Religious Freedom or Whatever... Also Pirates

Icebreaker:  Is "religious freedom" an oxymoron?  Think about it....


In any case, the 1500 year-old war between Christianity and Islam has been in the news spotlight lately.  Two related (and now intertwined) events are the proposed construction of a large Muslim center near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan and a certain church in Gainesville, FL whose pastor thinks it would be a good idea to publicly set alight a couple hundred copies of the Quran.  Note for the sake of truth:  As of today, it seems pastor Terry Jones has agreed not to proceed with the book-burning in exchange for a phone call from the White House (which he got from the SecDef) and the cancellation of the Ground Zero Muslim center project (which its developer adamantly claims he will not get).  Where this thing goes from here is anybody's guess.  Here are my thoughts, which I invite you to read and then argue with.


Everyone needs to chill the f*ck out.


Muslims: does it damage your relationship with God at all if someone halfway across the world from you sets a book on fire?  Does it hurt your family?  Does it cause you to lose money or food?  Will it cause your favorite sports team to lose?  How does this planned Quran-burning really affect you?


Christians: Are you f*ing serious?  I'm not disturbed by a redneck preacher in North Florida wanting to burn books they don't agree with.  That's not a new thing in the United States - we have always had a religious fringe that loves to scorch and squelch knowledge they don't like such as copies of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Origin of Species.  What bothers me are the hundreds of Qurans that people across the country have mailed to this guy to have him burn.  Do you really think this is the way to prove to people that your way is right?


These would be my thoughts if we weren't currently engaged in a war whose purpose is to establish a pro-US democracy in a Muslim Central Asia.  In light of the fact that we are, in fact, in such a war, here's an additional thought:


Are you out of your mind?  How does this burning help anyone's cause?  It doesn't reduce the number of Muslim  extremists in the world.  It doesn't make people any more attuned to the fact that these Muslim extremists want to kill them.  All this stunt serves to do is enrage Muslims everywhere, and it push the ones who were teetering on the edge right over from the Religious Zealot category into the Jihadi category.  Epic win for al Qaeda.

"We need to speak up against sin and call the people to repentance. Abortion is murder. Homosexuality is sin. We need to call these things what they are and bring the world the true message: that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  Any religion which would profess anything other than this truth is of the devil." (From the Florida church's website)

Never in history have people with this kind of rhetoric ever produced anything but violence and pain.

As for the Mosque at Ground Zero, here's my message.  Quit trying to instigate.  Go build your giant Muslim center in a place a little less sensitive.  Grow up.  You don't see Americans building Statues of Liberty in Hiroshima or monuments to the courage of the US Cavalry at Wounded Knee.  And the Empire didn't build a palace on the ruins of the Jedi Temple.  That said, if you don't think a mosque should be built at ground zero, fine.  Keep it to yourself.  If you own the property, build whatever you want on it, in accordance with the zoning laws.  You bought that privilege when you bought the property.


Earlier today, Donald Trump offered to buy out one of the developers for this project for 25% more than it cost him.  Props to Donald for (a) trying to diffuse the situation in your own nonviolent, mature way and (b) raising the value of a chunk of Manhattan property by 25%.  The developer declined, which leads me to believe that his agenda is not making money (as it is with legitimate developers) but starting a commotion.  Shame on you.


I'm not going to delve much further into this subject because then I might start offering my views on religion and holy books and what not.  And as nobody in the world is restricted from reading this (potential employers or soul-mates included), I'd probably better save that discussion for a gathering over a few beers.  I might say something I regret.


Bottom line: everyone get over yourself.


Now, for pirates:


The US Marines just recently seized control of a German cargo vessel from Somali pirates, capturing nine of them in a raid that resulted in no shots fired or injuries to anyone (props to them for that).  Now the issue at hand is what to do with these nine delinquents.  International maritime law is ambiguous and its laws make trying and punishing piracy extremely difficult.  I offer the Miller compromise:  When pirates are captured, release them on the spot.  Tell them, of course that they are no longer welcome on that vessel and must disembark immediately.  In the middle of the ocean.  Done and done.

Some Quotes

Anecdote follows: I have always liked the quote "he who defends everything defends nothing."  It's one of those axioms that puts into words what has long been a nebulous thought of mine.  As I researched to find out the origin of this gem, I learned it was none other than Frederick II the Great (not to be confused with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was, by all accounts, not as great).  The attribution of this quote to Frederick II makes sense to those of us who have ever had an interest in military history, as he is regarded by many (maybe just me, actually) as the father of maneuver warfare, which he developed in Prussia, using principles like interior lines to maximize his economy of force.  This evolved into German Blitzkrieg and American Airmobile and later Air-Land Doctrine.  Yet I digress....


As I was researching, I learned that old Frederick II (der alte Fritz, as he's known in the Sudetenland), has articulated plenty of other thoughts that generally provoke me to thought.  Here are a few:


"All religions must be tolerated... for every man must get to heaven in his own way."
See my first post, Postulate 2.  It follows that (2. b.) one ought to live and let live.


"If my soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army."
Forsooth... which is why I'm not cut out for the Army.


"The greatest and noblest pleasure which we have in this world is to discover new truths, and the next is to shake off old prejudices."
Amen.  Postulate 1.


"Religion is the idol of the mob; it adores everything it does not understand."
Right?  Perfect example of the latter half of this quote: Vanilla Sky... just make a nonsense film and claim it's artsy and deep and since people don't understand it they will love it.  Other examples include: (1) Every English paper for which I've ever received an A.  Seems the more nonsensical my work is to me, the more the teacher makes of it.  To those of you still in college: the best way to succeed in creative writing is to confuse your teacher. (2) The Fountainhead.  Not so much an example in itself, but filled with stories of nonsense that people think is great because they don't realize that they don't get it because there's nothing to get.


"My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfied us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please."
Well put.  Note to self: become King of Prussia.


"What is the good of experience if you do not reflect?"
So, I decided to start a blog.


"I begin by taking. I shall find scholars later to demonstrate my perfect right."
At least he's honest about it.


Finally, here's another important quote to me, brought to you by Creed, that shady old guy in The Office:


"If I can't Scuba, then what's this all been about?  What am I working toward?"

Welcome

I don't give a damn what you think of my blog.

That's not true, actually.  I haven't quite reached the level of self actualization that will allow me to concern myself with only myself.  I'd like to get there, but it isn't easy.  So, please leave me your comments as I begin this thing.  Then maybe I won't forget about it in a few weeks' time.

This blog is not special.  It is one of tens of thousands of stream of consciousness musings that are posted to the internet daily around the world, some more read than others.  It's special to me, though, because these are my stream of consciousness musings.  Please offer your thoughts so that I can consider them thoughtfully - or laugh at them.

My first musing will discuss my philosophy on life, which shall color all of my future publicized thoughts.  I've felt compelled to write down my philosophy lately in order to preserve it and refer to it, and so I can check back now and then and see if my course has changed.  Here goes:

Some facts or statements require no justification and are simply self-evident.  In math, we call these postulates.  In religion, a set of such statements might be called a creed.  Postulates are taken as truth because there is no way to prove them; it simply makes sense to accept them as the basis for more sophisticated arguments.  Here are my postulates.  Pay close attention, as they seem hard to follow for some people:

1.  Truth is good.
2.  Life is good.

From these postulates, I will derive one simple proof each.  In the future, I may derive further proofs for your amusement, but they may be excessively complicated.

1. a. The propagation of truth is good.


2. a. Death is bad.

These principles drive my life and are the basis for most of my frustration - because it seems certain people take issue with both.  Some people think the truth is offensive or out to get them.  Some people want to die so they can go to heaven or wherever.  The worst kind of people want others to die to hide truth (so far, I haven't had to interact with many of these people, which is good for me).

Thank you for your time.