'To refer to peregrinating Celtic monks and fundamentalist lobbyists, Origen and Oral Roberts, the Desert Fathers and Tim La Haye, Jerry Falwell and Dante, St. Francis and the TV "prosperity gospel" hucksters, Lady Julian of Norwich and Tammy Faye Baker, or John of the Cross and George W. Bush all as Christian stretches the word so thin its meaning vanishes. The term "carbon-based life-form" is as informative.'

-David James Duncan

http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/05-4om/Duncan2.html

'War is the means by which Americans learn geography.'

      -Ambrose Bierce

I'll make fun of something Canadian as well, just so everybody's mad at me.  Regina is in the Guiness book of records for having the largest bridge over the smallest river.  If that doesn't scream stupid, I don't know what does. 

I'm always interested in cause and effect.  Sometimes I'm pretty good at predicting causation, sometimes I'm not.  Before Bush ever got to office, it seemed obvious that he was idealistic and not terribly bright.  I predicted that he would likely prove me right time and again.  I enjoyed making fun of his intelligence a lot in front of the evangelical members of my family, who on his arrival thought he was the cat's pajamas, and longed for such a fine Christian leader here in Canada.  Now, six years later, they tell me that Bush is a Mason, and that he's not a real Christian; he's a poser.  (By the way; evangelicals love conspiracy theories.)  The only thing I've called him from the begining is daft; and ideological.  But ideological in a daft way.

Its not just that he's far to the right; that doesn't necessarily always mean you're dumb.  Stephen Harper is also far to the right, with a very similar conservative evangelical ideology as Bush; but unfortunately he's far more shrewd and calculating about his political career.  I don't think most Canadians know much about Harper's religious views or connections; such things are seldom relevant to politics in Canada.  If Harper's smart, he'll continue to walk this tightrope, letting conservative Christians adore him, and moderate conservatives assume he's not a crazy zealot.  They both want different things from him, so it will get trickier over time; who knows what a Conservative majority might bring.  Here's hoping we never find out.   At the very least, Harpur's not dumb in the same way as Bush; he would never have become Prime Minister if he was.  We don't have those hackable voting machines up here. 

A second prediction I made long ago is now turning into an understatement.  Before America ever invaded Iraq, I predicted a fiasco on par with Vietnam.  Of course, one could point out that both these predictions were pretty obvious.  One sort of follows from the other, especially as we've come to realize that the entire Bush administration is daft, and not just Bush.  Either that or Iraq was a get rich quick scheme; perhaps a combination of both.  Why shouldn't they get rich as they make the world a better place?  Its what politics is all about.   

I've also been horribly wrong with my predictions before.  But that was mostly in my twenties.  Now that I'm in my thirties, I've got this shit all figured out.

So when I read a blog entitled 'The Best Way to Fight Terrorism Might be to Impeach Bush', what seems to me to be the obvious reaction is that this is clearly true.  The blogger shouldn't even have to explain why to his readers.  I'm hoping against hope that America will get to fight terrorism in this highly effective way.         

"While frontline warriors against creationism are busy reassuring parents and legislators that teaching Darwin's theory does not undermine the possibility of religious devotion, Dawkins is openly agreeing with the most stubborn fundamentalists that evolution must lead to atheism."

Wired News: Battle of the New Atheism

"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next fifty years. According to the most common interpretation of biblical prophecy, Jesus will return only after things have gone horribly awry here on earth. It is, therefore, not an exaggeration to say that if the city of New York were suddenly replaced by a ball of fire, some significant percentage of the American population would see a silver lining in the subsequent mushroom cloud, as it would suggest to them that the best thing that is ever going to happen was about to happen—the return of Christ. It should be blindingly obvious that beliefs of this sort will do little to help us create a durable future for ourselves—socially, economically, environmentally, or geopolitically. Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this, purely on the basis of religious dogma, should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency." 

Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation

Richard Dawkins: Why There Almost Certainly Is No God

There were two interesting articles I read today.  And by interesting, I mean menacing.  It would be humorous in a dark sort of way, if only I didn't live here.  One was about an Asian nuclear arms race.

Rice Tries to Head Off Nuclear Arms Race

Condoleezza Rice always seems to be sent on these sort of frighteningly hypocritical missions.  America will protect you, unless of course you don't do what we want.  But she does hypocrisy with such a straight face.  Amassing a nuclear arsenal is fine for us, but not for you.  Do what we say, but don't you ungrateful foreigners dare do what we do.  Yes, there's a double standard; the American way of life is a privileged one.  Why?  Partly because God loves us more, but mostly because we've got a big stick, and you don't. 

When you run around threatening people wielding a big stick, or even simply ignoring them because, well, you have a big stick and they don't; those around you, even your allies, might look for their own big stick to swing around.  You've brought that big stick you wield sharply into focus; you treat it as your source of power.  You used it once, and you've hinted you're more than willing to use if again on your enemies, who you purposely tend not to define very clearly.  Its feaking people out.  You won't agree to put the stick away some place safe, but you expect others not to pick up one of their own for leverage.  Seems kind of insane to me.          

And the other;

30 More Countries Could Have Nukes Soon

I expect we are going to see many more countries arming themselves with sticks, even if they don't go around announcing it.

What a schizophrenic post was.  If I was more ambitious, I'd probably edit it a bit.

I get the impression the new pope pride's himself on his understanding of theology.  So this seems a well-deserved shot below the belt.

This is what holy wars are supposed to be all about; simple useless theological bickering.

"Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness. More darkness will make darkness thicker. Only light can dissipate darkness. Violence and hatred cannot be removed with violence and hatred. Rather, this will make violence and hatred grow a thousand fold. Only understanding and compassion can dissolve violence and hatred.

Hatred, and violence are in the hearts of human beings. A terrorist is a human being with hatred, revenge, violence and misunderstanding in his or her heart. Acting without understanding, acting out of hatred, violence and fear, only helps sow more terror, bringing terror to the homes of others and ultimately bringing terror back to the homes of the attacker. The philosophy of "an eye for an eye," only creates more suffering and bloodshed and more enemies. One of the greatest casualties we may suffer results from this wrong thinking and action. Whole societies are living constantly in fear with their nerves being attacked day and night. Such a state of confusion, fear and anxiety is extremely dangerous. It can bring about another world war, this time extremely destructive in the worst possible way.

We must learn to speak out for peace now, so that our spiritual voice can be heard in this dangerous and pivotal moment of history. Those of us who have the light should display the light and offer it so that the world will not sink into total darkness. Everyone has the seed of awakening and insight within his or her heart. Let us help each other touch these seeds in ourselves so that everyone can have the courage to speak out. We must ensure that the way we live our daily lives does not create more terrorism in the world, through intolerance, hatred, revenge and greed. We need a collective awakening to stop this course of self­-destruction.

Spiritual leaders in this country need to be invited to raise their voice strongly and speak up for peaceful solutions to the world problems and bring about the awareness of the teaching of compassion and non-violence to the American nation and the people.

By understanding the nature and cause of the suffering of humanity, we will then know the right method to begin to heal the great problems on this planet."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

"One has a stronger hand when there's more people playing your same cards."—Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2006

The most recent in a series of nonsense utterances just seems to go on and on.

'No wonder our perception of beauty is so distorted.'

'The Daily Show is as Substantive as the 'Real' News'

"We should probably be concerned about both of those sources, because neither one is particularly substantive. It's a bottom-line industry and ratings-driven. We live in an 'infotainment' society, and there certainly are a number of other sources available."