contemplating says: Roger that. Figured it was that or new convert. Kinda like new converts to any other ideology if you catch what I am saying.
I would like to believe that our consstitution is that strong, and more importantly those weidling the power to enforce / interpret it weren't appointed for life. And by one person / interest group. Point being, even a one hit wonder in the oval office can leave irreparable wounds and marks on our country for years to come. That's why I posted the link to the university....nuff said there.
As far as the religious end of things.......I have my own belief system. But it is rather open ended. Don't like labels. Labels are convenient for self edification more than they are for any set of common good. Unless of course you are a social engineer, politician, etc. Makes it easier to sort out the masses and more importantly control them. i.e. keep them busy.
That being said, the hard core muslims are the ones that declared the holy war. Tell them it isn't so. The christians are merely reacting to the threat. Keep trying to tell them it is imagined. Good luck with that, it does just as much good for you to try to impose your free thought and imply they are literate imbeciles for following ancient mythology as it does for them to tell you you are a sinner and damned without conversion.
It is true that one can see the evolution of religion and man walking hand-in-hand. And all religions have been used in one form or another to impose order and structure on the minions of society. Knowledge has always been the base of power. It can also however backfire on the holder of power.
Take the first leader to introduce the concept of monotheism. If the records are true, he was an Egyptian, Akhenaten (sp?). Bottom line, the mere suggestion was too much for his people to swallow. It cost what he was garunteed for life - his throne. And, it wasn't because he had a divine revelation. He declared it so because he had the power to do so. Narcisim and absolute control kind of go hand in hand I believe. Without going too much farther, I think it interesting that monotheism seems to have to appeared after all out of his edict. Not through the Egyptian people.....through their slaves.....the Hebrews.
Got it with the history stuff. So where arfe we now? That is the real question. Where are we now in the evolutionary process? Are we truly protected any more in this country than any others? Will we continue to reign supreme because our system is that much more rock solid and air tight than the others? So much for the history stuff - no country has ever pulled that off. I believe Rome would be the closest thing our country has to a historical model. That one worked for a while. Eventually its greatest strength became its greatest weakness. In the beginning you had to earn the right to become a Roman. But with that sacrifice came great reward. It was worth it. People had purpose.....eventually, they practically gave the title away.......sounds real familiar to me.
Without a vision, the people perish. The more traditional vision is removed from our land, the less certain our future and overall prosperity will be. The more it is replaced with opposing ideology, again the less certain the future will be.
What's next? Isn't that what we want to know?
