Who will protect Palestinians from growing settler extremism?
Palestinians can almost never hope for justice within the legal system, nor can they defend themselves.
By Lisa Goldman
Tags: Israel news West Bank Palestinians Israel settlers
Last week in Hawara, a town near Nablus, someone defaced a mosque with spray paint. The graffiti included Hebrew writing and a Star of David. Residents of a Jewish settlement nearby had vandalized Palestinian property in Hawara on previous occasions, so both the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian villagers accused settlers of committing the latest crime. Israel's official position is that it is a deserving, ecumenically-minded custodian of religious sites of all faiths, so the IDF Spokesman was quick to issue a condemnation and promise an investigation.
The defacing of mosques in the West Bank is relatively rare - "only" four incidents were brought to the attention of Yesh Din, an Israeli NGO that monitors law enforcement in the West Bank, over the past five years. But destruction of Palestinian property and acts of violence against Palestinian civilians occur frequently, often several times per week. Over the past few months, they have become more frequent and more violent. Many of these incidents are known as "price tag" operations, whereby settlers destroy Palestinian property as a response to the IDF's having dismantled an illegal outpost. The settlers, say West Bank field workers for various NGOs, are becoming bolder.
The more egregious acts of settler violence are reported in the Israeli media, although rarely with prominence, but most incidents fail to attract the attention of the major news outlets at all - because they occur so frequently that they have become unremarkable, because most Israelis are numb to these stories, and because Palestinians are increasingly reluctant to file a police complaint. Why bother to enlist the help of the police when, as Yesh Din has documented, more than 90 percent of legal cases involving settler violence end with their being closed due to "lack of evidence"?
When Jews, Muslims and Christians deface one another's holy sites or places of worship, the story is reported widely by the Western media - especially when the culprits are members of the group backed by military and political might, as is the case of the Jewish settlers in the Palestinian-majority West Bank. And so the story of the defaced Hawara mosque was reported widely in major news outlets, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, with accompanying photos. But the chances of the perpetrators being arrested and put on trial are very slight. In the cases of the four mosques previously vandalized, allegedly by settlers, two investigations are officially ongoing, and two have been closed for lack of evidence.
Lior Yavne, Yesh Din's research director, says that investigations into complaints filed against settlers by Palestinians fail for a number of reasons. The civil police of Judea and Samaria are understaffed and underfunded. Jewish suspects are almost never included in police lineups. The police frequently fail to verify the alibis of Jews, or to make arrests.
Investigations fail to result in convictions even when eyewitnesses provide accurate descriptions of Jewish suspects seen at or fleeing the scene, holding incriminating evidence - as in a case reported earlier this month by the Jerusalem Post's Dan Izenberg. According to the April 6 article, a settler from Kedumim was caught by police last summer, fleeing a burning Palestinian orchard while holding a jerrican filled with flammable liquid, and with the smell of the liquid on his hands. The suspect refused to answer police questions during interrogation; and less than a year later, the courts dismissed the case for "lack of evidence." Michael Sfard, Yesh Din's legal advisor, described the court's decision as "scandalous."
Palestinian villages are increasingly unprotected by the IDF, which does provide extensive protection for Jewish settlements. At the same time, however, Palestinians are not allowed to possess weapons; the IDF arrests people caught with knives or guns in their possession. Settlers, on the other hand, are permitted by law to carry weapons.
Meanwhile, the IDF is acting according to increasingly draconian orders to suppress non-violent demonstrations against the occupation that are organized and led by grassroots Palestinian movements. Leaders of popular resistance organizations are dragged from their beds during night raids, arrested and jailed - often indefinitely. The villages in which demonstrations take place on Friday mornings have been declared closed military zones. Those who violate the army's orders and come out to demonstrate are regularly shot at with rubber bullets, doused with skunk gas, beaten and arrested.
For Palestinians in the West Bank, the sense of helplessness and frustration must be enormous. When they are attacked, they can almost never hope for justice within the framework of the legal system. Nor are they allowed to defend themselves. Nor can they expect the IDF to protect them. And even when they protest these injustices using nonviolent methods - marching, chanting and waving flags - they are punished with arrests and violence, with dehumanizing skunk gas and beatings. So what happens when there is no legal recourse or justice for the injured and no real civic structure, and when the moderates are systematically crushed? Surely these are the ideal psychological circumstances that make people vulnerable to the beckoning finger of extremism.
Lisa Goldman is a freelance journalist and blogger, and a social media consultant for Yesh Din.
Original post: Who will protect Palestinians from growing settler extremism? - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
If what your country is doing seems to you practically and morally wrong, dissent is the highest form of patriotism.
24 April 2010
The Beast File: Catholic Church Sex Scandals (HUNGRY BEAST)
2000 YEAR HISTORY OF CATHOLIC CHURCH PEDOPHILIA
22 April 2010
Israeli Tanks Invade And Destroy Farm Lands In Southern Gaza Strip - International Middle East Media Center
Israeli Tanks Invade And Destroy Farm Lands In Southern Gaza Strip - International Middle East Media Center
As if Gaza wasn't already small enough. I just love how Israel likes to uproot olive trees. How fitting that they run over olive branches with tanks and bulldozers. (Israeli tanks did the same thing near this town last September too.)
As if Gaza wasn't already small enough. I just love how Israel likes to uproot olive trees. How fitting that they run over olive branches with tanks and bulldozers. (Israeli tanks did the same thing near this town last September too.)
16 April 2010
A TEXT FROM MY MOM TO ME WHILE AT THE DODGERS GAME:
"Please eat 2 picante dogs with mustard and onions for me. thanks & have a good time. if you see mccourt, tell him your mom said suck it!!!"
Haha...oh, mom!
Haha...oh, mom!
15 April 2010
Tea Party leader Mark Williams: Political correctness led to 9/11, America has AIDS
"Political correctness is going to kill us," Williams said. "Political correctness led to 9/11, political correctness led to Barack Hussein Obama -- political correctness is a societal HIV. (America has) a full-blown case of AIDS and we're the cure." ~ Mark Williams
Read the article here.
Watch the speech here.
Read the article here.
Watch the speech here.
Mike Huckabee Likens Gay Marriage to Incest, Polygamy
SMH AT MR HUCKABEE: Did the slippery slope begin with inter-racial marriage laws being repealed then? Should blacks and whites not have the right to marry each other? Did that lead to a nation of beastiality? Did the slippery slope, in fact, begin with the end of slavery? You know whites at least had sex with--wait, sorry--raped black slaves. Wait, they cannot be raped if they are just property, right? No sinning there, right? Does this mean it's ok then to fuck a vacuum hose or a dog? They aren't people either, right? Hmm...funny thing about slippery slopes! The gays deserve their rights too, sir: live and let live. Let's just live on equal footing, not have 1st & 2nd class citizens.
Response to this.
x
Response to this.
x
06 April 2010
WIKI LEAKS: US Military caught on video murdering civilians in IRAQ.
I don't know if this made it into the mainstream TV news, as i rarely watch it anymore, but if you've not seen this video, you must!
VIDEO OF US MILITARY INDISCRIMINATELY MURDERING CIVILIANS IN IRAQ, INCLUDING 2 REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHERS. THE ATTACK WAS UNPROVOKED. ALSO MURDERED WERE RESCUERS OF THE WOUNDED. TWO YOUNG, SERIOUSLY WOUNDED CHILDREN SURVIVED.
This is your tax dollars at work, America. Those two men weren't carrying guns, but professional cameras. And we wonder why the world hates America.
WATCH HERE.
VIDEO OF US MILITARY INDISCRIMINATELY MURDERING CIVILIANS IN IRAQ, INCLUDING 2 REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHERS. THE ATTACK WAS UNPROVOKED. ALSO MURDERED WERE RESCUERS OF THE WOUNDED. TWO YOUNG, SERIOUSLY WOUNDED CHILDREN SURVIVED.
This is your tax dollars at work, America. Those two men weren't carrying guns, but professional cameras. And we wonder why the world hates America.
WATCH HERE.
05 April 2010
03 April 2010
The Myth Called The Islamic World
This article was posted on Political Theatrics on 3 April 2010 (Filed under Western Imperialism):
The Myth Called The Islamic World
The term “Islamic World” frequently appears in print and the electronic media thus creating an impression that such an entity exists. Especially after September 11, 2001, the term has taken on a menacing look and evokes great fear in the minds of many people; thanks to the propagandist nature and the global reach of the Western media. The term is portrayed as a monolithic group opposed to the Western World.
However, this is not true in reality. Upon examination, we see that the virtual Islamic World entity does not fulfill the requirements of a cohesive and separate monolith.
For the existence of any viable and forceful entity of such a nature, it should fulfill a few basic requirements:
• Economic self sufficiency
• Similar economic system
• Durable military alliance
• Similar political system
• Similar cultural ethos
Let us now examine the make up of the Western World. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand meet all the above criteria in varying degrees and can thus be appropriately termed as the Western World.
As we see:
• All of these countries are economically self-sufficient.
• All of them have the same capitalist economic system – some have less unjust capitalist economy and others, such as the United States, have more unjust capitalist economy.
• The military alliance of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) may have occasional differences, but when it is time to unite against a Third world country, they all get on board without much delay. (Although, Australia and New Zealand are not NATO members, they would undoubtedly get full NATO protection if their national sovereignty was perceived to be endangered in any way).
• All of the above countries follow the democratic system. (Of course, with some variance; many offer more social welfare programs whereas the United States – being a capitalist democracy – offer very few.)
Now let’s see if some of the major countries of the so called Islamic World meet any of the criteria.
Economic self sufficiency
Only seven Muslim countries (the oil rich Gulf nations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates or UAE, and the tiny kingdom of Brunei) that in total comprise of a very small fraction of world’s Muslims are extremely rich.
However, all their economies are oil-oriented and dependent on the whims of the Western countries – the main consumers of oil. Libya is another oil-rich country which provides some social safety net to its population. (The dependence on Western nations is bound to change as China and India’s consumption of oil, due to their rising economies, increases; but that will take some time.)
About 40% of the World’s Muslims live in three South Asian countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and (as a minority in) India. Each of these countries has roughly the same number of Muslims. All three have mixed economy – now geared toward more privatization – and are not self sufficient, particularly Bangladesh and Pakistan. Another 15% Muslims live in Indonesia. Comparatively, Indonesia and Malaysia have strong economy; however, the poverty level is too high in Indonesia. Egypt, one of the largest country in the Middle East, is also one of the very few with which the US has a trade surplus, and is one of the largest US aid recipient. However, it is different with another African country Nigeria (which has 50% Muslims and 48% Christians); that is economically strong but has communal problems and economic disparity, which, of course, most of the Muslim countries have.
Economic system
Barring the oil producing countries, other Muslim nations have mixed economies but are showing inclination towards privatizing more of the government sector due to the IMF, World Bank, and the US pressure. (This encourages the local capitalists, who are always waiting in the wing, to twist the government’s arm to sell off government utilities and industries at throw-away prices.) It is different that the European Community, where the countries therein, have economic ties. Also, it could prove expensive to do this due to transportation costs; unlike Europe, Muslim countries do not form one landmass. Muslim countries do have economic forums but they are toothless. And trade among Muslim countries is minimal.
One important factor that does not play an obvious role on the economic scene is WOMEN. They make up half of the population but a tiny fraction of them are allowed to work outside the home. Those working inside the house are mostly a miserable lot.
Military Alliance
There is no NATO or any such alliance among the Muslim countries. Occasionally, some neighboring countries form an alliance, such as the one among Syria, Egypt, Jordan and some other Arab countries, during the 1967 war with Israel. But they lack the longevity due to lack of well planned strategy and so soon dies out.
Challenging the Western countries for their wars and exploitation aside, Muslim countries can’t even get back, not the whole of Palestine, but just the 22% of the land, comprising of Gaza and the West Bank, which Israel annexed in 1967.
The outsiders (the European Jews) came and took over the Ottoman Empire controlled Palestine and turned it into Israel.
Imagine if some Muslim people were to take over the Balearic Islands (a Spanish state, north of Algeria in the Mediterranean Sea) with less than a quarter of Israel’s area. CNN, Fox, BBC, Deutsch Welle, New York Times, You name it would be consumed with this event ad nauseum. In no time flat, Spain will regain these islands, while fully maligning the Muslims and reinforcing the fear of Islam.
Political system
The less said the better. The constitutions are amended whenever the ruler feels that s/he wants to hold on to power a little longer. The armies in many of the countries don’t even remember the barracks. Pakistan, Turkey, and Bangladesh have all seen the army rule. They do have elections but the army is always lurking in the background (and some time, in case of Pakistan, in the foreground as it is happening now with Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Kayani who is openly flaunting his wings.)
Iran has elections but then the Islamic Supreme Council is always on politicians’ nerves. Egypt has been issued NOC from the US and so it is exempted from holding the elections. (Hosni Mubarak, Anwar Sadat’s Vice President, came to power after the Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Sadat in 1981. Referendums are held where Mubarak was the only candidate, hence there was no opposition. After staying in power for 32 years, Indonesia’s Suharto had to step down in 1998 due to the financial crisis. Since then the elected governments have ruled the country.
Oil rich countries have Shahs and Sheikhs where power transfers are hereditary, oil is their personal property, and gambling, womanizing, and hunting are their activities. Saudi Arabia indulges in another hobby too: beheading.
Culture
Arab culture is different than the South Asian culture, which has minimal commonality with the African culture which in turn has no resemblance to the Indonesian or Malaysian cultures. The black Muslims in the US have almost no cultural difference between other blacks in the US.
In the US, you can see Muslims from different countries praying together where a tiny fraction of them form organizations; but other than that, the majority of the Muslims mingle among their own ethnic groups. On Fridays, the prayer’s end would see South Asians running to nearby South Asian restaurant or grocery store cum restaurant where biryanis, chicken or beef rolls, and other food is waiting to be picked up by worshipers who have ordered this in advance.
Culture in its entirety does not consist of just praying together; it has several other elements involved: food, clothing, arts, cinema, regional politics, scandals, TV dramas, sports, and the most important of them all is the language. A Pakistani Muslim Punjabi would be more comfortable with an Indian Sikh or Hindu Punjabi rather than a Muslim/Hindu Gujarati. The Muslim Bengali from India’s Bengal wouldn’t hesitate to mingle with a Hindu Bengali from Bangladesh rather than a Hindu/Muslim Marathi. This is true of all the ethnic groups, except for some cosmopolitan people.
The English language is bringing people within a country closer; but the scale is still too small to make any sizeable difference. Religious outlook–strictly Saudi Wahabism or relaxed South Asian style religious observations and practice which include visits to shrines–also are indicators of cultural ethos.
Conclusion
As we noted, this portrait of menacing Islamic World ready to take over the world is conjured up by the western governments and media to maintain unity and peace among the elite populace within the Western countries to unite against a perceived enemy. On the other hand, the Muslims all over the world are led to believe that there is something called the Islamic World which is not only a powerful force but which can also challenge the western hegemony. This myth is also used by the leaders of the Muslim countries to hide their own shortcomings and weaknesses. This leads some Muslims to join the militant movements hoping to counter the United States.
There is no such entity as Islamic World; instead there are countries where Muslims make up a majority and so they can be called Muslim countries.
Notes/Sources:
The above article was written by B. R. Gowani;entitled: “The Myth Called The Islamic World“.The article can be found on Counter Currents.
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
The Myth Called The Islamic World
The term “Islamic World” frequently appears in print and the electronic media thus creating an impression that such an entity exists. Especially after September 11, 2001, the term has taken on a menacing look and evokes great fear in the minds of many people; thanks to the propagandist nature and the global reach of the Western media. The term is portrayed as a monolithic group opposed to the Western World.
However, this is not true in reality. Upon examination, we see that the virtual Islamic World entity does not fulfill the requirements of a cohesive and separate monolith.
For the existence of any viable and forceful entity of such a nature, it should fulfill a few basic requirements:
• Economic self sufficiency
• Similar economic system
• Durable military alliance
• Similar political system
• Similar cultural ethos
Let us now examine the make up of the Western World. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand meet all the above criteria in varying degrees and can thus be appropriately termed as the Western World.
As we see:
• All of these countries are economically self-sufficient.
• All of them have the same capitalist economic system – some have less unjust capitalist economy and others, such as the United States, have more unjust capitalist economy.
• The military alliance of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) may have occasional differences, but when it is time to unite against a Third world country, they all get on board without much delay. (Although, Australia and New Zealand are not NATO members, they would undoubtedly get full NATO protection if their national sovereignty was perceived to be endangered in any way).
• All of the above countries follow the democratic system. (Of course, with some variance; many offer more social welfare programs whereas the United States – being a capitalist democracy – offer very few.)
Now let’s see if some of the major countries of the so called Islamic World meet any of the criteria.
Economic self sufficiency
Only seven Muslim countries (the oil rich Gulf nations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates or UAE, and the tiny kingdom of Brunei) that in total comprise of a very small fraction of world’s Muslims are extremely rich.
However, all their economies are oil-oriented and dependent on the whims of the Western countries – the main consumers of oil. Libya is another oil-rich country which provides some social safety net to its population. (The dependence on Western nations is bound to change as China and India’s consumption of oil, due to their rising economies, increases; but that will take some time.)
About 40% of the World’s Muslims live in three South Asian countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and (as a minority in) India. Each of these countries has roughly the same number of Muslims. All three have mixed economy – now geared toward more privatization – and are not self sufficient, particularly Bangladesh and Pakistan. Another 15% Muslims live in Indonesia. Comparatively, Indonesia and Malaysia have strong economy; however, the poverty level is too high in Indonesia. Egypt, one of the largest country in the Middle East, is also one of the very few with which the US has a trade surplus, and is one of the largest US aid recipient. However, it is different with another African country Nigeria (which has 50% Muslims and 48% Christians); that is economically strong but has communal problems and economic disparity, which, of course, most of the Muslim countries have.
Economic system
Barring the oil producing countries, other Muslim nations have mixed economies but are showing inclination towards privatizing more of the government sector due to the IMF, World Bank, and the US pressure. (This encourages the local capitalists, who are always waiting in the wing, to twist the government’s arm to sell off government utilities and industries at throw-away prices.) It is different that the European Community, where the countries therein, have economic ties. Also, it could prove expensive to do this due to transportation costs; unlike Europe, Muslim countries do not form one landmass. Muslim countries do have economic forums but they are toothless. And trade among Muslim countries is minimal.
One important factor that does not play an obvious role on the economic scene is WOMEN. They make up half of the population but a tiny fraction of them are allowed to work outside the home. Those working inside the house are mostly a miserable lot.
Military Alliance
There is no NATO or any such alliance among the Muslim countries. Occasionally, some neighboring countries form an alliance, such as the one among Syria, Egypt, Jordan and some other Arab countries, during the 1967 war with Israel. But they lack the longevity due to lack of well planned strategy and so soon dies out.
Challenging the Western countries for their wars and exploitation aside, Muslim countries can’t even get back, not the whole of Palestine, but just the 22% of the land, comprising of Gaza and the West Bank, which Israel annexed in 1967.
The outsiders (the European Jews) came and took over the Ottoman Empire controlled Palestine and turned it into Israel.
Imagine if some Muslim people were to take over the Balearic Islands (a Spanish state, north of Algeria in the Mediterranean Sea) with less than a quarter of Israel’s area. CNN, Fox, BBC, Deutsch Welle, New York Times, You name it would be consumed with this event ad nauseum. In no time flat, Spain will regain these islands, while fully maligning the Muslims and reinforcing the fear of Islam.
Political system
The less said the better. The constitutions are amended whenever the ruler feels that s/he wants to hold on to power a little longer. The armies in many of the countries don’t even remember the barracks. Pakistan, Turkey, and Bangladesh have all seen the army rule. They do have elections but the army is always lurking in the background (and some time, in case of Pakistan, in the foreground as it is happening now with Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Kayani who is openly flaunting his wings.)
Iran has elections but then the Islamic Supreme Council is always on politicians’ nerves. Egypt has been issued NOC from the US and so it is exempted from holding the elections. (Hosni Mubarak, Anwar Sadat’s Vice President, came to power after the Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Sadat in 1981. Referendums are held where Mubarak was the only candidate, hence there was no opposition. After staying in power for 32 years, Indonesia’s Suharto had to step down in 1998 due to the financial crisis. Since then the elected governments have ruled the country.
Oil rich countries have Shahs and Sheikhs where power transfers are hereditary, oil is their personal property, and gambling, womanizing, and hunting are their activities. Saudi Arabia indulges in another hobby too: beheading.
Culture
Arab culture is different than the South Asian culture, which has minimal commonality with the African culture which in turn has no resemblance to the Indonesian or Malaysian cultures. The black Muslims in the US have almost no cultural difference between other blacks in the US.
In the US, you can see Muslims from different countries praying together where a tiny fraction of them form organizations; but other than that, the majority of the Muslims mingle among their own ethnic groups. On Fridays, the prayer’s end would see South Asians running to nearby South Asian restaurant or grocery store cum restaurant where biryanis, chicken or beef rolls, and other food is waiting to be picked up by worshipers who have ordered this in advance.
Culture in its entirety does not consist of just praying together; it has several other elements involved: food, clothing, arts, cinema, regional politics, scandals, TV dramas, sports, and the most important of them all is the language. A Pakistani Muslim Punjabi would be more comfortable with an Indian Sikh or Hindu Punjabi rather than a Muslim/Hindu Gujarati. The Muslim Bengali from India’s Bengal wouldn’t hesitate to mingle with a Hindu Bengali from Bangladesh rather than a Hindu/Muslim Marathi. This is true of all the ethnic groups, except for some cosmopolitan people.
The English language is bringing people within a country closer; but the scale is still too small to make any sizeable difference. Religious outlook–strictly Saudi Wahabism or relaxed South Asian style religious observations and practice which include visits to shrines–also are indicators of cultural ethos.
Conclusion
As we noted, this portrait of menacing Islamic World ready to take over the world is conjured up by the western governments and media to maintain unity and peace among the elite populace within the Western countries to unite against a perceived enemy. On the other hand, the Muslims all over the world are led to believe that there is something called the Islamic World which is not only a powerful force but which can also challenge the western hegemony. This myth is also used by the leaders of the Muslim countries to hide their own shortcomings and weaknesses. This leads some Muslims to join the militant movements hoping to counter the United States.
There is no such entity as Islamic World; instead there are countries where Muslims make up a majority and so they can be called Muslim countries.
Notes/Sources:
The above article was written by B. R. Gowani;entitled: “The Myth Called The Islamic World“.The article can be found on Counter Currents.
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
So are there no weather forecasters in Saudi Arabia?
A 46-year-old father of five, was arrested by RELIGIOUS POLICE and sentenced to DEATH for SOCERY for making a prediction about the future, while on a PILGRIMAGE to Medina.
Hmm, so one can be practicing one's religion by going on a pilgrimage and get put to death by the laws of the very same religion for not being a good observer of said religion? Sounds about right to me. NOT!
Read the story here: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38186
Hmm, so one can be practicing one's religion by going on a pilgrimage and get put to death by the laws of the very same religion for not being a good observer of said religion? Sounds about right to me. NOT!
Read the story here: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38186
Can religions really change with the needs of the society? - Being Human
By jaksaw Pro:
See original post here.
The real enemy of reason are not just religions, but the real enemy is any belief-system or ideology that claims to have found the only possible way of thinking.
Any fanatically enough held system of beliefs can breed intolerance towards all other possible ways thinking, as these intolerance-breeding belief-systems all too often claim that there can only be one allowed and tolerated model of life and behavior in general.
This inbuilt intolerance was not a similar problem in societies where there was only one allowed religion and state-supported religions wholly controlled monolithic societies.
The problem with intolerant belief-systems is however greatly intensified in situations where the believers of different intolerant belief-systems need to come more and more to contact with people with different belief-systems and also permanently live side-by-side.
After over 3000 years of gradually intensifying globalization the price paid for intolerance has become greater and greater, as it becomes more and more a hinder for development in the society.
Modern societies simply must adjust themselves to the fact that all their members do not think alike. Societies still enforcing this kind of intolerance are in a clear inbuilt disadvantage, as the development of a society is inevitably handicapped.
The example of many underdeveloped Islamic countries shows how extreme these consequences can be.
A famous quote says "In a society where all people think alike, there is not much thinking done". A successful modern society just needs freedom of thought to breed the level of innovation that drives the society forwards.
The case of communism also clearly shows that also a political ideology can develop into a de facto religion.
This occurs quite inevitably if a ideology is accepted as the only possible and allowed way of thinking in a society.
A ideology like religion can however also be developed into a quite reasonable tool for furthering traditions and to become a building block of civil and tolerant society.
This process has already happened in the Lutheran state churches of the most of the Western Europe and Scandinavia.
A major problem however remains, as all of the Abrahamic religions do still contain the seeds of even extreme intolerance, even if the current majority versions have universally grown out of them.
They are still present in the old bronze-age core dogmas of the religions, which are retained for reasons of upholding a "divine" tradition, even if it is not put to practice anymore.
This intolerance is inbuilt in Abrahamic religions largely because to succeed in a contested religious marketplace a emerging religion just must be extremely intolerant toward other religions.
The original acquiring position of power needs to have this feature in a religion which is not originally born out of the needs of machinery of the state.
A religion can grow and mature out of this original state of intolerance, as the case of western Lutheran state churches does show.
The core problem however is that the message of intolerance is still there and readily available in the old-fashioned core dogmas of these religions.
Inevitably all of the revivalist factions wanting to return to the real, original faith do take advantage of this message of intolerance to further their own goals.
This has happened in Christianity, in Islam and in Judaism. Many of the state-sponsored or majority versions of these faiths have grown to became even reasonably tolerant, as the needs of a modern society just demand this kind of tolerance.
However most of the extremist factions of all of these Abrahamic faiths have taken great pains to keep the original message of extreme intolerance in the core of their message and they do breed intolerance and hatred in societies where a very central need of society would be tolerance.
The well-being of modern societies is very much dependent on how a great role these intolerant versions of faith can acquire in society.
In United States they breed discontent and hatred and in the end erode the basis of the consensus-society.
In Israel they endanger the very existence of that state in being the major source of continued hatred and bigotry towards the Arabs and are also a major cause for the inability to reach a peaceful solution in Palestine.
Among the followers of Islam they breed hatred and fear that in the end endangers the well-being of all Muslim communities all over the world.
The core problem is that the intolerance-breeding parts of these belief-systems have outgrown their usability.
Accordingly most majority versions of these religions have quietly dropped the original intolerant parts from their message.
However, as their original message was carefully designed to fill some very central psychological needs in humans, also these intolerance-breeding versions of religions do unfortunately live on, even if they have become extremely obsolete and in fact a heavy liability for the human race.
See original post here.
02 April 2010
AT&T campaign ads share texts drivers were reading or sending when their lives ended or were changed forever.
"Many young drivers across the country are out of school this week and next for spring vacation. They will likely be logging more hours behind the wheel. I hope those extra hours lead to increased skill levels and road sense.
Just in time, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire has signed her state's new law making it a primary offense to use a hand-held cell phone to talk or text behind the wheel.
And the folks at AT&T have a new anti-texting campaign they hope will lead to increased safety.
It's dramatic stuff, and I think it's astonishingly effective."
Check it out here.
Just in time, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire has signed her state's new law making it a primary offense to use a hand-held cell phone to talk or text behind the wheel.
And the folks at AT&T have a new anti-texting campaign they hope will lead to increased safety.
It's dramatic stuff, and I think it's astonishingly effective."
Check it out here.
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