[Vision2020] Arrest aftermath

[Bob Hoffmann]

At 02:56 PM 2/28/2003 -0800, Douglas wrote:
>Sunil said the "only conclusion that could be drawn would be that the 
>particular person charged was not following the rules he is to follow." 
>This is one possible conclusion, but not the only one. Another possibility 
>is that the rules are not what they are being represented as being. In 
>other words, it is at least a logical possibility that jihad means real 
>physical war, and that lying to the infidel is no more reprehensible in 
>some Muslim eyes than lying to Nazis would be to me.

What follow are some suppositions and ponderings, not accusations.

There are those who believe that when someone from one's own group does 
something wrong, that proves a flaw in the individual, while when someone 
from another group does something wrong, that proves a flaw in the 
group.  People who see the world this way are typically labelled bigots, 
racists, or by the adjective "prejudiced."

Now if Douglas can look at IRA bombings, TV evangelists who steal from 
their congregations and have affairs, and megalomaniac Christians who claim 
never to lie when they seem to do nothing but lie, and he can speculate 
(equivalently with the above comment) that, "Another possibility is that 
the [Christian] rules are not what they are being represented as being," 
then we can presume that Douglas is neither a bigot, nor a racist, nor 
prejudiced.  He would be, in this respect, "Politically Correct."  He would 
be, in my opinion, a worthy and honorable individual.  The same as if he 
equally believed that the fault lies with the individual, and not the 
religion, whatever it might be.  The issue is not which method he uses to 
evaluate people, but if he applies that method consistently.

There is a flip side to this coin.  I'll not belabor the point.

My opinion:  Religion is there for people to interpret, follow, or 
defile.  The major world religions are complex enough that people can find 
what they want in them.  Whether you use your religion to uplift yourself 
and exalt all that is human, or whether you use it to debase yourself and 
the world, is ultimately a personal choice, not a dictate of the 
religion.  Those Christians who paint Muslims with one brush are 
ideologically no different from Muslims who decry the "infidel."

"I have made him just and right;
Sufficient to stand, though free to fall."

--God (in Paradise Lost by John Milton)

Bob Hoffmann
820 S. Logan St.
Moscow, ID  83843

Tel: 208 883-0642