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Chock · 05-21-07, 07:19 PM

This is a theological battle that was going on a long time before 1948, and like all religious battles, it gets twisted, bent to people's will, usually in a bad way.

People of the Jewish faith were persecuted for a long time in Europe, you only have to read Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to realise that. And of course the Second World War was no picnic for them either. But similarly, the Islamic peoples of the Middle East were persecuted in numerous crusades, again largely the result of personal agendas hidden under the banner of religion, again at the behest of the European nations. As if that isn't bad enough, the Arabs also got used in the First and Second World War to further the Empire ambitions of many European countries.

So what you end up with, is a completely messed up situation, with most of the blame for that mess able to be laid at Europe's door.

Then comes the formation of the State of Israel, and who could blame followers of the Jewish faith from being pleased about that? But similarly, who could blame the Arabs who got shifted to one side to allow the state to be created, from being less than thrilled about it? How on Earth could one expect a peaceful resolution to such a situation?

So we get Islamic fundamentalists, who in their eyes are perfectly justified in bombing and kidnapping and ransoming etc. After all, if you put yourself in their shoes, what they are doing is no different from what the French Resistance did when the Nazis took over their country. Needless to say however, the Israelis can hardly be blamed for wanting to defend a Jewish homeland, as they've seen what happens when they tried to practice their religion in Europe all those years ago. Unfortunately, in order to do that, they end up acting like the Nazis did in persecuting the people of the land they took over, which is perhaps the supreme irony, given that they were once the victims of such a set up.

Basically, if you look up cl*sterf*ck in the dictionary, it should say: See the Middle East.

This is why I'm not a fan of religion. The way I look at it is; why should I need to go to a building with a cross or a crescent or a star on its roof once a week (or day) to be a nice person? I can do that without organised religion telling me not to steal, kill, lie etc. And it's one of the reasons why I think the scene in Monty Python's The Life of Brian, where John Cleese says: 'He's the real Messiah, and I should know, I've followed a few!' is perhaps one of the funniest, yet most tragic lines of dialogue that's ever been written.

Sad, and no end in sight either.

Chock

05-21-07, 07:19 PM	#8
Chock Sea Lord Join Date: May 2005 Location: Under a thermal layer in chilly Olde England Posts: 1,842 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	This is a theological battle that was going on a long time before 1948, and like all religious battles, it gets twisted, bent to people's will, usually in a bad way. People of the Jewish faith were persecuted for a long time in Europe, you only have to read Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to realise that. And of course the Second World War was no picnic for them either. But similarly, the Islamic peoples of the Middle East were persecuted in numerous crusades, again largely the result of personal agendas hidden under the banner of religion, again at the behest of the European nations. As if that isn't bad enough, the Arabs also got used in the First and Second World War to further the Empire ambitions of many European countries. So what you end up with, is a completely messed up situation, with most of the blame for that mess able to be laid at Europe's door. Then comes the formation of the State of Israel, and who could blame followers of the Jewish faith from being pleased about that? But similarly, who could blame the Arabs who got shifted to one side to allow the state to be created, from being less than thrilled about it? How on Earth could one expect a peaceful resolution to such a situation? So we get Islamic fundamentalists, who in their eyes are perfectly justified in bombing and kidnapping and ransoming etc. After all, if you put yourself in their shoes, what they are doing is no different from what the French Resistance did when the Nazis took over their country. Needless to say however, the Israelis can hardly be blamed for wanting to defend a Jewish homeland, as they've seen what happens when they tried to practice their religion in Europe all those years ago. Unfortunately, in order to do that, they end up acting like the Nazis did in persecuting the people of the land they took over, which is perhaps the supreme irony, given that they were once the victims of such a set up. Basically, if you look up clsterfck in the dictionary, it should say: See the Middle East. This is why I'm not a fan of religion. The way I look at it is; why should I need to go to a building with a cross or a crescent or a star on its roof once a week (or day) to be a nice person? I can do that without organised religion telling me not to steal, kill, lie etc. And it's one of the reasons why I think the scene in Monty Python's The Life of Brian, where John Cleese says: 'He's the real Messiah, and I should know, I've followed a few!' is perhaps one of the funniest, yet most tragic lines of dialogue that's ever been written. Sad, and no end in sight either. Chock Last edited by Chock; 05-21-07 at 08:26 PM.