Judgement

According to some, today all those people who have been judged worthy will be swept up into the clouds to have a meet-and-greet with Jesus. The Rapture.

I remain skeptical, as usual. More importantly, I remain.

Culture Shock

Anthropologists are taught to study different cultures without judgment or bias.

The rest of us don't have to put up with this crap.

If your culture, legal system, tradition, or religion advocates or encourages the abuse of women, then it is WRONG!

If you see people stoning a woman to death, for whatever reason, MAKE THEM STOP!

If you see people hanging a woman as an "honor killing", MAKE THEM STOP!

If you see a husband beating his wife, MAKE HIM STOP!

Stand up and say something!

My culture (North American) has been guilty of the same sick mentality for a very long time, but we are getting better. We are trying to change. We are still a long way from true equality, but we have come a long way in a relatively short time.

It would be great if the rest of you could make the same effort.

Happy 232nd Birthday, USA!

There are many Americans who believe that this great country has changed a lot since it was first conceived. Indeed, many things have changed, some for the better and some for the worse. Our Constitution has been updated with 17 amendments since the Bill of Rights was added. Some people think that is too many, others say it is not enough.

But, that's one of the principles the United States of America was based upon, and mentioned (more or less) in the first amendment - The freedom to disagree.

Some might say we have refined disagreement to a high art. And, as it has been since the beginning, there are those who think we disagree too much.

The Pilgrims who journeyed on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620, followed by a boatload of Puritans in 1629, and more during the "Great Migration" in the years following, were seeking a land free from the inflexible dogma of the Church of England. Actually, they had their own inflexible dogma, but it disagreed with the Church of England's on several key points. These people referred to themselves as "The Holy", not "Puritans" (that was a term of derision coined by the English people who thought they were all batty).

And, yes, they did, literally, believe they were Holier than thou (or anyone else who was not one of them). A good example of this was Puritan minister Cotton Mather, who was particularly influential on early America, having published more than 450 books and pamphlets which were widely read throughout the English colonies.

They never constituted a majority in the early colonies, but their influence was unmistakable and they have always been a part of us (whether we like it or not).

To find the heirs of the Puritans today, you need only seek their most visible leaders: Pat Robertson and Randy Brinson. There are others, of course, but those two have that unique brand of fundamental conservative Christianity that is particularly American.

Other heirs of "The Holy" might include (but are not restricted to): the Texas FLDS Church, the Westboro Baptist Church, Christian Identity, and even scarier groups.

One of the things all of these people share is the unshakable belief that the rest of us should not be disagreeing with them.

I really really really enjoy the fact that I can still disagree.

Up yours, Puritans!

Doomed, I say!

I was catching up with JJ's blog when I found a post from the 13th of May that caught my eye. That post had a link to another blog's post, which in turn lead me to yet another blog. Finally, I ended up reading an op/ed piece from the Wall Street Journal that started the thread.

Have you read the piece by Mark Steyn yet? Yes, it is over a year old. It is also rather long and rambling, so let me sum it up for you:

Islamic jihadists are taking over the world.

I know... right now you are saying to yourself, "That can't be right. Dez must be misreading the article."

Go. Read it for yourself. I'll wait.

(Hot today. Think I'll get some pineapple juice with lots of ice. Ahhh. That hits the spot.)

Done yet? Okay.

He doesn't come right out and say it, and he tends to rant on unrelated subjects a bit, but if you read carefully you can see where he's going.

White people are in danger of extinction in about 30 years or so, to be replaced by Islamic extremist Arabs, who are breeding faster than we are.

He's not talking just about Christians, since there are plenty of them in Mexico and the rest of Latin America, and their birth rate is keeping up with their death rate just fine.

He's not talking about Western European or North American culture, since we export that at a horrendous rate and it shows no evidence of going away anytime soon.

And he thinks this is of major importance, clearly. More important than climate change or the oil crisis (which, by the way, he does not see as important at all) or even the threat of terrorist attack by nuclear or biological WMDs.

So, it's not just "We're running out of white people", it's more like "OMG! WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF WHITE PEOPLE! QUICK! ALL OF YOU START BREEDING NOW!"

Oh, but that's not the scary part. Read the comments section after the article. Not a lot of dissension, is there? Then read what the Girl on the Right said about it.

Yup, there seems to be a lot of agreement. Even hero-worship.

So. Are Islamic Jihadists invading your neighborhood? Are we running out of white people? Sorry, but I'm not seeing it.

And what if we are? What difference would it make to the world?

In order for it to make a difference, especially at the end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it level that Mark was ranting about, you would have to assume that white people are better than Arabs.

That, in turn, would mean Mark Steyn is a racist, and all the people who agreed with him are racists.

No wonder he didn't make his point clearer.

(Oh, and if you agree with Mark's article, too, don't tell me. I don't want to know you.)

(Want to read some opinions by a pro-Western Islamic Egyptian? Go here. Just because people belong to a certain faith or racial group does not make them extremists.)

Mass Graves of Canadian Children

28 grave sites have been reported, each associated with an Indian Residential School. In other words, these were native children that were taken away from their tribes and families to be raised in a religious school where they were given English names and denied their original language, culture, religion, and identity. When they died, for whatever reason, they were denied even a Christian burial, much less one of their people's faith. Their parents were not even told they had died.

Ancient history, you say? The last of these "schools" closed in 1998.

What is the word for a systematic attempt to wipe out an entire people and their culture? Oh, yes: Genocide.

Oh, and before we dump all the shame on Canada, let's not forget that we did the same thing in the USA.

We need to remember these things, as horrible as they are, lest we do them again.

NEVER FORGET!

Thanks to Stageleft and JJ.

Adding injury to insult

This is getting ridiculous.

First a cartoon, now a teddy bear's name.

And let's not even talk about the women who are punished for being raped.

There is no need for a vast "Western Conspiracy to Discredit Islam". Islam is doing a fine job all by itself.

EDIT 12/05/07:
I am relieved to hear that Gillian Gibbons, the teacher with the teddy bear, is now home and safe. I noticed that the local Islamic communities in Great Britain have been very supportive of her, and swift to condemn the actions of the Sudanese government.

In perspective, the problem is not with Islam, as I seemed to imply with my statement above. The problem lies with the extremists, regardless of their religious posturing. Calling for the death of an individual for a perceived insult is in no way religious. The pious do not hate. The faithful do not call for anyone's death. They speak of tolerance and forgiveness.

Those who hate often use a mask of religion to cover their actions. The hood of the KKK and their burning crosses are no different. They use the Word like a weapon, but take it out of context. They bend and twist their faith to fit their human anger, and have lost the meaning.

Faith can be a powerful weapon in the hands of madmen. This is not the fault of the faith or the faithful, at least not directly. The problem is that it is often hard to tell the difference between the true faithful and the madmen.

Let's see if we can simplify the issue: Anyone who uses the word "hate" in regards to... well... anything, is not a religious person, and should not be allowed to protect themselves under the mantle of faith. Don't be fooled by the number of beads they carry or the robes they wear. How many times they pray is irrelevant. The true test of faith is in their words and deeds.

The task falls upon the faithful themselves. Stop tolerating madmen speaking for you. Don't let them get away with it. Speak up!

Civilized Behavior 101

One of the fallacies of "Political Correctness" is that all cultural traditions and religious practices should be respected, regardless of what we think of them.

That's fine for the most part. I really don't care what you sing or dance or pierce yourselves with (though, frankly, looking at facial piercings makes me nauseous).

But, religious advocation of spousal abuse is just barbaric, and is not even supported by all Islamic scholars. Christian men have tried using certain passages of the Bible to support wife beating for many years, but today it is generally seen as bad behavior. Barbaric, indeed.

Killing dolphins, likewise, is a traditional practice that should today be considered barbaric. The fact that the Bush administration doesn't support marine mammal protection, I think, further supports my statement.

And, in the light of recent studies concerning the global climate, I would like to nominate the driving of most Sport Utility Vehicles as being barbaric and uncivilized. Bigger is not always better.

Finally, please cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Spreading disease is barbaric.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled war.

The State of Marriage

Yesterday my state decided to continue living in the Dark Ages.

I am not gay, but what does that have to do with it? Keeping people from entering into a legally binding contract with each other because other people don't approve of their lifestyle is wrong.

People keep bringing up religious reasons for the gay marriage ban. Again, why does that justify anything? The ban does not prevent people from getting married, in the religious sense, only from acquiring the documentation that makes their marriage legally binding. This is a legal issue, not a religious one.

There are a large number of people in this state who seem to think that gay people will just go away if they just keep denying them their rights long enough. This is not just stupid, it is stupidity on a massive scale and against all evidence to the contrary. Similar to the belief that the War in Iraq is part of the War against Terrorism.

I'm starting to wonder what we should be doing about the real threat to this nation: the vast herds of stupid people that wield so much power. They will destroy us all, I fear.