Je suis Charlie

[dillon]

I wouldn't want anyone to think that I am not a believer in a Divine Creator. I am, though as a Cosmic Deist, in the vein of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and the other founding fathers of this grand experiment in collective decision-making. It is theology that I have a problem with, that I distrust, for obvious reasons, especially as it balkanizes those who profess to serve God into ever more viscious and unyielding fractions. That is the root of trouble in the world, not the will of God, but the fools who are so self-assured, and so easily mislead, to believe that their version is absolute and infallible. It has become too convenient, and profitable, for the self-proclaimed pious of each faith to overlook that we all, Christian, Muslim, and Jew, are children of the same God.

As for the faith in which I was raised, and can now barely recognize, what astounds me is the willful obliviousness to history of this current wave of "fundamentalist" Christians. Ironically, they aren't actually fundamentalist at all, but are creating a new, rabid version of Christianity, in the form of the "personal Jesus", and proclaiming that version to be the historical basis for America being, purportedly from inception, a "Christian Nation." Neither the Pilgrims or the Puritans, or the Wesleyan Methodists, or the early Baptists, (even after scourging us Carolinians of our disposition toward drunkenness) would recognize today's "Christianity of the Airwaves." This version of Christianity, so widely embraced and proclaimed as "traditional" or "old-time religion," would be as alien to the founders of the Republic as Rastafarianism or Zoroastrianism might be.

Jim, I wish the lessons from a loving God that you enumerated, and which I embrace - the ways of God that I learned of as a child in Methodist Sunday School - were the norm for today's Christianity in America. Those most basic concepts, sadly, seem to have been washed away, as if they were only scratched upon a sandy beach for the tides of theology to erase from the dialect of today's fierce, single-minded "sermon-ators." The Christianity one commonly encounters today demonizes thinking individuals and pressures the faithful to believe not in a Kingdom of God, but rather in a Cult of Identity and Obedience, that infuses the fear of being different from the proscribed ideals of faith by telling you exactly what and how your relationship to God should be, nay, MUST be, and via what means. It has ceased to be a Faith, and has instead become a Club. And apparently the first requirement for membership in that Club is the fearful abandonment of natural intellect, curious investigation, and unfettered discourse.

As I have said before, anyone who dares believe that religon-spawned evil originates only from Islam, because "Muslims are different", and that it can't happen here, because "Americans are Christian", is woefully ignorant of history. As the saying goes, those who do not learn the lessons of history are destined to repeat them. I'm not excusing the behavior of any terrorists from ISIS to Al Qaeda to the IRA to the KKK, all of whom usurp the name of God as part of their charge to commit violence. It's not God's fault that men blindly follow each other in the name of righteousness. I just think all mankind needs to take a step back from the presumption that we have any inkling as to the will of God. From all available evidence, we run this clusterf--k of a world on our own. It's time to let both Mohammed and Jesus off the hook for our evils; we are simply too dense to learn what they sought to teach us.

The average American hardly identifies with religion today and, clearly, IMO, too many wander in spiritual darkness. Still, ironically, churches are bigger and richer and more prolific...and louder...than at any time in our history. I may be surrendering to despair, but when it comes to religion, it seems the lunatics are firmly in charge of the asylum. As they await God's return to Earth, they think they can do whatever they please as long as his name is invoked. Well, as a jokester once said, God is indeed coming, and boy is She pissed!

[Grok]

I don't quite understand...is there a particular reason for ISIS to seize Japanese hostages? Or are the hostages just convenient tools?

[OldSkirt]

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a simple answer.

We none receive balanced news from mainstream news casts; manipulation, misdirection and supression abounds. Most caters for those unwilling or unable to seek more and leads to polarisation and division of societies from community, through national to international levels.

I received a link to http://www.informationclearinghouse.info which adds new dimensions to what is reported in the mainstream, but you need to dig into the source articles linked to benefit. This might provide links to the perspective from which those in the Middle East see things. I'm not saying one is right and the other wrong, but it is easy to understand how the lesser educated and maybe less intelligent in society can be so easily stirred!

When I read various articles, watch news reports and then listen to the "views" around the "man in the street", I appreciate the oasis of Skirtcafe. In general, the patrons here are thoughtful, articulate, reasoned and measured, regardless of their primary language. Postings are sensitive and respectful. If any can point me to another forum with a similar thread topic to this that hasn't yet been locked, please do, because everywhere else I've looked has degenerated into flame war. I suspect some scientific and academic fora may also keep level heads; just I've not found them.

So, thank you to all here for keeping such a good mix of the light stuff and the serious generally with little overt need for moderator action, and thank you moderators and Carl for your firm but balanced approach on those rare occasions when it is needed.

[Couya]

...is there a particular reason for ISIS to seize Japanese hostages? Or are the hostages just convenient tools?

I should say that anyone from a rich country would do quite well as a hostage.
You would not get much media coverage by taking a prisoner from Madagascar, nor any financial benefit. Perhaps Japanese are less well protected abroad than Americans.

The jihadists did not get much out of Japan this time, and probably never will. The Japanese being known for their stoicism and not being afraid of death, it was a pretty bad choice!

Martin

[skirted_in_SF]

I believe I heard on NPR that ISIS was asking for $100million, the same amount the Japanese government had pledged to fight them a day or three earlier. I think they already had the hostages at the time.

[Sylvain]

Cardinal: Your eminence, I have good news and bad news.

Not your eminence, but your holiness...

[crfriend]

Not your eminence, but your holiness...

With no offence meant, the odds of me meeting any Pope in my lifetime are so vanishingly small that I need not fret over them. It's the overall demeanour that's important, and much of that might come down to what sort of day I've had, and at whose hand.

I rather liked the newest one's tone up until he became an apologist for the terrorists in Paris. He's got a steep hill to climb in my estimation to get out of that gully.

Yes, I have a short fuze.

[dillon]

I,'ve never been a fan of Catholic dogma, and Benedict only further embittered me toward Catholic theocracy, but I greatly admire Pope Francis and think he may advance the church by a couple centuries. I wish him much success. I am afraid old questions regarding the silence of the church during the time of the wretched paranoid repression in Argentina during the 1970s will eventually haunt him, however.

[Grok]

I feel torn.....

On the one hand, I think it is rude to mock other peoples' religion.

On the other hand, freedom of speech is at risk.

[Milfmog]

I feel torn.....

On the one hand, I think it is rude to mock other peoples' religion.

On the other hand, freedom of speech is at risk.

You could argue that if somebody's faith is not strong enough to survive a little mocking...

Since pretty much every religion espouses tolerance for others and their views, I firmly believe that freedom of speech may not so much be an argument as a tool that demonstrates the emptiness of some people's words.


Ian.

[dillon]

Killing people because they speak against your beliefs cannot in any way be considered an act of faith. It is a sick perversion that only demonstrates voluntary stupidty, and not devotion to God.

[Kirbstone]

It's the suicide bomber mentality. They're so indoctrinated in the martyrdom concept that they just want to take as many innocent people with them as possible before the inevitable.
It's an old concept but it's become frighteningly widespread in recent years and who knows where some weirdo will strike next.

Tom

[crfriend]

It's the suicide bomber mentality. [...]

There are some measures that can be taken at a societal level to deter such behavior, not the least of which is to not publicise the nature of an event and to not count the bomber as one of the casualties -- in other words, expunge the memory of the person completely from the collective conscience. See to it that a prospective one will know full well that his existence -- his entire meaning of life -- will be immediately and totally forgotten.

This is a fate worse than being hated -- it is the fate to never have existed in the first place. Not a pox on civilization -- but to have never existed at all.

Ultimately we cannot allow these sorts of creatures rule us -- and they rule through fear -- for if we do we capitulate entirely to them and their entirely warped and kinky view of the world.

[Couya]

The trouble is the religious indoctrination behind all this. If you have been firmly taught there is an after life many times more wonderful than everyday life, what other aim can you have but to get there as soon as you can? Nothing to be afraid of, just look forward to having fun with the angels or the houris.
I very much doubt these terrorists are interested in making a name for themselves or a place in history. What does the future on earth matter when heaven is waiting?

Martin

[dillon]

The trouble is the religious indoctrination behind all this. If you have been firmly taught there is an after life many times more wonderful than everyday life, what other aim can you have but to get there as soon as you can? Nothing to be afraid of, just look forward to having fun with the angels or the houris.
I very much doubt these terrorists are interested in making a name for themselves or a place in history. What does the future on earth matter when heaven is waiting?

Martin

As I said...voluntary stupidity.