Wednesday, February 24, 2010

FEARING FOR MY LIFE




12 comments:

Iris said...

I like this person. Who is he? His thoughts remind me greatly of Robert Ingersoll.

Iris said...

OK. I listened to the last two. There are parts of what he says I agree with a great deal. What he leaves out is that it isn't all of Islam that is militant and fearful. There are the jihad followers and many others who are trapped in the world that is dominated by those of the Taliban ilk. For them, free speech is nonexistent. I do know a few muslim and they are as appalled by the Taliban and al queda propaganda as are we. Maybe this means they're not "good mulsims." I don't know about that.

The fact the President Obama bowed to the Saudi, to me, isn't a sign of weakness or strength. It's probably just his upbringing. He tends to bow to anyone. I suspect his mother taught him to be respectful and humble. That's not, necesarily a bad trait.

However, this man is NOT fully aware of the state of being in "America." First of all, America isn't just the United States. If you are a pundant, you should probably know the difference. The U.S. freedom of speech is NOT as absolute as he would like to think. This does not in any way diminish its power, though. We can say pretty much what we want, as long as it's not harmful to others. We can dislike whomever we wish. We can even say we dislike them. We just can't incite danger to these people.

If other governments are bowing overly to muslim pressure, this is a cause for concern. The issue is, it would be a cause for concern no matter who is weilding the power.

So, the Saudis want aid if we stop using so much oil product, eh? I doubt they'll get it. Just because your business fails, doesn't mean you're automatically entitled to aid. Just ask the businessman down the street here in my home town. There's no aid coming to him or her.

So, the United States is far from perfect already. I seriously doubt that courts here will ever reach a point where they can favor muslims over all others. I doubt seriously if it will ever become illegal to criticize any particular religion. It might be controversial, but not illegal. Maybe I have my head in the sand. I don't think so.

There are times when I think the church (any church) in this country has too much power, but the fact is, it's based on a majority view, at least for now.

So, while I enjoy listening to this man and feel a certain amount of it is of great interest to me and, in many cases, parallels my views; I do think he takes his points to lengths that border on the absurd.

A mix of Robert Ingersoll and Rush Limbaugh! Fascinating. If he wants to be taken seriously, he needs to be careful of crossing the line and back again between liberalism and conservatism.

Unknown said...

Hi Iris-I hope you set so that you get the other comments too. I don't know Rush Limbaugh and this man here is not a tv person. I think he is just a concerned citizen, as am I. I do think things are different here in Europe. We have already given away too much. I hope I have made it clear that I am anti any religion not just Islam. Meaning people have a right to believe as they wish but they do NOT have a right to make the rest of us respect their belief or change out way of life to accommodate it.
One can here people of religion calling us gay people evil and we ought to be imprisoned or killed and no one causes a stink. However, say their religion is absurd and all hell breaks loose. This is NOT fair nor is it right. We also have faith schools here which I think is appalling and we have just passed a law, by trickery, that allows faith schools to teach sex education according to their beliefs and yet the MP's deny this will just confirm homophobia. Do they think we are stupid?

Denise said...

I listened to all of these and I think he is a very good speaker and has a good grip on what is going on. To say that the US would not give them aid is really really stupid. We gave aid to the failing banks and to the car companies. Oh sure they are paying us back but that doesnt mean that we should have helped them out in the first place. To say that there are good people in Islam might be true although the mob rules and people do things in a group that they might not do individually.

There are signs that we are heading down a wrong path but everyone just keeps saying it is nothing that Obama bowed, it is nothing that his wife didnt treat the Queen with respect. They are POLITICIANS dont you get it? They are in it for what THEY can get out of it not for the little people like me. They could care less if I lose my job as long as I pay my taxes. All the good ones are dropping out of politics because they cant brown nose along with all the others.

If you think that this man speaks is radical, then you must not remember anything about history...shall I mention the Nazis? Seems like they didnt like free speech as well...hmmmm.

I am proud to be an American and I also am proud of our soldiers by the way.

Denise said...

To clarify things Colin, I meant that group mentality can get people into lots of trouble. You might not mean to agree with the group but are just carried along with them. If you know what I mean. I know its as clear as mud right? :)

I by the way have given up going to church (raised protestant) because it always bothered me when they said that you had to believe in Jesus to get to heaven and even as a little child I always wondered about my ancestors who were on this earth before Jesus and what about all the other people in the world who were good people but believed in their religion were they going to hell? But what really took the cake was when I went to a church where the preacher formerly a baptist told us that babies were going to hell if they were not baptised. Really pissed me off. After reading a lot about other religions and Sylvia Browne's tomes I decided that religion was not for me. I am now more spiritual and finally free from all the fear. I do still believe in God and Jesus but have cut out the middle man so to speak! I give money to charities that I believe actually help people. I do not believe that you have to be in a church to talk to God and to say that you do is really kind of asinine. Jesus after all did not believe in the temples did he? You dont have to believe in Him, he believes in you after all and what I believe, do and think is between me and Him no one else so all those "Good church going folks" can keep their religion. I'll keep seeing God in all the beautiful things around me and thank Him for it.

Sorry so long a post!

Iris said...

I agree he's a good speaker. As a matter of fact, I like listening to him. There's a danger in that, too. I do think he goes a bit overboard in singling out the Muslim religion. I agree with Colin that all religions and, and often are, dangerous. Of course, I'm not a fan of organized religions. It's been my experience that religious groups always expect something in return, even if it's just a chance to "educate" those they seek to help. People or all denominations are convinced they are right and only they are right. How I'd love to see the faces when they realize they're wrong. After all, they can't ALL be right, can they?

Iris said...

I can't agree with you on some points, Denise. If you'll remember, there was a time when men bowed to others and each other as a matter of course. They took off their hats in buildings. They tried not to offend each other. If you think the state of life here in the U.S. is better today, I just can't agree. Somewhere, in losing the "niceties" of life. we've turned into a bunch of "me first" people. There are reasons why we're called "ugly Americans." The term didn't come about because we're polite and correct.

Don't get me wrong. I think the U.S. is a great country, too. But, I'll stand behind my comments that it doesn't hurt for the president to be polite and, yes, even a bit differential to another head of state, especially in the other person's country.

If you didn't like the way Michelle Obama behaved with the Queen, you might want to realize that it's HER upbringing that might be in question. We've become so used to our casual way of doing things in this country that it becomes very hard to remember that other countries' policies and customs might not be so free wheeling.

I'm proud of our soldiers, too. I think they get a really bad deal. I don't want to live anywhere else, either.

But, I don't think we're perfect.

And, I don't think you can equate Barrack Obama with Hitler. That offends me on a lot of levels.

Ah, well. I think my liberal side is showing, thank goodness!

Unknown said...

I am baffled by your remark about Hitler and Obama, Iris. No one did compared them.
I think all three of us are on the same side.
I do think though that the world is a better place than ever it was BUT we are in danger of allowing the extremists to whittle away civilization and plunge us back into the dark ages. It is already becoming socially unacceptable to criticise religion and THAT is very dangerous indeed.

Unknown said...

Denise- think we may be closer in spiritual beliefs. I haven't read Sylvia Browne though I know who she is.

Iris said...

You're correct, Colin. I misread Denise's comment in this regard. My apologies to Denise. There's a terrible danger any time a person is so charismatic they are able to influence large numbers of people to follow them blindly. These people frighten me terribly. They make me believe in demons.

Lisa said...

I completely agree with your first post! I haven't listened to the others yet. Can't wait to do. "We are too fat and complacent to realize a war is being waged against us" I LOVE THAT! Your socknitters yahoo group friend-

Lisa said...

Very Good! How courageous and truthful! I vote for Colin for president...