1051. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #174051 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 1:46 pm

D'arcy,





To be honest, you are being ridiculous. Seriously.

Oh so now you want to get rid of currency.


So let's see, no currency, not way to move up in society, state ownership. Sounds Orwellian to me. A drab and boring world where personal incentive is absent. You have the workings of.... Well nothing.

1) Your system will never be implemented
2) Your system should never be implemented
3) How do you motivate innovation
4) How do you encourage hard work


People will show up for their 8 hours on the job then go home, even if they suck at their job they still get paid, the same as the people who work hard. There is absolutely zero viability.


Seriously though, are you joking, or do you actually believe this? To be honest, I can't really tell.

1052. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #174046 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 1:37 pm

IainM,






I have thought the same thing for some time.


You know this makes you an anti-semite of course.... See the ADL manual.

1053. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #174042 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 1:23 pm

D'Arcy,

If the classless society of socialism / communism is ever to be achieved, it cannot be imposed from above by a vanguard party, as Lenin claimed to have done. The achievement of the classless society must be the conscious work of the majority of the world's working class (most of us), actively seeking to take political action to bring it about.

All the so-called communist countries were and are thoroughly capitalist, and yes, include Cuba. The workers there work for wages on behalf of a privileged class who own the means of living and reap the benefits of the labour of others.

1054. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #174041 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 1:20 pm

Bonzai,





If you dare suggest that I don't know the difference between keynesian economics and socialism I will fly over to wherever you are and slap upside the head. It is so obvious those aren't the same.

I have repeatedly said "State ownership", you continue to dodge because you know, beyond any doubt that socialism is a bankrupt theory. Expounded my wirey haired whackos in San Francisco cafes, shouted by semi-employed "editors" at anti-war rallies, but totally failed when applied to any real society.

Everyone knows this.

Keynesian is the opposite of supply side economics. It suggest that the government knows best how to allocate certain resources, while the opposite side says the free market knows best.

There must be a reconciliation of the two points. Sometimes the government should administer programs, and sometimes it should not. That is a realistic form of capitalism. But look around you and see the countries flourishing as they become free markets or continue to refine free markets (Europe for instance).


Then look at a country becoming socialist before your eyes... Venezuela, run by a man worshipped by Sean Penn, but incapable of tying his perverbial shoes. He will preside over a humanitarian crisis as he drives inflation exponentially higher, courting destruction with his big mouth and small military. Taking function private industries nationalising them and cutting performance and capacity through the hiring of incompeten government fucktards. Expelling Americans with real knowledge and installing people once removed from a pig farm in the jungle. No transition, no plan, simply Bolivarian schizophrenia. Despite its immense resources, Venezuela will be beaten to a pulp by yet another incompetent leftist. He and whoever runs Cuba in a few months can sit about, smoking cigars, and talking about who is more like Che Guevara, while their people starve and attempt to swim to Florida.

1055. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #174035 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 1:11 pm

alvorin,

Yeah but for how much longer?
Maybe a seachange is coming and it will be a powerhouse asian economy supporting nanny middle eastern religious states.
And all the white folks are working for a buck a day.

1056. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #174032 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 12:58 pm

_riverrun,




You have yet to provide an answer to why violence is centered in the Muslim world. And why it is intra-muslim as well as anti-western.

Your critiques of Kissinger in Indonesia is well placed.

But the issues around Saudi Arabia an Afghanistan are misplace. The Sa'ud family was supported at the same time as the Hashemites under Faisal in the Hijaz (Philby and Lawrence being the respective representatives of the British there). It was an issue of who was going to win the peninsula and who will play ball.

Right now, if the Sa'ud family left, the situation would be intolerable. But there is a bit of two faced-ness there. The Saudis have long eexported jihadis and fundamentalist Islam, the US looks the other way, not because there isn't a clash of civilizations, but because certain access to resources take precedent.

As for the Taliban, the Taliban grew out of the Deobandi movement of the Sub continent. They were supported, because the US, believed at the time (incorrectly perhaps, but hind sight is 20/20) that allowing the communists to win there would be unthinkable. And in fact this is true to some degree. The Mujahideen were the only organized and effective fighting force in the region, and were willing to fight to the death. The Soviets were slaughtering people and the US had to step in for ideological and humanitarian reasons. Pakistan was complaining of the refugee problem, and the US heeded this call.

The Mujahideen won. And as for cash flows, the Taliban was not yet an entity as it was when it came to power in 1996, so when you say the US and Saudis funded the Taliban, this is all but dishonest and an example of Chomskian twisting. The US was funding the Mujahideen via Saudi Arabia and Pakistani ISI, the Taliban drew their membership from all over and not strictly from the foreign fighters. In fact the Taliban were a form of Deobandi Sufism and this was largely unknown to the foreign fighters.

But your post looks like a Chomsky essay grasping about for some hint of western duplicity where one may dump the entire responsibility for every rained out picnic in all the world. This just isn't so. The US was unable to forecast all future events. Their method and approach was flawed, but it wasn't the mendacious approach to which you ascribe.

Regarding you points about the historicity of religion. I maintain that while of great intellectual interest and a good topic for academic debate, a narrow concentration on theological hermeneutics, etymology, and religious doctrine cannot do justice to the important issues at stake here.

1057. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173949 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 11:42 am

Bonzai,





Haven't you figured it out? I have NO IDEA what I am talking about.



|>:-{o

1058. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #173947 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 11:41 am

mesmodel,




The hardest thing to do is to recommend books on a topic you love to study. Because the list is 100 books long. But:


Ira Lapidus, A History of Islamic Societies
Marshall G. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam 3 Vols.
Albert Hourani, A History of the Arabs


The first two are long reads, but you will be very well read on the topic once you finish.

Lapidus would be a good first read... And he is a Berkeley guy too!


If you are interested in more specific topics let me know.

1059. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173939 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 11:33 am

Bonzai,

1) religion is singled out on this site. Almost everyone assumes that it has a special meaning here, including Dawkins and Steve . I am sure Steve used religion in a very narrow sense in our debate above.

1060. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173935 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 11:31 am

alovrin,





Tito, the very same... a communist. He applied for membership in the Russian Communist Party, and was integral in the ascendancy of Communists in Yugoslavia. That was the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia.

Although he resisted Soviet (direct) Influence, he remained a communist.


I get out plenty.


And like I said, show me a socialist country with state ownership that is flourishing and I will eat my hat. All these so called "socialist" countries are capitalist countries with high taxes. And they flourish on the coat-tails of a power house US economy.

Our strong economy helps power the micro-managing nanny states throughout Europe.

And yes, personal incentive is natural, and anything that values it will rest on a natural motivation. Socialism, which robs people of the fruits of their labor destroys people and countries and ruins societies.

Like I said, you will take the full force of history to the face if you attempt to promote true socialism (or communism).

1061. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #173930 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 11:24 am

mesomodel,





I was accepted to do graduate work (MA and PhD) at several universities, but I couldn't bring myself to accept a life in the humanities (yet), but I may in the future.

I also wrote a book on the geographical history of the Hijaz region of Arabia, during pre-Islamic times. I also published a couple of random articles, hither and thither.

I dedicated a whole lot of time to this study, including memorizing Arabic grammar texts with Mauritanian scholars.

Ok, sorry for the essay on my life.

1062. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #173924 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 11:17 am

_riverrun,





Furthermore this form of "peace" has seeped into Islam. Not just the ideology, but the name itself.


The Arabic word Islam is a noun derived from the root S-L-M meaning to submit. Islam is often mis-translated (in a mendacious fashion, no doubt) as "peace", this is wrong it is submission. The term peace Salam is also derived from the same root. Peace is achieved through submission in Arab culture and language. One must submit to the tribe with greater 'Asabiyya, or be subdued by this tribe.

Islam in theory and practice grew the tribe into a religion. Thus all the tribal ethos that applied to individual tribes now applied to Islam the religion, as opposed to competing ideologies. The 'Asabiyya applies as does submission. The Muslims were not interested in converts during their expansion, they were interested in submission of political, military, personal, and financial life. Thus the Arabs used garrison towns (Kufa, Cairo, Baghdad, etc...) to control the local populace without interfering in day to day life. This also led to the use of the term Dhimmi for a religious minority (Jew, or Christian... Ahl al-Kitab). This also led to the imposition of the Jizya (poll tax) on this minorities. The goal was to subdue the people and impose an apartheid system where all capital would flow to the Arab elite.

This remained the same, with the exception of the Arab elite which was struck down with the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate. The Abbasids rose on a platform of Muslim equality, regardless of race. However all other aspects remained.

The Islamic doctrine sees violent jihad as an obligation:

In Islam there are two kinds of obligation:

Fard Kifayya (Communal or sufficient obligation).

Fard 'Ayni (Individual)


Jihad is broken into the Greater and Lesser (Al-Akbar and al-Asghar respectively).

The Greater is and individual obligation and contains the jihad against ones negative personal and internal inclinations.

The Lesser involves spreading the faith and fighting injustice. This is a communal obligation, and it includes jihad of the sword (Jihad al-Sayf)


These doctines have made the obligation of warfare permanent and lasting on the Nation of Muhammad. Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc... view themselves as the Muslims who are fulfilling this communal obligation.

This violence is endemic to Islam, not because violence is, but because the dogma insists upon it, unwaveringly and unendingly.

So the reason violence is centered around Arabs is that Islam is the religion of the Arabs (90 some %) and Islam is a product of Arab culture.

1063. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #173919 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 11:04 am

_riverrun,




Here is my opinion on Tamils and others who engage in suicide attacks.



http://richarddawkins.net/articleComments,2516,How-to-reconcile-Richard-Dawkins,Peter-McKnight,page6#173807





http://richarddawkins.net/articleComments,2516,How-to-reconcile-Richard-Dawkins,Peter-McKnight,page6#173807


http://richarddawkins.net/articleComments,2516,How-to-reconcile-Richard-Dawkins,Peter-McKnight,page6#173828



These should clear up the issue of suicide terrorism. It depends on the nature of the particular dogma and belief. The Tamil Tigers is an old Red Herring used to exculpate Muslims.

Islam is nasty and violent. Believe me, there is no one here that has studied its texts and history more than me. It creates an absolute and unforgivable dichotomy, with razor sharp edges. Islam shares a great deal with Jahili Arabia (pre-Islamic). Scientifically and ethically, Muhammad reworked Arab tribal ethos to suit a plan of conquest.

This tribal ethos has changed little, intra-family marriages remain common in Arab countries.

Also, Ibn Khaldun wrote the Muqqadimah in the 14th Century. He coined the term 'Asabiyya, which means "tribal solidarity". 'Asab as the triliteral root has the semantic connotation of tightness or potentially rigidity. For instance the adjective derived from the 5th verbal form of the root is Ta'assub which is used to connote fundamentalism or rigidity of belief (also used is Mutazama or Muta'aqad the latter being from the root "to tie a knot"). But I digress.

Ibn Khaldun noted that the tribes that managed to congeal this 'Asabiyya were far more successful and managed to control resources. He spoke as if this were almost a form of Natural Selection. Which makes me wonder if he had read Al-Jahiz's Kitab al-Haywan (Book of Animals) which had actually posited a precise analogy of natural selection, what I will term "proto-Darwinian".

He also noted that a form of democracy was mainained, since the tribe with the most people in it, or the most subsidiary tribes would be powerful.

These tribes achieved absolute passivity through violence.


***CONT. BELOW****

1064. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #173914 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 10:52 am

_riverrun,

That is the lack of Arabic violence, not the amount of it is truly astounding.

1065. Girl, 17, killed in Iraq for loving a British soldier

Comment #173912 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 10:51 am

Bonzai,






Well, I studied at Berkeley. Our MES program received a large sum from a Saudi family. I happen to be friends with some of the members of this family, so I know they aren't whackos. But the local Jewish groups went ape shit when they heard saying the dept. was funded by "terrorists". Then the Vice Chair (who is Jewish) said: "This is an attack from the extreme right wing of Zionism. The largest donor to our program is a Jewish family, sponsoring Jewish studies among other things."

If the money doesn't come with strings then it is fine.

1066. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #173833 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 9:27 am

mesomodel,






Damn I thought he worked for NARDS. Well I was wrong again.:-)

1067. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173828 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 9:24 am

Bonzai,




You are welcome to hold such a belief. But realize it contradicts the science on the matter. That seems a little "religious" itself.

These beliefs can do good as well. Perhaps a religion like the Quakers, where pacifism is the doctrine. It is the same kind of belief as martyrdom, or marxism, or nationalism. These are all similar beliefs. The belief is the issue.

If Muhammad had said 73 virgins instead, the belief would be altered, but not the way it is believed, it would function in the brain the same way.

Religion isn't a special form of irrationality. The science would contradict you here. *EDIT* You need to show that religious belief is seperate from any of the beliefs held by Tamils or Kamikazes. It seems to be the exact same part of the brain and it seems to me that the dogmatic belief is the fundamental problem. Killing yourself IS irrational.

The Tamils do have a doctrine for suicide attack. It is the specific form of Leninism they subscribe to. Their leaders have devised a way to convince young people that these attacks are a way of achieving a Leninist state in Tamil Eelam. These bombers believe this fervently. And this is scientifically the same belief, it is irrational, it is dogmatic.

1068. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173807 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 8:58 am

Bonzai,




You are making a fundamental mistake of analysis.


Remember Sam Harris' study that found belief is belief is belief? There is no difference between belief in the State, the Nation, God, Jesus, Nationalism etc... These beliefs are all the same. This belief is instrumental in creating the suicide attack.

Your problem is that you hold religion is if it is some special kind of belief. It isn't, the bio-chemistry is likely the same as any other belief. All suicide attacks are due to some kind of belief. It is irrelevant whether this happens to be religion. So in that sense Steve is exactly right, the belief that is religion is the same belief that the Shintos had, just in something else. An atheist can even have such beliefs.


People here give religion a special place, as if there is some seperate kind of belief, and reason will eliminate these kind of beliefs.

Stop treating religion as if it is some special entity unlike any other. It is the same shit as all the rest of the dogmatists and true believers who ever believed. Same shit. Steve is right.

1069. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #173762 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 8:22 am

Rev. Dark,




So much for the soul determining any aspect of you character. Old Phineas solved that problem.


Apparently it is bio-chemistry. Oooops.

1070. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #173752 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 8:08 am

_riverrun,





Perhaps you should read the Seeart al-Rasul by Ibn Hisham. It is a detailed biography of Muhammad. He gleefully beheaded those he conquered, and enslaved the women and children.

The Muslim conquest of the sub-continent, led to the deaths of about 60 million Hindus.

Hajj al-Amin al-Hussaini visited a concentration camp and said to his Nazi hosts that he wanted to open a death camp in Palestine for Jews. He also attempted to help organize Muslim brigades for the Nazis in the Balkans, and managed to get 20,000-25,000 Muslims involved.

The real delusion of Arab violence is when you think that if the Arabs had Israeli like weapons, would they have shown any restraint in destroying the Jews? The answer is no. There would be no Israel.

The Arabs sheltered Nazi war criminals.

Look at the "bloody borders of Islam". Wherever Islam went, the nasty theology of death went with it. Although cultures accepted it to differing degrees, the message remained the same.

If you look at the Sa'ud family taking the Arabian peninsula under Abdulaziz Ibn Sa'ud, there were hundreds of thousands of public executions and amputations.

When the Saudi-Wahhabi forces took Karbala in 1801, they put thousands to the sword and looted the local shrine of Imam Hussein. Stealing all the valuable gems and other items.

The Arabs have a long history of tribalism which has helped facilitate violence to a great degree.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia still imprison women for "witch craft". They execute people for apostasy. They kill homosexuals. They marginalize women. It seems to the casual observer they have no redeeming qualities. A closer perusal will show there are some people there that are decent people, but they are not the ones asserting themselves.

The Arabs have started war after war after war with Israel. They spent the 1950's infiltrating Israel and massacreing innocents. Like in 1954 when the killed 17 innocent people on a bus in Israel.

The only reason they haven't killed more people is because they have feeble technology, are disorganized, and spend most of their times clashing with each other.

Absence of violence? No way.

1071. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #173741 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 7:42 am

MaxD,




Communication with him is hopeless.


He is simply going to post vacuous and obnoxious posts, containing little insults, hurled from the heights of Christian hubris. He will not be subjected to our responses. It will be a one way flow.

I wonder how long this malodorous flood will persist before he grows weary? He is a pathetic old pervert, trying to live forever.... in a fake god.

1072. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #173729 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 7:22 am

MaxD,





There was a big bang in the seat of his pants. He substituted this for his brain.

1073. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #173728 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 7:21 am

Vile man.






The brain damage inflicted by his Mormon uprbinging appears to be irreversible. Maybe he will fly to the compound in Texas.

1074. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173722 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 7:11 am

They cannot be better than:




Richard Matheson's I am Legend
John Wynham's The Day of the Triffids


Those are too good, too good I say!

1075. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173717 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 6:58 am

Anna,




Cut me some slack my fiction is limited to post apocalyptic. But I do watch the Harry Potter movies.

1076. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173714 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 6:43 am

Anna,





Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Castro, Lenin, Tito.


All socialists, creating Jiten's "Just system". True there are some ideologues in the US, who sit in their University offices, pondering what it is to do a day's work (having done nothing but sit in an air-conditioned library), deciding further that people who have worked hard to earn a living (and provide employment for many others) do not deserve any reward, and that such reward is unjust.

These people are also atheists, shockingly enough. They rejected a micro-managing God, and substitute a micro-managing bureaucratic state. The Nanny State, there to tell people what to do and how to do it. No matter how many times this model fails, costing thousands (nay millions) of lives, their dogmatism remains, unwavering, steadfast against the onslaught of history.

1077. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #173706 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 6:34 am

Richard Morgan,





I may never find lasting relief, but a good start would be if you simply disappeared from this site. Your personal cowardice is what most strikes me. You need some deity because you cannot face the world for what it is. You were spurned and now you take great comfort in repeating to yourself that all who have maligned you will burn in hell fire.

You really belong with the Christians. Your totally unacceptable behavior towards women is something religion seems to have cornered the market on. I wonder how Christ would view your lewd comments to women? No doubt you can simply chalk this up to the permissiveness of atheism. How convenient, such expiation.

Your contempt for reason and honesty is not a quality, it is a wretched disease. Your credulous acceptance of the fundamentally impossible is something that you will wear like an iron mask, not a medal.

And now you are simply seeking attention here. You have chose to side with liars. This is no doubt where you belong. You have disgusted me so thoroughly, so completely. Your sarcastic and pernicious issuance of "thanks" for all those who showed you the bankruptcy of reason. None of these people return your "affection", they hold you in contempt or they pity you. You have quickly reverted to Christian arrogance in the ridiculous notion of salvation, and then you have the hubris to "thank" people who, being much much smarter than you, have convinced you that a reason and evidence based life is bankrupt.

The only thing that is bankrupt is the system of lies which you so proudly trumpet.

1078. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173700 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 6:25 am

Jiten,




Go to Cuba. Socialists keep talking about just societies, yet Socialist societies are the least just. The nastiest of tyrants have always been "for the people" and run "dictatorships of the proletariat."


You have no idea what a just society is or how to achive it. It is simply about giving people the tools to better their lives and provide a support system for those that have chronic problems.


As for you dogmatic Chomsky fetish. What the hell are you talking about? As someone who likes Chomsky's commentary on America's role in the international scene, I can't find it in my mind to simply bow and lick his feet as you seem to do.

Like I said, go live in a socialist country. Your weekly ration of beans ought to help clear your mind.

1079. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173699 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 6:21 am

Christoper Davis,





Well, let me say this. Capitalsim reinforces what is human nature, and socialism is an awkward and ineffective approach, in theory and practice.

But to say "Socialism looks far better on paper" isn't very helpful, because I would just say: "Taxes for none, welfare for all, free beer and pizza which don't make you fat". That would be nice too, but it doesn't seem practical.

People who laud the socialist nations (which really aren't particularly socialist because they maintain private ownership) don't realize how they benefit from a strong American economy, the central banks of these countries watch the US Fed with great interest. There are more than a few countries that move their interest rates (discount rates) in line with the US.

So it is not fair to say "Norway is doing fine, it's socialist." Wrong, Norway has private ownership of business, the taxes are simply high and medicine and education are free. It has some limited socialist aspects, and these seem to work in a small country with little racial diversity.

A real socialist nation looks like Cuba. Government control of everything, worst of all the internet.

Show me a true socialist country and I will show you people making boats out of 1950's Chevy trucks and hauling ass for the Florida Keys.

Even China is rapidly privatizing everything in sight, they finally understand that private ownership will create more wealth for all.

As for unfair, any system that has a diverse population will see problems. Humans are still deeply entrenched in cultural customs, and loyalty to their "culture". Their is still a degree of institutional racism in the US. And many of the minority groups don't do much to help themselves get out of their funk. But some do, look at the Irish, Jews, and Arabs. Most have come and done well financially despite a great deal of hostility to them initially, so it certainly isn't impossible. It is impossible if you constantly blame someone else for your problems.

1080. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173694 by al-rawandi on May 1, 2008 at 6:05 am

Bonzai, Steve Zara,




My simple analysis is as follows. Bonzai seems tied to certain ideas. His vigorous defense of a general idea of socialism (of course the metaphysical unimplemented version) was a clue. I have to say that Steve impresses me most of the time, specifically when he weighed in on the Capitalist issue with a question posed in a manner that can only be described as open minded. I don't see Steve as ever having held any dogmatic allegiance, and he has shown flexibility of thought. I don't think Bonzai's characterization is even remotely fair.

The issue with Suicide terrorism is that it is a desperate measure, without question. It is a product of nationalism or other struggle to wrest control from a superior foreign power. In the Islamic sense nationalism takes on several different meanings, and the oppressors take different form. One really needs to read Sayyid Qutb, Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Abu al-Ala al-Mawdudi, Shah Waliullah Dihlavi, and several others to understand the idea of religious nationalism and the state of the Muslim world. If these people aren't understood one cannot determine, from ther perspective of the Islamists, who the "enemy" is. The suicide attack in the Middle East was pioneered by Hezbollah (A reading of Shi'a discourse centered at Jabal al-Aml would be helpful in understanding this), and although Hezbollah pioneered the practice it was the first to abandon it as well, seeing it as counter-productive. Furthermore the Lebanese assault on occupying Zionist forces was also carried out by Christians. Numerous suicide bombers were Christians and some Muslims who were nominally religious. This was a struggle of nationalism to repel invaders and vandals.

Dogmatism plays a role in the suicide attack, however the Tigers of Tamil Eelam were devout Leninists, and aside from several leaders (who were lapsed Methodists and Baptists, including the Valipulai Prabhakaran) are mostly cultural Hindus. They have been fighting their "oppressors" the Sinhalese Buddhists. This is an issue of nationalism and religious discourse is uncommon on either side, as neither religion has a dogmatic aspect with regards to fighting the other. So this can only be viewed through the lens of nationalism.

I would also point to the Leonidas squadron of the Luftwaffe. Once the war turned, these pilots engaged in suicide missions against the Russians. This was in part due to the fact that the Russians were far more likely to vandalize and destroy German society, while the Germans knew that the Americans would at least be respectful of their country (as much as was possible). This squadron did not have a particularly religious motivation (as far as I can see, a historian may care to weigh in).

So suicide attacks seem centered in the Muslim world, this is simply because Islam facilitates them by creating absolute dichotomies. Many of the influential authors I cite above reinforced rigid and clear edges of this dichotomy. This has made recruitment very easy, since there is next to no inrospection with regards to problems in the Muslim world. It is exclusively the fault of the infidel west and irreligious (non-Shariah) local Muslim governments who blaspheme against Allah. Their target is two fold.... Repel the west, and establish shariah governments in the Muslim world.

1081. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #173293 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 3:21 pm

riverrun,




Simple, Arab culture may well be prone to violence, while Tibetan may not be.


Islam is simply Arab tribal ethos made into religion. So it doesn't surprise me that the violence is situated around Arab populations and populations strongly influenced by Arab culture.

The Muslim presence in much of Asia has not been Arab in nature, and has not existed for long periods of time. The way it has in Egypt or Syria.

1082. Open Letter to a victim of Ben Stein's lying propaganda

Comment #173290 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 3:19 pm

Steve,




RM is arrogant in pretending to know other people's psychology, and that it is some uniform pathology. That is the pinnacle of arrogance... pretending to know something about someone which they don't know about themselves.

Sort of like personal relationships with Jesus, so clearly fake and utterly annoying.

1083. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173285 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Falcon, MPhil,




St. Thomas Aquinas said democracy is a tyranny of the majority. Sometimes I feel that is true. Especially when it comes to religion. Thankfully our founding fathers did something right and went for secularism.

1084. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173239 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 2:31 pm

I am gone too.





I am going to throw darts at a picture of Lenin....




I hate the Beatles.

1085. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173238 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 2:30 pm

Bonzai,





By that argument, we need religion. Why can't people reason for themselves? You don't trust them? Maybe they need to fear hell, or else they would be total assholes.



MPhil,


Do your ideal Euro states use sweatshop labor? Do Europeans wear Nike? All those social institutions still aren't helping the Vietnamese laborers.

But it boils down to conscience. Shareholders can vote for people who will end unjust practices in other countries. And there are plenty of capitalists who object to exploitation.




Jiten,


I have read Chomsky. I have almost everything he ever wrote. He spends a lot of time flagellating himself and blaming every rained out picnic in the world, on American corporate-government agents. It is nothing remarkably noteworthy.

If you read one book you have read them all. I have read about the same Lebanese bombing in 3 of his books. It gets old, hope for new material is always dashed upon the rocks.

1086. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173225 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 2:21 pm

Bonzai,

Sweatshop is perfectly moral if you look at it from a purely "free market" perspective. Why pay people more than they can bargain for?

1087. Anti-Evolution Film Misappropriates the Holocaust

Comment #173221 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 2:18 pm

riverrun,





Takfir has to do with other Muslims. As a practical issue, the term Jahiliyya as used by Qutb is used to describe non-Shariah governments in the Muslim world.

Qutb's influence is somewhat limited.


Terrorists had attacked the WTC in 1993. American foreign policy is not the cause of Muslim violence. Muslims have been terrorizing people since Muhammad left Mecca for Medina in the 7th Century. Suicide bombings are relatively new.

And furthermore, why are there no Buddhist suicide bombers? Their country is brutally occupied with no end in sight.

More tomorrow.

I get one week of boredom on RD.net, then I have something to study for and people come with capitalism and Sayyid Qutb, my two favorite things.

What fucking luck.

1088. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173213 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 2:12 pm

MPhil,

But I do think that establishing a law to protect and promote the priority of the basic liberties and their distribution is a stronger means. The management via taxes in this way is a viable option, so is using the taxes to promote programs directly.
Also, the indirect control you propose may be problematic because one has very limited control over the outcome of such indirect regulating measures. Direct measures can be better controlled.

1089. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173209 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 2:09 pm

Bonzai,

Whatever problem one may have with socialism, it means ownership by the people, not ownership by the state. The state doesn't represent the people if they have no meaningful participation in the running of the state,

1090. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173207 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 2:05 pm

MPhil,

That's what I meant by naiveté... that assumes that someone, independent of education, psychological constitution etc can truly fend off any attempt at subliminal or overt controlling of behaviour. Do you know how children for example are targeted and conditioned by television-ads for example?

In a system where education requires a lot of money that people don't have, that's is nearly impossible. No one's psychological constitution is entirely autonomous.

1091. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173202 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 2:01 pm

D'Arcy,



State ownership of resources and capital. That is a pretty simple equation. Marx denying that he is for state control does not constitute evidence that his writings did not say this.

Are you one of the "Well Communism has never really been tried".... So there is some petaphysical communism that will work perfectly but has yet to be implemented?

If so, ditto for free market capitalism. It's perfect, yet not yet implemented as such.

Steve,


I don't really care. Like I said I don't like to edit my posts, because when I say something I mean it. If I need to fix it, then I will make another post to fix it.

No offense intended. But it was a distraction. Anyhow Bureaucrates is the naked man on the flag of my dear nation which is Carto's avatar...

:-)


I hope there isn't a hole in the flag!

1092. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173194 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:50 pm

Podaar,




You're right. I take it back.


However as a collection, the numb skulls outweigh the dedicated people like your wife.

I should have made this clear.

I am sorry.

1093. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173193 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:49 pm

Elli,





Thank you. I thought I was taking crazy pills.

I have been saying that fixing racial inequality isn't about changing law school admission standards for blacks, but rather for taking young blacks in poor neighborhoods, and giving them a great education. They are capable people, don't treat them like retarded step children.

1094. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173189 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:47 pm

Bill and Ted,




Loved them.



Harping on my spelling, getting old.


I am typing fast so I can go do something in a minute, and I try not to edit my posts. What I say is what I say.

1095. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173188 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:46 pm

MPhil,

Generally an important point, but also a false dichotomy. and "interest in your happiness" - you must be joking. Do companies try to subliminally and overtly coax you into spending money you don't need to spend to buy their products and services? Of course they do.

1096. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173185 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:42 pm

MPhil,

Look at the facts - How many of those with a university education or with a high income come from poor families? How many from rich families?

1097. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173181 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:39 pm

Anna,




That is why I said "If this is in fact the dichotomy".


You're cute, but please read the whole post. I left the door open to other options.

I made the first post to encourage discussion and the second to open the door to other options.

1098. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173180 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:37 pm

Podaar,




The competent people (with the exception of the military and intelligence sector) end up in the private sector.


Steve,


The Euro govt.'s maintain a suprising degree of freedom in the Markets. They also have much much much smaller populations.

England 60 some million?

US 310 million, divided amongst semi-independent states.


Bonzai,


No these countries are usually in the grips of stupidity and incompetence. People who worship the local bush and think it is their ancestor, the cow, which provided the primordial milk and burning this bush scares of spirits, are going to have trouble managing the intricacies of farming, economics and medicine.

Countries that lack resources are going to be poor. But resource is no guarantee. Just look at Muslims with oil.


Gotta go take a practice exam be back in 30.

1099. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173176 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:32 pm

Steve,





No. There hasn't and I am not sure there should be. When I say free market, I mean free as to be able to remain fair.

There is a degree where greed can run rampant. But the US started out quite free, then we had the 1933, 1934, 1940 Acts which reigned in greed. But politicians later went overboard and used their power to seize upon opportunities to micromanage certain things about people and institutions. They tax people to death and spend it not on social services (health, which I support, wellfare, which I support, scientific research, which I support) but on a large military, useless programs and wasteful foreign aid.

There is also no such thing as an independent currency. So the currency arbitrage is another issue which could be discussed with regards to disparity.

Not all currencies are valued the same in the market, thus there are issues with wages and trade imbalances.

1100. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #173168 by al-rawandi on April 30, 2008 at 1:22 pm

Bonzai,



I don't have time to get into all of what you wrote.


But the business cycle is caused by government interference, according to some economists.


I was never against government intervention to keep markets fair and balanced. But I am unwilling to concede to a socialist system that seeks to beat down initiative to allocate resources to the state.


The question you must ask is, would you like capital accumulating with a bloated and incompetent government, run by armchair bureaucrates. Or by companies that have an interest in you happiness with their performance, lightly regulated by a government that is in the service of the people?


The answer is obvious, if such a dichotomy exists. I think this is possible.

Supply and demand will determine a lot of the market. Scarcity creates adaption. Surplus, the same. If rice gets scarce, it gets expensive and people will eat other things. The balance of cost will shift with this scarcity. No government interference can change the nature of scarcity.

The countries that have had the greatest trouble feeding their people are the countries that are run by socialistic governments.

You will get a real time model of socialism as Hugo Chavez fucks up Venezuela. He will take a marginally functioning society and turn it into a cesspool of human suffering, all in the name of the working class.

Capitalism is imperfect, but so unmistakably better than socialism.