Shake

I don't believe in god, but if I did I still don't think I'd expect him to take sides. After reading this article from the II newswire, I just have to think that, assuming there was a god, that obviously either Bush or Hussein (or maybe both!) is WRONG! Since many believe that Allah, God, Yahweh, etc. are all the same, surely he can't both support Bush and Hussein. This is just more of the insanity of religious belief. This is real-world practice of religion being used as propaganda designed to create an emotional response from people, and as the article says, to "excuse violence."

Well, I got news for ya, Saddam, and you too, W: merely saying that god/allah is on your side and it's the devil/unbelievers who are the enemy and are wrong is NO excuse for violence!

My apologies to the mods if this is better suited for RR&P. I thought GRD would be better, until I reread my post just now.

Oh well, move it as you like. Comments anyone?

happyboy

boy, won't george w and saddam be SO suprised when they die and go to the aztec underworld, and find some bloodthirsty gods wondering where their human sacrifices went to.......


or won't they be surprised at ending up a sikh hell.....


or won't they be surprised when they get to hades, with gloomy pluto telling them, "this is as good at it gets, boys...."


or won't they be surprised when they end up in some cave man natural spirit world, with hungry animal spirits waiting to pounce....


it's silly, in an obscenely stupid way, to use religion to justify ANYTHING, because there's a VERY good chance your religion is wrong, and you've pissed off The Powers That Be. it makes me sick seeing people use religion as a justification for this sort of thing.

happyboy

tdekeyser

BUSH needs to be stopped! Any reason minded leader would NOT use faith to 'guide' his actions.

Bush is psycho and he NEEDS to be IMPEACHED...


NOW!!

himynameisPwn

Your preaching to the chior buddy....

Thieving Magpie

Well, no, I wouldn't expect God OR Allah, to take either side, but they both seem to keep their divine noses out of all political affairs on Earth. This is kind of a moot point however, as I don't believe Bush or Hussein are doing this for religious reasons at all, but political ones, rather. If they do make appeals to religion, they seem to do so for political reasons. Keep in mind that a good many people in America are either Christian, or have fairly compatible belief systems to Christianity. And in the Middle East, while Iraq itself is politically fairly religiously moderate, a good many Iraqis are not, as are many of it's citizen neighbours - these are the people who will be the most useful for Saddam if war ever comes.

8of9

tdekeyser :

Your point that a reason minded leader would not use faith to guide his actions is well-taken, if obvious. I get so sick of government by mumbo-jumbo.

At the risk of turning this general religious discussion into a political one :

Why does Bush need to be "impeached NOW"?

Is he really a psycho (any more than other theists and/or those who crave positions of ostensible power, like the presidency)?

Is this alleged insanity the reason you think he should be impeached?

Just wondering ... I don't dip into the politics forum much ...

faustuz

I noticed that. In fact they seem to keep their noses out of all affairs on Earth. It’s almost as if they didn’t exist at all.

Your point is well taken. There are no gods causing trouble here on Earth. Fanatical worshipers of gods sure are making a mess, though.

Shake

Hear, hear! That's exactly my point. And as I recently told someone, and this was taken I believe from The American President: The goal of every first-term administration is a second term! Remember how Bush I's numbers soared during the Gulf War? What W needs to keep in mind is that just over a year later, daddy did NOT get reelected! Even after such high approval ratings. My father, who studied political science in college, said that he hopes that W is just playing a big bluffing game to make Saddam realize that the US is serious. Hope is the key word there. But he's getting people all riled up. Now, I was all for the ass-kicking that Saddam was dealt back in '91, but Bush I had a good reason. W is just looking for political gain. And I don't think he realizes what the full cost will be if we go to war. I'm not talking just the short term dollars, and even lives of US personnel. I'm talking about the long-term increased hatred of the US, and the possible increase in terrorist activity that may then be levelled against US (and its supporters) targets.

I read something recently that asked the following pointed question (paraphrased here): Why, if we have basically allowed China and North Korea (among others) to obtain nuclear weapons technology, are we suddenly being so hard on Saddam? You know? What about Pakistan? Sure, they're playing the role of 'friend' to the US in the fight against the Taliban. But have we all forgotten how India and Pakistan, both confirmed nuclear powers, have been and are still close to war? And both expressed no hesitation about using their new weapons of mass destruction? Where's our outrage about India and Pakistan?

The fact that many of us might expect the religious push from leaders like Hussein, in no way makes it any better than it does coming from Bush. A leader should be able to put his/her own specific religious beliefs aside and do what's best for the country. Using religious ideas to stir up an emotional response that will get you approval for what you want to do is irresponsible, not to mention downright dangerous!

Religious beliefs stir up emotions. When we are emotional, we are not rational, or at least not to the extent that we should be. And for a leader to pray on these emotional ties for their own political gain is criminal.

seebs

When two people studying statistical data draw different and contradictory conclusions, I grant that at least one of them must be wrong, but I do not then conclude that the statistical method is wholly free of merit.

tdekeyser

Read this book and you will see:
http://www.newamerica.net/index.cfm?...Rev&pubID=1090

Bush does not look at the world as we do. He believes he is part of "gods plan" in Revelations.

Let me stress this. He really, really believes this. He does not make decisions based on logic, but on FAITH. He reads the bible everyday and rejects all modern science as "evil".

How could we let a man that hears voices from God be incontrol of the worlds most deadly weapons and military??

I'm VERY scared folks.