Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Sunday, November 7, 2021

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 





18 comments:

Jerry said...

That's a smart man.

Les Carpenter said...

The earth, since it became inhabited by the animal species known as humankind, has never been free of ignorance and greed.

We in the US of A have merely entered a supercharged, hyper active era of ignorance and greed. Trumpublicans just keep pouring fossil fuel on the flames.

Infidel753 said...

And a wise idea it was. The Thirty Years War (Catholic vs Protestant) is said to have killed off a third of the population of Germany, and all over Europe countries were mass-murdering and mass-deporting people of native origin but of a different sect than the local king had decided to make the official one. Such horrors were recent or ongoing at the time the Constitution was written.

Christians who want the US to be an officially Christian nation would do well to remember that those conflicts in Europe were between rival Christian sects, not between Christianity and other religions (except in the Balkans). Even today some extremist fundamentalists in the US consider Catholicism to be Satanic, and some hard-line Catholics view Protestants as heretics. Whichever form of Christianity became the official religion of the state, things would quickly get uncomfortable for adherents of other forms.

Dave Dubya said...

"Everybody knows" Madison was a commie atheist, amirite?

The Founders royally screwed any hope for democracy with the Electoral system and a Senate that would deny voter equality and proportionate representation. Slave owners demanded the worst elements of our Constitution. Southern conservatives have always opposed democracy and equality.

But credit is due for their insight in keeping religion out of government.

Too bad dark money is the new "religion", corrupting our leaders and institutions.

Until the corruption by economic leverage and outright bribery is removed, and all voters have an equal voice, we'll never have a democratic republic.

The US was built on slavery and inequality. Racism still divides the country, and inequality is still rotting its foundation.

Rich white men rigged it from the beginning, and are still dominant.

Les Carpenter said...

Rich white men rigged it from the beginning, and are still dominant.

Very true. For this to ever really change will require the awakening and enlightenment of several millions of people. Ignorance and greed, the two greatest evils on the planet must be overcome first. Given the degree that both exist in the good ole US of A it is certainly going to be a much longer time coming before it does.

skudrunner said...

So it was rich white men who elected winsome and it is rich white men who are pushing CRT. The democrats/progressives have the ultimate goal of divide into classes and then they can be unbeatable and CRT satisfies that goal. Take a look at congress and who is the majority but rich white men.
Calling someone a racist and having them cower is far less effective than even two years ago because, people who can think for themselves, know it is a ploy to shut down discussion. Now they come up with CRT so if you are white you will feel the guilt and shut down discussion.

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

Shame that he couldn't predict the advent of secular religions (like SoJus) from government bureaucracy and protect us from them.

Shaw Kenawe said...

"SoJus" does that mean "social justice?" If so, BRAVO! for SoJus!

Social justice gave us the liberation of African Americans from slavery, it gave African Americans their birthright to be full American citizens.

“Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities. Social workers aim to open the doors of access and opportunity for everyone, particularly those in greatest need."

Southern and Northern Christians refused to see Black Americans' (as well as other cultures and races) common humanity. Christianity failed them. Christianity gave them an excuse to believe that slavery and the subjugation of an entire peoples was condoned by their God. It's in both the O.T. and the N.T. where it explains how slaves should be treated (HINT: that treatment isn't nice.)

I'll take SoJus over any religion that denies the humanity of any human being.

Here's what happens when any one religion takes its power from the state:

"The vast majority of Germans belonged to a Christian church during the Nazi era. In 1933 there were 40 million Protestants, 20 million Catholics, and small numbers of people adhering to other Christian traditions. The German Evangelical Church (the largest Protestant church) and the Roman Catholic church were pillars of German society and played an important role in shaping people’s attitudes and actions vis-à-vis National Socialism, including anti-communism, nationalism, traditional loyalty to governing authorities (particularly among Protestants), and the convergence of Nazi antisemitism with widespread and deep-seated anti-Jewish prejudice.

Within the German Evangelical Church the pro-Nazi “German Christian” (Deutsche Christen) movement emerged in the early 1930s. It attempted to fuse Christianity and National Socialism and promoted a “racially-pure” church by attacking Jewish influences on Christianity."


In this country, for for years, Catholic clergy got away with the molestation and rape of children. The state was too fearful of the Church's power to step in and investigate the claims of its victims until the evidence was so overwhelmingly powerful, even they could not deny their crimes against humanity.

Social justice stepped in in the form of investigative journalism and citizen action.

Anonymous said...

It was lawyers who brought the church to court suing for millions and getting court ordered discovery of evidence the church tried to hide. Some call that social justice I call it greed with the byproduct of exposing a criminal enterprise.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Anonymous, who else would be able to bring the allegations, law suits, etc., to court?

The victims and families sought justice for the crimes committed by the Catholic Church. Many of them got together in small groups to talk about what happened to them and through these meeting they were encouraged to seek justice for what had been done to them.

You may call it "greed," but without some of these dedicated lawyers, the victims would not have been compensated for what the Catholic church did to them.

Mitchell Garabedian was one such hero.

He helped hundreds of victims by clergy.

"When [Garabedian] began representing victims of clergy sex abuse, he took all these cases on a pro bono basis. That means you don’t get paid unless you win a judgment. They were going up against the Catholic Church, and those are long odds right there. It’s a very powerful institution..."

Shaw Kenawe said...

PS: Mitchell Garabedian:

“This was not a monetary endeavor for me,” says Garabedian. “It was like, if I go broke doing this, I go broke doing this. Senior lawyers would stop me on the street and say, ‘The church is going to crush you.’ I just said, ‘This has to be done. It’s cruel. It’s evil.’ How could I not do this?”

Anonymous said...

The Churcb should never have been given tax exempt status. It is wealthy, greedy, and unholy.

Dave Dubya said...

Skuddy took the bait. He’s terrified of CRT, and has no idea what it is. Tucker Carlson himself was caught admitting to not knowing what it is.

The radical Right is known for unilaterally defining terms and falsely framing issues to fit their propaganda. Frank Luntz is a master of the propaganda tactic.

Chris Rufo invoked the latest radical white Right’s race-baiting hobgoblin and bogeyman in his targeting of CRT.

On March 15th 2021 he revealed his intent to redefine and falsely frame CRT as a threat to paranoid white nationalists.

”We have successfully frozen their brand—"critical race theory"—into the public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions. We will eventually turn it toxic, as we put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand category.

The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think "critical race theory." We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.

Yes, I envisioned a strategy—turn the brand "critical race theory" toxic—and, despite having virtually no resources compared to my opponents, willed it into being through writing and persuasion.”


Rufo told FOX(R) resident white nationalist Tucker Carlson:

“Conservatives need to wake up. This is an existential threat to the United States. And the bureaucracy, even under Trump, is being weaponized against core American values. And I’d like to make it explicit: The President and the White House—it’s within their authority to immediately issue an executive order to abolish critical-race-theory training from the federal government. And I call on the President to immediately issue this executive order—to stamp out this destructive, divisive, pseudoscientific ideology.”

Recently Tucker Carlson inadvertently drew back the curtain, and then darted backed into the lies:

I’ve never figured out what Critical Race Theory is, to be totally honest, after a year of talking about it. They’re teaching that some races are morally superior to others. That some are inherently sinful and some are inherently saintly. And that’s immoral to teach that because it’s wrong.”

They haven’t figured out it’s inherently sinful and immoral to lie. Or more likely, they don’t care.

We remember when Tucker Carlson denied the existence of white nationalism, as he attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar for “hating America,” saying, “We have every right to fight to preserve our nation and our heritage and our culture.”

This echoes the infamous "14 words" neo-Nazi slogan, "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children" - coined by Order member David Lane. Order members were best known for the 1984 murder of Denver talkshow host Alan Berg.

We remember Klan Leader David Duke wanted Carlson to be Vice-President.

"President Trump! You have one last chance to turn the tables, win this election and save America—and yourself! Nominate Tucker Carlson for Vice President. This would energize your campaign beyond belief." Duke tweeted.

Now American fascists want to demonize CRT and label the teaching and study of the history and effects of slavery and racism as “CRT”.

And true to their "heritage", they want to ban it.

I discuss this, and share a brief description of what CRT really is, in a post titled “Critical Racist Tirades”.

Les Carpenter said...

Conservatives(aka American fascists) will one day realize everything is impermanent.

Probably will occur when they realize that they (the fasists) are hated as wellas irrelevant.

skudrunner said...

So Dube, you are in favor of teaching kids that they were born racist and if white they are privileged. If they are black they have no choice because it is predetermined
they will fail. Not something I want to teach my kids and grand children but I guess you do.

Where has it been stated that we should not teach history including slavery and the fact that democrats started Jim Crowe but it wasn't really them because they changed clothes. White people should apologize because you are a racist by birth. The woke is consuming common sense and promoting racism not exposing it.

Bluebullamerica said...

As usual, SKidmark and Farmer spout things they really know nothing about and act like they are smart for repeating the same crap every other Trump loving fascist says. Oi vey...

Dave Dubya said...

Skuddy,

We've been through this. It's really not necessary for you to continue to demonstrate your ignorance of CRT.

We can also see you didn't learn what the Straw Man Fallacy is, or you just embrace it.

"Where has it been stated that we should not teach history including slavery..."

It's already being banned by Republicans. They label it CRT, and know how ignorant their base is. Did you even SEE the Carlson quote??

The democrats you mention are from another time and are all dead.

The reality is they were ALL CONSERVATIVE WHITE MEN.

Go ahead, try to prove I'm wrong. I'd like to see you stumble in absurdities and falsehoods. And of course your bundle of straw men.

Les Carpenter said...

Hey skuddy buddy, are you for real?

Children are born into complete innocence. Then their paatents and the adult world begin to corrupt them. That includes turning them into racists, liars, and generally malajusted individuals. But you already knew that didn't you skuddy buddy.