Seems many folks are in a tizzy. Well, here’s my two cents.

1 – One of the core values of our founding fathers was freedom of religion. If you’re going to live by that code, than you [...]]]> They want to build a Mosque downtown a few blocks from the former site of the World Trade Center towers.

Seems many folks are in a tizzy. Well, here’s my two cents.

1 – One of the core values of our founding fathers was freedom of religion. If you’re going to live by that code, than you have to include everybody – even the ones you don’t like. Its also one of a handful of values that still make America great.

2 – You can’t blame an entire religion of 1.5 Billion people for the acts of a fanatic faction. Do we outlaw Christianity because some crazed born again right to lifer killed an abortion doctor? What about the Ku Klux Klan, aren’t they a Christian organization?

3 – There are all kinds of Muslims. I work with some who were refugees from Bosnia when Milosovich was perpertrating his ethnic cleansing. They are fellow countrymen and do not support the attack on the towers and I refuse to hold their religion against them.

4 – The display of American ignorance as to what Islam is, and where the religion comes from is staggering. The lack of comprehension in the United States as to *WHY* so much of the arab world hates us is staggering. We are supposed to be a country that supports liberty, freedom and equality – yet we continue to suport governments like Israel’s (4 Billion dollars per year) who time and again wage a genocide agianst Palestinians in the occupied territories. The US media is too afraid to report it fairly. The politicians are scared of the massive lobbies in Washington, DC and nobody wants to do anything about it. THIS is why we are hated throughout the Arab world. That doesn’t make hijacking planes and killing innocents any better. 9/11 was a horror and I watched it with my own eyes. But we need to understand the situation before we can wage a “war on terror” or anything else.

The lore of Islam – a *Judaic* religion – is as follows: Abraham, the Grand Father of the Jews, had a son with his wife Sarah after God gave her a miracle to make her fertile. That son is Isaac, the Father of the Jewish people. Abraham had another son with his wife’s servent named Hagar, a boy named Ishmael. Ishmael, Abraham’s “bastard” child is the father of the Arab Muslims. Such surrogate arrangements were the custom in the day. There are many pointless rhetorical arguments surrounding this mythology (I consider it all mythology, by the way…).

The Quran, the holy book of Islam, was supposedly dictated by God to Mohammed in the year 610. The angel who dictated the words to Muhammed? Gabriel. Yes, the same Gabriel as in the Bible. Did you also know Islam worships Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elias, Jonah, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ as Prophets?

The countries of Iraq (Mesopotamia) and Iran (Persia) are home to the oldest human civilizations in the world (Iraq in particular). These areas were civilized with agraculture, government, and armies while Europe was still living in barbarism.

So what is all this uproar about a Mosque, that isn’t even *AT* Ground Zero? It is several blocks away – in the company of at least one “Gentlemen’s Club”, and many legit and not-so-legit commercial enterprises.

Sometimes I’m ashamed of the ignorance displayed by my fellow countrymen.

Yet another reason I think “religion” may be the ultimate downfall of humanity.

Yet, on a personal level I have seen many examples where religion has helped people. [...]]]> I’ve said quite a bit about my agnosticism in regard to religion or the supernatural. I’ve pointed out what I believe is irrefutable evidence that, throughout history, organized religion has been responsible for some of the largest offenses to humanity .

Yet, on a personal level I have seen many examples where religion has helped people. I will argue that it isn’t the supernatural belief, but the focus – and modification of personal values that brings the good changes. Yet, I know people dear to me who consider their spiritual faith as important as air and water to their lives. This I will not argue nor try to deny them.

I was listening to a member of my men’s group speak the other day. He is a very young guy – but bright, and thoughtful.

My friend in the men’s group is a young man of color. He spent some time in jail for a crime he says he did not commit. I believe him. An accusation was made against him and he ultimately took a plea because he could not afford to mount a defense. He was told if he went to trial he would probably lose unless he could afford a lawyer who would take the time to research his case (and destroy it based on what appear to be obvious holes). He faced potential years in the state pen vs a few months on Riker’s followed by some years of probation for copping out. What happened was he got a lawyer he could afford – who negotiated the plea quickly, collected the $5,000 my friend had scraped together, and considered his job complete.

One might think such an unlucky fellow might be bitter or hold a grudge against society. He doesn’t.

What he explained the other day was that he met a religious friend in jail who helped him focus. He began to join his friend in a discipline that trained him to focus beyond himself. It trained him to rise above his very justified indignation. He began to see his life as part of a larger continuum that transcended his personal experience.

My friend has continued his religious practice on the outside but has become frustrated. The beauty he original found in transcending his self-focused thoughts and bitterness has been replaced by struggles trying to embrace the less universal parts of a dogma that don’t make sense to him. He has turned to religious leaders in his place of worship, but the original compassion and lessons he received from his friend in jail have been replaced with pre-programmed dogma. I experienced the exact same conflicts after returning to religion in my adulthood. While his religion is Islam and mine was Christianity, we both came to the same place and couldn’t reconcile the specific dogma with the greater messages that had brought us to the religion to begin with.

Religion may have saved my friend’s life if not simply gotten him through his stay on Riker’s. I only hope that his searching will lead him beyond the dogma to a place where he can continue to move on and not become mired down in the minutia of those blinded by the definitions of their particular faith.

Since this is MY blog – and I reserve the right to say whatever I want – I’ll tell you, briefly, what my own feelings [...]]]> Kristin loaded the DVD, which arrived from Netflix after much anxious anticipation… An intelligent and satirical look at fundamentalist religion… A focus on the politics of religion… What could be better?

Since this is MY blog – and I reserve the right to say whatever I want – I’ll tell you, briefly, what my own feelings are.

1. I’m an Agnostic.

2. The God that many teach about, the one that picks sides in battles, the one that brings floods, famines, and disease… is mythology.

3. As far as a supernatural omnipotent power goes, or a heavenly father (or mother if you prefer) of some kind – I’m not ready to say I *know* anything one way or another. I especially affirm that I do not *know* enough about any such being or power to preach for it, kill or torture for it. I’ve said before – we are born of stardust. The physical bits inside all of us came from a common place. Science will not argue with that statement, and neither will religion. We are related. It seems highly unlikely to me that there is anything or anyone intervening in our daily lives – giving blessings to some and cursing others. But the fact is, I don’t *know*. And frankly, I’m pretty certain nobody else knows either.

4. I believe in reason. I believe in tolerance. I believe in the ability of human beings to treat each other fairly, and kindly – without fear of a fiery hell or supernatural judgment.

Back to Bill Maher. The themes of his movie were interesting to me: superstition, church and state, fear, and the political danger of self-fulfilling prophecy like Armageddon. This is all scary stuff.

Back to me. I came to my agnostic viewpoint by way of great personal searching. I was “born again” in a Pentecostal church. I went to Sunday school and attended the Congregational Church as a child. I was baptized as an infant; and again by my own choosing in Long Island Sound as an adult. I read the Bible cover to cover. I could simply not reconcile my own experience, education, and reasoning with what the dogma that my religious friends held dearly. So, not being able to make sense out of the need to be, “washed in the blood”, I quit going to church. I continued to search. Ultimately, I came to the place I am now.

I feel quite at peace right now in terms of my beliefs and disbeliefs. What hurts me now is what I see on the world stage. I see the manipulation of people through religion. I see religion as an excuse for genocide. I see divisive and tragic consequences. I think human kind would be better off without any religion at all.

Back to Bill Maher… I think there were two things that offended me the most. The first, was where Bill Maher visited a truck stop. The truck stop had a chapel that was set up inside the back of a large semi trailer. There was a preacher and several men in the chapel. There were hands in the air, and Hallelujahs, and plenty of “Praise God”’s… Bill Maher came in with his camera and crew and tried to make these guys look like idiots. I’ve got a whole lot of not so nice things to say about the “moral majority” and the attitudes and policies of right wing Christian *groups* as a *whole* – but leave these guys alone.

The second thing that offended me quite deeply was when Mr. Maher interviewed Rabbi Yisroel Weiss from Neturei Karta International, an anti-Zionist grouping of Haredi Jews. Rabbi Weiss tried to explain his position quite calmly and rationally to Mr. Maher, yet Mr. Maher refused to let him speak. Next, we are shown footage of the Rabbi meeting and embracing Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad’s now infamous comment on Israel’s existence (the one quoted by John McCain last year with little effect) was brought up to the Rabbi – who neither defended nor rebuked it. Next, we were shown Mr. Maher in an East Jerusalem Mosque, speaking to the Imam. Many seconds of the footage are devoted to a woman praying in the corner as the religion dictates – to illustrate the “misogyny” of the religion and culture. A man from the Mosque walks by and asks, with great disgust, “What is that Jew doing here… I’ve seen his show… It sucks… He isn’t even funny…”. We are told the Muslim’s built this Mosque on a Jewish holy site and won’t let the Jews come in. We are told a statistic of Muslims to Jews that outnumbers Jews a thousand to one. I *think* Mr. Maher’s implication is that Israel is the underdog. It wasn’t quite clear. Mr. Maher conveniently slips between his Catholic Father and Catholic education and his Mother’s Judaism to identify himself. Yet he was not raised in a Jewish home, nor did he receive Jewish education, nor does he keep Jewish laws and traditions. Any Rabbi will tell you that means he is *not* Jewish. So it isn’t clear exactly what Mr. Maher is trying to say at times. At this point, the whole raison d’etre of the film is suspect. It degenerates into a rather poorly edited set of compiled sequences of Mr. Maher trying to make fun of people.

I’ve already stated how I feel about the Israeli – Palestine political situation. Just read my post on Palestine. Regardless of world populations of Muslims and Jews, Israel has Palestine in a death grip. East Jerusalem is an important holy city to *both* sides and a major issue in all negotiations that have taken place between both sides. The streets are still ruled by Israeli soldiers carrying machine guns. The check points still exist. Palestinians voting in East Jerusalem are still intimidated by armed Israeli police and soldiers when they go to vote. None of these things were mentioned at all. It should also be said that many Palestinians can not even GO to East Jerusalem, because to do so would require crossing borders inside Israel that Palestinians are not allowed to cross.

Thanks for your objectivity Mr. Maher. You are no better than the religious zealots you so love to poke fun at. (and your movie sucks)

I haven’t felt great about it for a long time.

You know I love this country—and if the Canadians ever decide to invade Montana I’ll be the first one to bear arms.

It is a beautiful country. Many people have found opportunity here and built fortunes. [...]]]> I’m not feeling that great about being an American this Fourth.

I haven’t felt great about it for a long time.

You know I love this country—and if the Canadians ever decide to invade Montana I’ll be the first one to bear arms.

It is a beautiful country. Many people have found opportunity here and built fortunes. We’ve sheltered many tired, weary and huddled masses. We should be proud of that.

I am proud of that. I am especially proud of our cultural contributions, like Jazz and Blues, to the world. I’m proud that I can sit here and write about this with limited fear. I say limited fear because I think our Constitutional Rights have taken a beating recently. I think it is less safe to have an opinion today than it might have been in the past.

I am not proud of the fact that our government’s legacy has become one of lies, corruption, and death. With all our flag waving, bombs bursting and rocket’s red glare; when it comes down to it we’ve done some pretty despicable things as a nation. Things we often point the finger and accuse others of doing.

How many documented cases are there of this nation’s breech of contract with Native Americans? We told them where they could live and then took the land back when we needed it. We forced our religion on them. There is historical evidence of a genocide against a people living within our own borders. You have to go back through the centuries; but the evidence is there. The government of this country practiced systematic and often brutal policies to control these people.

There is also the subject of slavery—the ownership and forced labor of human beings by other human beings. Why does it not seem rational to me that this should occur in a ‘free’ country. Please. You can point to the Emancipation Proclamation all you want; but Lincoln did it to weaken the industrial power of the south. Slavery wasn’t made illegal until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which occurred in 1865. Even then, only 27 of the 36 states would ratify it. Those remaining nine states DID ratify the amendment, with Mississippi being the last in 1995 – 100 years later.

As a nation we have trampled across the globe, invaded countries, violated our own treaties, and gone against the advice and will of our friends. We’ve almost always done it in the name of freedom.

The last thing I want to say is this. It isn’t a popular viewpoint. I apologize now to those friends I know it may offend. This thing I want to talk about is our national hysteria over terrorism.

One of the first things that slippery and skillful manipulators will do in a situation is identify a common enemy. Find someone that everyone can hate. More importantly, find someone that everyone can fear. If you can manipulate their hate and their fear you’ve got them in the palm of your hand.

Most people are aware of the ties between the bin Laden (as in Osama) family and the Bush’s. Some are aware that our President flew members of the bin Laden family and other Saudi nationals out of the US immediately following the attacks on 9/11/01 – during a full national FAA grounding of all air craft. No questions asked. Do most people also know that most of the alleged 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals? Isn’t that just a little strange? Then there is the friendship between Osama and the US government during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (which we in the US pointed the finger in judgement at—yet where are we now?). There is even suggestion that US money helped get Al Quaeda off the ground.

What do you think actually happened on 9/11/01? I don’t know. I will probably never know. But my gut tells me there is a whole lot more to it than what we’ve been told about it. If nothing else, it empowered an administration to invade two countries while we grieved and angrily demanded pay back. By the way, none of the alleged hijackers came from either Afghanistan or Iraq and none of it had anything to do with Saddam Hussein.

Has anyone ever asked the question, “Why do these people hate us so much?”. Didn’t you ever wonder?

Bush will tell you it is because they hate our freedom. Now what kind of sense does that make? It doesn’t make sense. If they hate our freedom, what are they fighting for? These people are not even a government we are fighting (unless Iran moves into Iraq, thanks W).

We are fighting individuals who have volunteered for a cause they believe is for the greatness of God. That doesn’t make suicide bombing ok. But let’s just look at the situation. This hate might be coming from somewhere other than their hatred of freedom. What would it take to make YOU strap explosives to yourself and detonate them, killing yourself and a few dozen other people? This is extreme behavior. This is not drive-by shooting, road side bombs or booby traps. These guys believe they are fighting on God’s side against the devil and they are willing to give their lives to do it.

The only people these guys hate more than the United States is Israel.

Why do they hate Israel? There was no Israel prior to 1948. The country didn’t exist other than a historic and religious memory in the Jewish religion. The area that is now Israel was under Turkish (Ottoman) control until the early 20th century. They were driven out after WWI and Britain took control of the region.

Let’s consider that there were people living here. People with homes, families, lives… Generations of families who called this area home. These people came to be called Palestinians, which goes back to an ancient word, re-adopted by the Ottomans during the 19th century. Britain adopted the name Palestine to describe the region.

So all these people were actually living there and established there and they were mostly Arab.

Various agreements were made among the victors of WWI as to how this land (Palestine) would be controlled or divided. The most important of these was called the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It supported plans for a Jewish National Home in Palestine. It also had a condition – that nothing be done to prejudice the rights of existing communities there. It seems not to have turned out that way, has it?

Essentially Britain moved in and started managing things after they finally got rid of all Turkish control in 1918. Britain basically hung out there through WWII, eventually leaving when popular support diminished. In 1947 the British turned Palestine over to the United Nations.The UN General Assembly passed a partition plan for Palestine to break it up into separate Jewish and Arab states. The Arabs and Jews were already fighting. Jewish immigration had begun to the area many years prior and tensions were already high. Arabs completely rejected the plan.

When the British mandate ended in May 1948, David Ben Gurion formally pronounced the Declaration of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. The territory initially consisted only of the areas set forth in the UN Partition Plan. The territory would later expand mostly through various wars with neighboring areas. After the Declaration, Israel was attacked by surrounding Arab countries including Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq. The IDF, or Israeli Army was formed during a UN cease fire. Temporary new borders were established which gave the new Jewish country 23.5% of the remaining Mandate territory (the Arab or Palestinian parts). As for what was left: Egypt took control of Gaza and Jordan took control of the West Bank.

Many Arabs fled or were expelled. Many Jews were expelled from Arab countries, fleeing to Israel which increased the size of Israel even more.

So in the most basic sense, the homes of these long time residents were taken and the residents forced out. This happened as increasing numbers of immigrants settled and took over the country – aided by Britain and the West.

Most of the Palestinians left have been forced to live in the West Bank and Gaza regions. They are second class citizens in every way.

There are constant confrontations, deadly confrontations with the military. The Israeli Army shows no mercy and these people are frequently pummeled with bombs and rockets. The IDF are notoriously brutal. They return stones thrown with bullets and bombs. Israel claims this behavior in self defense or retaliation. But who is retaliating for what? Who are the oppressed? Should it not be expected that the oppressed are going to fight back if they are able? The United States has been a supporter of Israel from the beginning. We have supported Israel with money and weapons since the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Israel became the US number one ally in keeping rogue Arab nations in check and protecting our access to Mid East oil. Since then our kinship has only grown stronger, sharing massive defense systems, intelligence and technology.

So there you have it. At least what I think is the reason for all this hatred and violence. A bully supporting a bully and oppressing the native Arab people of the region. It happens without question. It happens constantly.

We brand political leaders of these Palestinians as terrorists and refuse to deal with them or recognize them. Israel will not give an inch.

This is grossly unfair.

Jewish and Arab tensions go back through Bible times. Old Testament times. There will always be tension there.

But we rub salt into this wound and inflame it by supporting a country that has engaged in the brutal eviction of a people from their homeland and the continued relocation and harassment of those people.

This support and relationship we have with Israel is why we are so hated in the Arab world.

What is the solution? What do I propose?

I don’t know. I thought Jimmy Carter did some amazing things in terms of relations in the Middle East. What Bush has done is simply demonic and unthinkable. We actually invaded two sovereign Arab nations—against the wishes of our friends and allies in the UN.

People have to start talking. They have to wake up. The US has to start saying, “wait a minute, you can’t treat people like that…” The US has to take it on the chin and get the hell out of the Middle East. The problem now is that Saddam was holding Iran in check—and with Iraq in it’s present state now; Iran can just run right in or back the factions they support into gaining power. Maybe that was part of the plan all along—that as a result we’d have to invade Iran. At this point, it seems inevitable to me.

I’m not a historian, political analyst, or economist. I did visit Israel in 1989 when I traveled with a musical theater company. I was there again in 1996 while doing a gig aboard a cruise ship. I’ve traveled from Tel Aviv to Cairo by bus. I’ve been to Jerusalem and visited towns in the West Bank. I’ve taken a boat on the Galilee (Lake Tiberias) not far from the Golan Heights (another Israeli expansion into Arab territory).

I’m just writing here in my own personal blog how I see it. Sitting here from my seat as a 41 year old IT guy and musician with two kids who likes to think and tries to keep up on the news.

We are losing economic ground rapidly. The dollar is falling. We’ve been stuck with a fascist, war-making government for eight years. It is time for some diplomacy. It is time for some common sense. Its time to stop being so afraid and so angry and take an objective look at what is really going on in the world.