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Wednesday, Oct 3, 2007

Is anyone else shocked and frightened by the direction our country has taken? Liberals speak of our wonderful religious freedom, using it to defend the freedom of Muslims to worship as they wish. I, too, support this freedom for everyone, be they Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, or any other religion. Why then, does this freedom seem to come to a screeching halt for Christians? In speaking of terrorism, we are almost afraid to mention the religious background of those who attacked us, and yet, Timothy McVeigh is held up an example of Christianity taken to extremes. Muslims especially are protected from anyone speaking ill of their religion, but Christians are expected to deal with it quietly and not respond.

I certainly do not advocate any kind of religious discrimination. I have several friends who are Muslim, and I have no concerns about them blowing up a building or trying to destroy America. Just as there are bad people who are Muslim, there are bad people who are Christian. But there should not be two standards for these religions.

Furthermore, we are constantly bombarded by people telling us that just because a few Muslims go to extremes does not mean that all Muslims agree with them. We are told we are being insensitive and intolerant, while the same people speak of Pat Robertson as arepresentative of all Christians. I, for one, think Pat Robertson does more damage than good to the Christian community. But my view is smothered by others who think they know more about what is in my heart than I do. Apparently, if I believe in Jesus Christ, I must also believe that natural disasters are a form of God's wrath.

One more thing I don't understand. With all these cries for the words "under God" to be removed from the pledge of allegiance, one cannot help but focus on the source. Does anyone else find it interesting that these cries come almost exclusively from atheists? I mean, how can they possibly be offended when they have no beliefs to offend? If a friend of mine tells me he is having a party,and he isinviting Bob, and I don't know Bob (or even believe that Bob exists), can I be offended? Of course not. Why not? Because I have no opinion of Bob, and I don't think he exists. Sure, he can be invited, but as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't exist, so he won't show up. No harm, no foul. Why, then, are atheists so highly offended. Can't they just sit quietly by and snicker at all the ignorant fools who they feel are so far beneath them? Or perhaps, they somehow feel threatened by a few words or a prayer, and if so, that is another matter entirely.

Comments

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Extremist anything is dangerous. Extremist christians bomb gay bars and abortion clinics. Extremist muslims are responcible for 9-11 as well as other horible acts. Extremest jews bomb Palestine. That's what happens when you put a belief system ahead of actual human life.
Posted Oct 3, 2007 8:02 am PT
"If the world hates you, remember it hated me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own."

Nothing new here, except the hypocrisy that the Left (in this case, predominantly interchangeable with the World) espouses of freedom and tolerance.

I do not agree with the notion based on a few vague examples thrown out that Jews, Muslims, and Christians are on the same wavelength, even in their extremism. Jews bombing Palestinians are consistently doing so in self-defense, just as we would take care of Canada in a mighty hurry if they came down to New England and started randomly attacking civilians and strapping on bombs while in our local malls. "Christians" who bomb abortion clinics can not possibly be followers of Christ and murder - they are extreme anti-abortionists, NOT extreme Christians. Muslim extremists, on the other hand, are estimated to number about 2 million across the globe, and they are whipped into frenzied hatred both by clerical and secular/state leaders into truly believing that they are carrying out the will of Allah, as outlined in their "holy" book.

BY THE WAY, that does not mean I think the majority of Muslims are fanatical killers. Hardly, and that would be silly. However, considerably more across the globe ARE extremists, as opposed to the aforementioned groups. And, their bottom line is to kill as many French, British, Germans, Americans, Canadians, Israelis, Italians, etc. etc. etc. as possible. In other words, their targeted extreme is unlimited to anyone who does not share their viewpoint, OR who does but gets in the way.
Posted Oct 3, 2007 8:51 am PT
I hate it when people say there is a problem with extremism in both Islam and Christianity. The former, of course. But who are their Christian counterparts? Pat Robertson may have a foot-in-mouth disease sometimes, but he's not a Christian extremist in the sense that there are Muslim extremists. There is simply no comparison between Christian "extremists" and Muslim extremists. Who are the Christian extremists? I suppose abortion clinic bombers could qualify. Perhaps the KKK is the closest there is to a "Christian" Al Queda, but they're a miniscule minority in Christianity, and haven't done anything lately that I know of. That can not be said of Muslim extremists. They may not be a majority within Islam, but they're a sizable and highly influential minority. And whenever someone offends Islam, there are riots. How many riots have there been over the many insults to Christianity, such as that horrific "art" exhibit in SF?
Posted Oct 3, 2007 2:18 pm PT
My point was that if you take anything to an extreme it can become a problem. Focusing on one tiny part of the Bible, the Torah, or the Koran and holding it above the rest of the book is not the true path of any of the relgions mentioned.
Posted Oct 4, 2007 10:00 am PT
Hi cherrytree. Thanks for tracking me. I enjoyed your blog, and agree 100%.
Posted Oct 5, 2007 11:20 am PT
Ssimonds 1, when I posted my message I hadn't even read your message yet, so it wasn't in response to what you wrote. I agree that people of any religion can misread their religion's scripture and interpret it to justify evil; I just don't see any comparison between Christian so-called extremism and that of Islam. Some people refer to religious extremists as fundametalists, but then that would put Pat Robertson in the same boat with Islamicists who preach violent jihad, and though that would be absurd, some people really don't see much of a difference. Also, Islamic terrorists abound, or there would be no American or other troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Christian terrorists are a virtual non-entity.
Posted Oct 5, 2007 1:35 pm PT
Actually, atheism is sort of a religious belief system. It certainly was as one of the philosophical underpinnings of Marxist thought and Communism (i.e., historical materialism). Thus, it's not so much that atheists are trying to separate church and state (although "Under God" doesn't promote a particular religion anyway) as they are trying to enforce their philosophical-religious belief system on everyone else. If they don't think that's the case, all one has to do is look at nearly every single communist state in the 20th century. Once the Party came to power, they required everyone to uphold the official atheist, historical materialism view. If they didn't and they disagreed with the Party, they often went to jail.

That's much different than the situation in the U.S. Some atheists might face social ostracism in their local community but I don't see any large-scale re-education camps where atheists are imprisoned on a massive scale. In fact, preaching atheism seems to gain many people extra points in several lucrative and influential industries, including the law, Hollywood and academia.
Posted Oct 6, 2007 1:04 pm PT
I'm Catholic and I don't think "under God" should be in the Pledge of Allegiance. It's a relic from the 1950s and the fears of "Godless Communists," and wasn't even part of the pledge when it was first written in 1892. Just because I believe in God doesn't mean I think my values and beliefs should be forced on to other people.
Posted Nov 2, 2007 12:05 pm PT
I'm not advocating pushing my beliefs on anyone else. I'm simply advocating freedom from religious persecution for ALL religions, not just those that the left deems worth protecting.
Posted Nov 14, 2007 6:30 pm PT
But, by wanting "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, aren't you forcing that on to people who may not agree? I don't see the harm in not saying "under God." I'm not offended, and neither are people who don't share my religious beliefs.
Posted Nov 15, 2007 10:30 am PT
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