Posted on 10/08/2005 5:29:47 AM PDT by Crackingham
It kind of makes me wonder what Mr. Rushdie and his cool people think is fun. I don't wonder very hard, though, because I'm squeamish.
Rushdie is a smart man, he sees that the Creationist/ID folk are just as nutty as the fundies that destroy Islam.
Of course all the folk here will turn on him because he dares not to toe the creationist line....
I haven't read his books. I've only read a few of his essays and articles, and some things about him. He's a smart man, a courageous man, a man of the world.
I doubt many of us equate Islam with Christianity. You may.
I don't.
I'm sure Rushdie doesn't. After all, he's chosen to live in the West. I also doubt that he thinks religion is responsible for all of man's failures, weaknesses and sins...or that a secular society is proof against them.
But he's found elements of all religions that he doesn't like and it isn't difficult to guess what they are; certainty in an uncertain world based on "scripture", intolerance of alternate views - especially those which question "scripture, self-righteousness, small-mindedness, fear of sexuality.
Wonderful! Who was the artist - I can't quite make out the name? Who carries his work?
Definitely not the one that will remove my head if I choose to opt out!
You have nothing to fear: His comments were directed at euthanizers. But even if your premise were true, Randall Terry only represents Randall Terry.
Don't let the behavior of one member of a group lead you to believe all members of the group agree.
For instance, several white males are serial killers. 99.9999% of white males would never kill one, let alone more, people.
For instance, several black males are serial killers. 99.9999% of black males would never kill one, let alone more, people.
For instance, several homosexuals are child molesters... and so on.
Judge each individual by their individual behavior.
The cartoon is Non-Sequitor, carried by many newspapers.
Didn't Randall Terry cheat on his wife and withold child support from his kids?
Its one thing to be against abortion, but once the kids are born, you gotta take care of them.
Terry is a nutcase and a fool. And when you have a fool leading an organization, you have a foolish organization.
"Judge each individual by their individual behavior."
That is what we should be doing for all ethnic groups and religious faiths.
Randall Terry is a scumbag.
Fred Phelps is also a scumbag.
So is Pat Robertson, because he is a money-grubbing preacher. He is presently worth between $200 million and $1 billion, all from bilking his followers.
Osama bin Laden is a scumbag, a terrorist and mass murderer.
Saddam Hussein is a mass murder, having committed genocide.
The Ayatollah Khomeini was a dangerous bigot and tyrant.
But, that does not mean every Muslim is of the same bigotry and hatred.
You can find psychopathic individuals in every ethnic group or religious faith. It just does not mean that all people of a given group are also psychopathic in their behavior.
Rushdie is also a deeply intolerant, rather pompous man. With remarkable similarity to a good Marxist, he sees himself as intellectually superior to "the masses". He views the public school system as a venue to brain-wash innocent children with his views that they will never amount to anything unless they tow the atheists' line.
He used to be different, but some of his most recent articles demonstrate clearly his Marxist' leanings and how he has closed his mind.
"It's no accident that the ruling alliance lost heavily in Andhra Pradesh and in Tamil Nadu, precisely the states that wooed information technology giants such as Microsoft to set up shop, turning sleepy "second cities" such as Madras, Bangalore and Hyderabad into new-tech boom towns. That's because while the rich got richer, the fortunes of the poor, such as the farmers of Andhra, declined year by year. The gulf between India's rich and poor has never looked wider than it does today, and the government has fallen into that chasm.(snip),Rushdie opposes faith based schools:
India's business elite [code phrase for "capitalist pigs"] has hastened to welcome the Congress victory, and we shall have to see how the change of government affects market confidence. But the dispossessed of India have dealt a mighty blow to the assumptions of the country's political and economic chieftains, and the lesson should be learned by all parties: Ignore the well-being of the masses at your peril."
Rushdie, Washington Post, May 14, 2004
Salman Rushdie has condemned the Prime Minister's staunch support of Muslim faith schools. The author of The Satanic Verses warned that increasing the number of children attending such schools would not tackle Islamic extremism. And he said he feared that Tony Blair was courting the wrong leaders from the Muslim community in the fight against terrorism.
"If you look in the papers right now you have a two-thirds majority of the British people objecting to the introduction of faith-based schools and yet that is an absolutely central plank of the Government's policy," he said. "If he thinks that more religion is going to solve the problem, then not only in my view is he wrong, but he is also seriously out of step with the country."
Mr Rushdie criticised the Government for pigeon-holing Muslims for their beliefs alone. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, "It is important to see that for most people of Muslim belief or Muslin origin in this country, they have a range of political and social interests, which have nothing to do with whether or not they are religious."
He also criticised the Muslim Council of Britain, calling its leaders "minority figures claiming to be important". He said, "I think what really needs to happen is that the very large majority of British people of Muslim origin who don't want to be just defined in terms of their religion start speaking up and creating a genuine voice, which represents the majority."
(Daily Mail, 30 August 2005)
He is right on this issue.
Sorry, I don't follow the gossip of people who "air their religion" in public. The people of faith in my life are humble folk who avoid publicity at any cost.
On the issue of the Theory of Evolution? or The Big Bang Theory? on whether it should be taught in elementary school? on the claim that Christianity is "superstition"? That Marxism is better than a Democracy?
On which issue is he right?
V.S. Naipaul is amazing.
On evolution, ID and creationism is religion, it has no place in a science class.
And when these gods fail, as they did in New Orleans, their false witness is laid bare for all to see.
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