importance of education.  In an interview posted on CNN, she emphasized the importance of education in opposing the Taliban!   His pride in her is like a shining light.

Both Malala and her father have exhibited an extraordinary amount of courage in taking this road, he in allowing, indeed, encouraging her and instilling this love of education in her. Malala herself has shown amazing courage in continuing to blog and support education in Pakistan in spite of the death threats, which in Pakistan, are very serious indeed.  I would point out that numerous politicians in that country should now hang their heads in shame at her defiance while they have bowed their heads in submission to Taliban threats.

I have to admit, I openly admit, that I was moved to tears in watching the CNN interview, seeing her courage, her passion, knowing that she was risking her very life in speaking out, especially to a reporter.  I can only hope that I would exhibit just half that courage and passion should I ever face even a small part of the threat she has endured at such a tender age!

But this is only part of this story.  The rest of it belongs to the Pakistani people.

Linking now to Maryam Namazie's blog "Nothing is Sacred" at Freethought blogs, Maryam has written a post entitled "This is how it's done", in which she has wonderful pictures and an account of how the Pakistani people have been outraged at the attack on Malala, have almost mobbed the hospital to offer blood to her, and have excoriated the Taliban as being a bunch of cowards to have threatened and attacked a 14 year old girl.

I would take this opportunity to introduce the Taliban to a concept, rather new in the world of the Internet, called the Streisand Effect.  It is really a rather simple idea, but it is so simple it is often ignored, to the detriment of the folks ignoring it.

The concept is that by openly opposing something small and little noticed (but important to you), it is brought to the open attention of the larger world, providing more media attention and publicity than it otherwise may have received.  It was first named after the law suit brought against Google by Barbra Streisand when she sought to have them blur out the  photos of her California mansion, fearing that the general public would see her private domain.  But instead of getting it hidden, the very lawsuit brought the pictures to the attention of the public and thus she lost the privacy she had sought.

Same principle here.  By attacking a defenseless young girl, the Taliban has damaged their cause, and if they try to carry through on their threats to kill her if she survives, they will hurt themselves more than an army could cause in a year of fighting.  Is this a bridge too far?  Have they finally bitten off more than they can chew?

This story brings out the tale of the intense struggle going on in, not only Pakistan, but the wider world of Islam.  On one side are the extremists, the violent men who fight for their own aggrandizement and power over their fellow muslims and on the other are the ordinary people who just want to live their lives to bring about a better life for their children and grandchildren.

These ordinary folk are NOT our enemies.  They would, if given a chance, be our allies, our trading partners.  But they are besieged by men who will use violence and intimidation to violate every tenet of Islam to take power in the name of that religion purely for their own advantage.

This time, the general media in the West has taken notice of the attack on Malala.  What they have failed to do is to outline or emphasize the reactions of the Pakistani people or the importance of the overall struggle within Islam itself which this story so poignantly illustrates.

It seems we have a ways to go.

Two updates from Yesterday's Posts

Yesterday, I posted two short articles, one was about Thomas Jefferson and a Smithsonian Institution article regarding new research into his private life and the slaves he owned at Monticello, and the other one was about the Celebrate Mercy project asking muslims to send statements and letters of support and condolences to the family of Ambassador Stevens, who was killed in the recent attack in Libya.

I promised to post my reactions to the Jefferson article, and I will below.  

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But first, I’d like to comment on the wonderful response from the Celebrate Mercy folks, who both commented on my post yesterday and sent me email, thanking me for helping to spread the word about their project.  Thank you for the kind comments and email, I do like hearing that my efforts are being read and appreciated!

As I mentioned on my comment, though, I’d like to ask a favor of you.  Should your web site, Celebrate Mercy, become involved in similar efforts in the future, please consider letting me know.  I would be happy to post about any future efforts on your behalf, and will also share that information on my Facebook page, as well.  It is cross-cultural efforts like this, at the grass roots level, which will go much further than any government led program ever could to help foster friendship and understanding between our people.

By doing this together, we can work to reduce the levels of hatred, mistrust and violence around the world.  A worthy effort, indeed!

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Now, on to Mr. Jefferson!

After reading the article, posted on the Smithsonian Website, I am now at a quandary, and feel very conflicted.

On one hand, one cannot negate the very influential part he played in the birth of this country, and by extension, all of mankind, with his then new-fangled idea of universal equality.  (Yes, I know, his idea of “universal” equality only extended to free white guys, but you know, baby steps - it didn’t take women long to get into the act, in the greater scheme of things, and don't even think about the sticky-wicket slavery presented, just in getting the Constitution ratified!)  He really did stick his neck out, and took a very real risk of getting a noose thrown around it.  The British were never very forgiving of people who flouted the authority of their aristocracy.  I think the only two who may have had the “honor” of a beheading were Lafayette and Washington, both of whom were of real noble birth.  The rest, a simple noose.

The influence of that ideal is a profound one that still rings out today, encouraging the birth of liberty around the world, most recently in the Arab Spring, as it’s been called.  I think his influence will be felt for centuries to come.

The revelations about his private life and how he apparently really handled his slaves and ran his plantation are shocking.  One cannot emphasize enough the brutality of the practice, and the fact that he hired violent, brutal thugs to oversee his slaves is merely one clue that he bought into that practice in all its cruelty.  Telling, too is the incident of the slave he sold in punishment for an attack on another slave, sold “down the river”, or out of the area, probably southwards into Georgia.  Far out of reach, forever, of that poor man’s family.

The popular picture of a man conflicted with himself over a practice of brutality and cruelty which was at odds with his new ideal of liberty and equality for all, is now sullied forever by a picture of a wealthy, powerful man increasingly, as he aged, forsaking that ideal for hundreds of his slaves, in favor of retaining the wealth and power that came with a system which fed off of the misery and unpaid labor of men, women and children, forced into that labor by the cut of the lash and the blunt violence of the cudgel.

On the other hand, his intellectual brainchild, the Declaration of Independence, will ring down through history for as long as people are free, and that freedom can be rightly laid at his doorstep as a product of the combined efforts of him and his fellow Revolutionaries of 1776.

But, his actions dovetail perfectly with the picture we still have of the rich and powerful, sitting comfortably in their mansions, served by minions making a relative pittance, ignoring or even laughing at the misery of those unfortunate enough not to have been born in the aristocratic classes.  The 99%, if you will.

How can I continue to respect a man who so thoroughly sullied the ideal of his brainchild with such a selfish attitude and such horrible actions?

But given the brightness and the beauty of that ideal, how can I not?

Muslims can be horrified, too.

Here's something you rarely see in American media:  a reaction by ordinary muslims to a terrorist attack, especially one on Americans.

This one is in reaction to the attack in Libya, where the American Ambassador was killed.  As I noted in an earlier post, this man was not only respected by Libyans for what he did for them, but he was loved for it.  He exemplified to them what a good man should be.

From the Celebrate Mercy Website:

Chris Stevens, the United States Ambassador to Libya, was wrongfully killed on September 11, 2012. His killers were extremists who were angered by an obscure film that aims to insult the Prophet Muhammad's character. By killing an innocent man who had nothing to do with this film, they did more to offend the Prophet Muhammad than this film could have ever done. Their actions go against the mercy, love, patience, and justice he embodied on a daily basis.

Go read the article on the Huffington Post's website.  It will open your eyes and encourage you in the goodness of people everywhere.