Chief, I listened to the speech over and over
She said "our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from god. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for. That there is a plan, and that plan is God's plan"
I don't think that I have taken anything out of context. I just don't think that anyone should be invoking some type of higher power plan as a reason for war or killing people. Does she have a secret phone line to God? Al Qaeida thinks it does too. Lots of religious groups think that they have the direct connection. In my opinion, people who can't separate their religious beliefs from reality should never be in power. Charles Manson thought he was the second coming. Jim Jones convinced hundreds of people to commit suicide under the guise of religious beliefs.
Fanaticism is exemplified (in my mind) by people who are willing to do what I call irrational things in the name of a being that they can never say with 100% certainty exists.
Any or all of the people on this e-mail list can call me crazy, but how can there be so many diverse religious stories and beliefs, and everyone thinks that they are right?
How can Jews and Palestinians kill each other in the name of a God that they both claim is loving, almighty, and all good?
If God exists, and he says love thy neighbor, etc, why do people kill their neighbors, over land?
It seems to me that fanaticism comes in many different shapes and colors. It may come from something as simple as the person who gives money to a church or religious cause when they really can't afford it. No harm done except to that person. The other extreme is someone who is willing to die, or worse, kill, in the name of a religious belief.
It seems to me that the 9/11 hijackers were of that mentality. 70 virgins? Come on! What about the female suicide bombers? What are they getting? Would any woman want 70 virgin men?
That's what makes me nervous about Palin. I don't know her well enough to say that she is merely devout and would not do something irrational with the mix of national security and her beliefs.
When you say that a war has God involved, and taking sides, I think you contradict your own premise for God's existence and purpose. Either you got it wrong, because God really favors one type of people over another, or you are not adhering to the very principle that you espouse. I don't believe in God, but I was taught that he loves everyone equally.
If the president of Iran seems irrational because he says that in the name of Allah, that Israel should be wiped off of the face of the earth, Gov Palin is also irrational to suggest that young men and women, christian or otherwise, from the US have the backing of God to go to another country and kill it's citizens.
It's not a trivial issue. One huge clogged artery in a president John McClain, and we have a president who thinks in some ways just like the "terrorists" that we are fighting against
Just something to think about.
Dr. Rock
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