Re: Boy Genius or Craft Idiot?

From: Olga Bourlin (fauxever@sprynet.com)
Date: Sat May 31 2003 - 23:07:11 MDT

  • Next message: Lee Corbin: "RE: Yakyakian Sentence"

    From: <Dehede011@aol.com>

    > Does your example or your argument gain power when it is couched an
    > offensive manner? No I didn't misunderstand anything. You have made
    yourself > very clear. You feel prerfectly justified in insulting people
    that you have
    > never had offend you in any way.

    What was offensive about what I said? The example of Cassie Bernall came to
    my mind when I gave my example of when I would lie. The incident was well
    reported in 1999 when the Columbine School shootings took place, and there
    are many references to it on the Internet, such as:

    http://www.activeparenting.com/Magazine/fall99_1.htm

    There are allegations that the incident which was widely reported to have
    happened never actually happened (similar to the recent Jessica Lynch
    story), but I'm not here to argue that. The question of "what would I do if
    this happened to me - lie or tell the truth? - if a gun were pointed at me"
    was inspired by what happened in real life to Cassie Bernal.

    > Olga, in North America if you hear the pounding of hooves you expect
    > horses not zebra. One or more German troops wear belt buckle in the 1930s
    or > 40s that offends you so that you are entitled to gratuitiously insult
    every
    > religious Christian or Jew in North America over there having a different
    view of
    > the world than you?

    The link I provided talked about much more than belt buckles. It talked
    about the historical Christian persecution of Jews. What do you have to
    say about that?

    > I ask you what you even know of "religious nuts" ...

    Lots. Oh, off the top of my head ... recently, of course, we have Osama Bin
    Laden; Sharon of Israel would qualify; pilot Gameel el-Batouty who
    purposefully crashed Egypt Air Flight 990 in 1999 (full of innocent
    passengers) all the while saying "Tawakilt ala Allah" ("I put my faith in
    the hands of God") over and over again; parents who, because of their
    religious beliefs, prohibit life-saving medicine to save their kids; and who
    can forget Jim Jones?; or Torquemada? Better yet, here are some links:

    http://jeromekahn123.tripod.com/enlightenment/id7.html

    http://www.natreformassn.org/statesman/99/trainviolence.html

    http://www.skeptictank.org/in-nuts.htm

    http://www.atomicmule.com/news/news4d.html

    http://www.newwave.net/~haught/

    > which ones threatened you personally that you can insult all of us because
    we may > (or may not) see the world differently?

    I ... insult you? I'm sorry you feel that way. My doubt, apparently, is
    what insults you. Unfortunately, it is the nature of religions (and the
    religious) to feel insulted when someone questions their beliefs. That's
    not something I have any control over, but I will not stop questioning your
    beliefs (and it is my right to do so in the U.S.A. - at least for now). I
    suppose trying to justify biblical atrocities would make me feel defensive
    (and quick to feel insulted):

    > I do see the world differently than you. Listening to you blast off,
    > you most definitely do believe in a God, and you just appointed yourself.

    No, not me. Metaphorically speaking (of course), nobody blasts off better,
    and the Bible tells me so:

    http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/godbible.html

    Olga



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