[Vision2020] Holocaust Toons

[Art Deco]

Robert, et al,

Perhaps we need to be very careful about condemning all Moslems on the basis 
of what we have seen from terrorists and those who are now 
hating/rioting/destructively venting in the cartoon flap.  There are, no 
doubt what-so-ever, some very terrible people who are or who profess to be 
Moslems, and worse, profess to be the "true" leaders of Islam and who wish 
to do many of us great, great harm.

However, not all Moslems take this view; not all Moslems hate Jews.  Just as 
the local CCC does not represent anything but a crackpot fringe cult of 
Christianity, hard-line Moslems, regardless of what they claim, do not 
represent all of Islam.  It is to the moderate Moslems that we need to 
appeal and to attempt to dialogue and to co-exist with.

As a non-believer, I see the use of religious fervor by terrorists, 
politicians, and others, no matter what religion is professed, to be 
extremely scary.  Not only can irrational religious/superstitious beliefs be 
very powerful, passionate, mind-numbing motivators, it is extremely scary 
because unlike gravity, string theory, electricity, etc, there is currently 
no way to determine which set of religious beliefs, if any, are true.

This unfortunate state of affairs of total religious ignorance, and no way 
of alleviating it yet discovered, is one main reason why religionists resort 
to all kinds of rhetorical tricks to convince themselves and to convince 
everyone else that their claims are the only "true" ones.  Rioting, for 
example, is a similar rhetorical device to shouting to convince others that 
you are correct.  A "Whoever can shout the loudest wins." mentality. 
Rioting/hating/etc also potently engages the passions, further preventing 
rational thought/investigation into religious/superstitious claims and their 
effects on actions.

I do not know what the solution is.  I know from living here and living 
in/visiting primarily Islamic areas that once so-called religious "truths" 
are invoked to justify an attitude or a behavior, all hope is lost for a 
rational solution.

It appears extremely, extremely unlikely that the peoples of the world will 
suddenly recognize that religious/superstitious fantasies are just that --  
unverifiable, troglodytic fantasies.

If history has taught us anything it is:  Religious/superstitious fantasies 
certainly have useful purposes at times, but are not the kind of knowledge 
on which to successfully base/predict probable outcomes in the universe as 
we know it.  Until, or more realistically, if, that fundamental state of 
affairs is recognized, horrific, perhaps humankind annihilating strife will 
grow and continue.

Those who have known me for a long time know that it has been for at least 
50 years and is my opinion that the end of humankind will not be wrought by 
some alleged god or gods invisibly hiding/lurking in the shadows, but some 
f**king maniacs acting as if those alleged invisible shadows have substance 
and that these f**king maniacs know exactly what those invisible shadows are 
bidding.

There is some probability, perhaps greater than 0.50, given the current 
state of technology/knowledge, the near end of humankind will occur within 
25 years and be wrought by religious fanatics.

I am glad I am old and hopefully be gone by then.

Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <mekt7 at netscape.net>
To: <Vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 1:30 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] Holocaust Toons


> One can hardly be surprised that Iran wants to play like the little boy 
> who, when offended, shouts, "Oh yeah? Well your momma!, is going to do 
> Holocaust cartoons. It does nothing for their cause but show the world 
> the true face of Islam, a violent and hostile threat to the peace of the 
> world.
>
> Robert
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