ANZAC Day

Anzac Day's tomorrow. I'm debating whether I should go to a ceremony (as a rep. of my school) or not. On the one hand, these people died fighting a war, which we are told they fought nobly and for good cause, in the interests of our country, and for the betterment of humanity, on the other, tomorrow is, in a way, a celebration of the use of military force, we are not just remembering the deaths of these people, we are glorifying their actions, and giving justification to the militarist frame of mind.

ANZAC day is "a day to remember", whether you reflect on the loss of life, or on a sacrifice, it was undoubtedly an important date in Australian or World history.

Heard the other day in an interview with a representative of the American republican party, discussing the American policy of non-involvement (not getting involved in overseas confllicts).

"We're all really inbred republicans"

Sorry, This blog is too political sometimes.

I've got Gmail

Whooooo!

Vanstone doesn't annoy me as much as Ruddock though. Even they're as equally inhumane. (actually it's probably because I don't have a TV anymore and don't hear her sound bites (mwhahah get the joke...? Don't blame me....Triple J started those jokes) .

I'm at a certain person's house who has a mini noticeboard/blackboard meant to be for shopping lists etc and it has always said "The trouble with political jokes is they often get elected", now it has a slight addition to the ending "i.e. Mark Latham". Me and Anne both noticed it and expressed our contempt for it (to eachother). That all happened with Fox News running in the background =)

On John Howard, John Laws, and Our rights.

Over on little Johnny's website -

Lawsy and Johnny are having a good old chat about why we don't deserve a bill of rights.

LAWS:

It’s part of this new Bill of Rights. Have you had a look at that?

PRIME MINISTER:

Oh I’ve had a look at the Bill of Rights. I don’t believe in Bills of Rights.

LAWS:

Neither do I.

......... Some time later .........

PRIME MINISTER:

I think a Bill of Rights is a totally undesirable… I think it can end up restricting rights rather than enhancing them.

LAWS:

Yeah. We should have a Bill of Responsibilities.

PRIME MINISTER:

Well I certainly agree with that and I think the States should have that too. I think one of my complaints about the State Governments at the present time is they’re big on rights, but when it comes to any responsibility, they get into a jam and they say it’s the fault of Canberra.

So Laws wants us to be responsible (for giving him ridiculously large amounts of many presumably), and Howard wants the states to stop holding him accountable, (labour should be responsible, let me just screw up our country and put annoying stupid cows in cabinet positions *cough* Van - Stone *cough*

That would have been funnier if it wasn't so true.
Especially the part when they went "We trust you had a comfortable trip" etc. When we got to the City Rail tracks 2 transit officers took over patrolling the train. =)

As we speak, one Benita C-------, of unkown origins, is travelling by train, somewhere on the NSW central coast. This poor soul is enduring a night of cramped, sleepless, arse aching travelling.

"Welcome to Countrylink, I trust you have brought plenty of food and an overstuffed pillow, all passengers are advised that passengers travelling are required to undergo pillow searches, and that food labelled Ricola Alpine Fresh is strictly prohibited. This train will depart at 10:28 pm and arrives in Sydney at 11:40am tomorrow morning. Thankyou for choosing Countrylink, really, the only choice for travel - 'cos WE own the rails."

And the satellite news says the cease-fire is holding and George Bush says to the troops on Easter Sunday that, “I know what we’re doing in Iraq is right.” Shooting unarmed men in the back outside their family home is right. Shooting grandmothers with white flags is right? Shooting at women and children who are fleeing their homes is right? Firing at ambulances is right?

How about devoting the entire Military and NASA budgets to eradicating hunger, poverty, and disease.

The problem with those emails is that they are usually made up. They could have a basis somewhere, but along the way people change little bits of the story to support their perspective.

In the story the prisoner said:

"I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a Holy war against the infidels of the world"

Where did he pull that one from? Most Imams?, most Imams preach peace, the fundamental idea of the Islamic belief.

The sender talked about "the truth about the Muslims beliefs": I doubt she would know the truths about Islamic beliefs, or her own religion for that matter. The pope granted free passage to heaven for the crusaders. All they had to do was travel across Europe and parts of the Middle East killing people, not just Muslims or Jews, but other Christians ended up dying (they didn't speak English, so of course they couldn't have been Christian).

Another message for the ignorant girl from Texas New Jersey: Muslims believe in Jesus too. Stop believing everything the media, your church or your parents are telling you and find stuff out for yourself. Don't go through life blinding following everyone else.

What set me off on that tangent?

No, It wasn't the Osama Bin Laden tape, although that was the deciding factor.

I have a pen pal who I have written to on and off for about 4 years. She is from New Jersey, U.S.A and is quite a laugh and fun person to email. Even though I'd always know she was pretty religious (never swore or watched highly rated movies etc) we still got on fine. But then tonight I get another religious email from her and actually decide to read this one, just because of it's subject: "Allah or Jesus".
Here it is:

"Allah or Jesus?
by Rick Mathes

Last month I attended my annual training session that's
required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the
training session there was a presentation by three speakers representing the
Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths, who explained each of their
belief systems. I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had
to say. The Imam gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam,
complete with a video. After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers.
When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Imam and asked:
"Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad [Holy war] against the infidels of the world. And, that by killing an infidel, which is a command to all Muslims, they are assured of a place in heaven. If that's the case, can you give me the definition of an infidel?"
There was no disagreement with my statements and, without hesitation, he replied, "Non-believers!"
I responded, "So, let me make sure I have this straight.
All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who
is not of your faith so they can go to Heaven. Is that correct?"
The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He sheepishly replied, "Yes."
I then stated, "Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to
imagine Pope John Paul commanding all Catholics to kill those of your
faith or Dr. Stanley ordering Protestants to do the same in order to go
to Heaven!"
The Imam was speechless.
I continued, "I also have problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me. Let me ask you a question. Would you rather have your Allah who tells you to kill me in order to go to Heaven or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to Heaven and He wants you to be with me?"
You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his head in
shame.

Senders words: Needless to say, the organizers and/or promoters of the
'Diversification' training seminar were not happy with Rick's way of
dealing with the Islamic Imam and exposing the truth about the Muslim's
beliefs. I think everyone in the US should be required to read this, but with the liberal justice system, liberal media, and the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized. Please pass this on to all your email contacts.

This is a true story and the author, Rick Mathes, is a well known leader in prison ministry."


Now I can handle the "God loves you" emails but this really hit the spot. I can't just ignore this- even if it is fictional.

So what do I do, whilst remaining religiously sensitive and let's face it, civil, in my fit of rage after reading such utter crap?
I explain to my penpal that I have a different view of religion and politics than she obviously does, and that I "oppose stuff like that (anti freedom of religion stuff)" and something of the essence of "not all muslims are like that at all, only extremists, and you have extremists in every religion (including christianity)" and suggested that this not get in the way of our pen-friendship and that we steer clear of politics and religion.

It's a shame really, that you have to steer clear of such matters.

Ihath sums it up nicely (as Ihath does...):
1. People believe what they want to believe.
2. The majority of people don't want to know the truth, they want to know things that they already know.
3. The vast majority of people are too emotional to form opinions based on objectivity.
4. There is nothing I can do, absolutely nothing, to change the view of somebody who is not objective.

http://www.ihath.com/2004_03_31_ctznofwrld_archive.html