Tag: nightmares

Listen to yourselves sometimes…

Dear Close-Minded Woman that pissed me off this week,

Perception is reality. 22% of the worlds population believes in Islam. It’s the worship of a single deity, with that deity’s word outlined in the Qur’an, and the teachings of a prophet named Mohammed. I could just as easily compare it to the Bible, God, and Moses just like my buddy did, and be quite satisfied in being correct…at least until we get into a more detailed description of the religion.

SO…maybe…just maybe…the next time someone greets you with a blessing you should be gracious enough not to act like someone just put a hex on you.

There is this knee-jerk reaction people have when engaging religions not their own that is usually uninformed, uneducated, and almost purely instinctual…almost fight or flight. That is explainable. The possibility that one may be right and the other wrong triggers a fight or flight reaction, most of the time verbally where a person spouts off whatever they can come up with in a few seconds and hide behind their faith in the argument…or worse. When in reality (personally I think religion is a horrible burden on spirituality, being now a tool for business and politic), they are both mutually destructive to one another and will continue to teach at least a small portion of their congregation that the other is the evil one.

The only end to this was to remove religious rule, and we did it.

What scares me most is that some people actually think that adapting the US government into any degree of Christian theocracy would actually protect us.

Separation of Church and State protects us. It has allowed our country to flourish where many other nations have fallen or been turned over in civil war nightmares. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ….” and Article VI specifies that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

I completely understand feeling threatened by belief systems other than your own. I actually understand the feeling more than most. I just don’t understand the need to attack others beliefs to justify your own. Disproving someone else’s religion doesn’t make you right, it makes you a judge where none is necessary.

-Tony

NO…I am NOT a Muslim. I just cant stand religious bullies.




Dark clouds over Iran?

I am still sort of in shock.

The dark cloud...

The dark cloud...

There is absolutely no telling how this is going to work out for Iran. Looking at previous instances of rebellion & riot…we’re looking at a verifiable death toll already.

I can say this…if I bow to none…I would expect none to do so for me or any other. To deny a people the right to challenge and speak…this is a crime of the spirit as much as it is now a crime of violence. What should have been only a demonstration and discussion is now what I would call a small riot. More than they need to speak, these people need to be heard by a government that doesn’t have a kneejerk reaction of firing into crowds. I wouldn’t have clued in as quick on how bad things were there if not for Alyssa Milano, that woman uses Twitter to its best potential and has motivated an absolutely huge amount of people to read up and spread the word, in prayer and essentially getting public opinion rolling in a hugely positive manner.

And to look at what the people of Iran want…change for the sake of change…it sounds horrible and a valid arguement against…that is until you see a potential venue where the US and Iran have a clearer venue for diplomacy. Mir Hossein Moussavi is far from what you and I would consider ideal in the way of replacements. Despite having changed his tune recently with regard to women’s rights and general economic plans, he was one of the founders of the same government that is in place now. We may actually get a slightly better diplomatic atmosphere, but we’ve got no substantial track record to found our faith in the man.

But I will say this…I have faith in all those courageous people risking their lives so much just to speak their mind. If my friends are still there, it is impossible not to imagine them..I don’t want to use the word fighting but that’s essentially what it will come for them to if it hasn’t already. They do not bow. It is this strength & character that people of lesser conviction seek to destroy and diminish in order to retain what they perceive to control.

The more the Iran government seeks to quell…the more the justification the mob will see in it’s actions and motive. If the election was so important that the people cried in response…there is a fundamental problem with how these leaders came into their position.

There are some startling pictures found at this link HERE (Boston.com)

Keep in mind this wasn’t in response to a military action (in a nation that is horribly well-known for its military actions on it’s own people of late)…it was an election. I almost wish…nevermind…the bottom line is that as much as I wish we could walk in and play the “STFU-And-Be-Free” card to minimize the loss of life…it would do Iran far more harm than good, and I think we as a nation really need to stop shoving our chesseburgers down every elses throats.  Anyhow I’ve thrown in some links here, it’s not hard to find more… just google “Iran Election” and you’re going to find more reading then you could finish in a year 😉

For everyone in Iran…

You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.

CNN
LA TIMES
UK TELEGRAPH

Anyhow…I am going to sleep, hopefully in the morning Iran will be a better place for it’s people.

-Tony




I did it again…

I’ve blown out the other knee.

Going to see the surgeon tomorrow to get an idea of the damage I managed.

**totally not happy with the idea of 6 weeks on crutches again.**

-Tony