Real History Of The Israeli Palestine Conflict

H/T Elder of Ziyon.

I'm sort of tired of the anti-Israel stance taken by many free thinkers. I really don't think half of them know much of the history of the conflict, nor do they give Israel any room when it comes to the fact that almost every country on this planet began through might and/or negotiations. Thus, I put up this video, though admittedly one sided, it is full of real history, not rhetoric.

Also, the false idea about Palestinian land is a non starter to me. Land has no DNA, and the land between where two Arabs live is not Arab land by default. Especially when we are talking about non sovereign land, which was the case in Israel prior to 1948 and still is the case in the West Bank and even Gaza today.

I don't get the shot at Obama at the end of the video. Using the 1967 borders (which really never existed) as a starting point isn't a new idea. George Bush Jr. used the same line of thinking when he wanted to come to a solution.

I still believe the settlements were a mistake. But the Palestinians have never shown a desire for a lasting peace either. The settlements are pretty much a diversion, as the ethnic cleansing of Jews in Gaza showed.

However, with the world getting smaller, this perpetual conflict cannot last very much longer, at least when it comes to definable borders. Something is going to have to give, and very soon.

Finally, I really think the support coming from the GOP (which is blaming Obama for the upcoming UN vote...somehow) is not helping when it comes to overall support of Israel by the West, right now.

The GOP is despised at this time by the majority, while Obama is someone who squandered his ability to lead the way he wanted to. The GOP is doing a great job of alienating the middle and lower class by emphatically stating that they won't cut taxes on the rich, while they are for doing away with the payroll tax credit (thus taxing the lower classes more). They are also viewed as the anti-science/anti-progress party.

Today, both Romney and Perry brought up their undying support for Israel. This could lead to a lot more Americans rethinking their support for Israel. The cognitive dissonance that goes on when someone you disagree with on very important issues (the government and the economy) makes any statement regardless of whether they are bringing in good points or not, can cause people to change their minds about what were lesser issues (like supporting Israel to the average American). This could even spill over to Europe and Canada as well.

Dominionism: The Christian Taliban (Perry and Bachmann Are Members)

I just learned about a new movement today: The Dominionists. Sounds benign enough, but the goals are not, and with Perry leading Obama in some polls right now, it is downright scary.

Here are a few snippets:

Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry aren't just devout—both have deep ties to a fringe fundamentalist movement known as Dominionism, which says Christians should rule the world. Ed Note: Sounds like what I believe Islam wants to, except it wants Muslims to rule the world.

....Rick Perry examined his relationship with the New Apostolic Reformation, a Dominionist variant of Pentecostalism that coalesced about a decade ago. “[W]hat makes the New Apostolic Reformation movement so potent is its growing fascination with infiltrating politics and government,” wrote Forrest Wilder. Its members “believe Christians—certain Christians—are destined to not just take ‘dominion’ over government, but stealthily climb to the commanding heights of what they term the ‘Seven Mountains’ of society, including the media and the arts and entertainment world.”

In many ways, Dominionism is more a political phenomenon than a theological one. It cuts across Christian denominations, from stern, austere sects to the signs-and-wonders culture of modern megachurches. Think of it like political Islamism, which shapes the activism of a number of antagonistic fundamentalist movements, from Sunni Wahabis in the Arab world to Shiite fundamentalists in Iran.

Dominionism derives from a small fringe sect called Christian Reconstructionism, founded by a Calvinist theologian named R. J. Rushdoony in the 1960s. Christian Reconstructionism openly advocates replacing American law with the strictures of the Old Testament, replete with the death penalty for homosexuality, abortion, and even apostasy. The appeal of Christian Reconstructionism is, obviously, limited, and mainstream Christian right figures like Ralph Reed have denounced it.

"Dominionism is simply that Christians of this belief system must take control over the various institutions of society and government. Some things that make this group unique is that they have some unusual concepts of what they call spiritual warfare that have not been seen before in other groups. Spiritual warfare is a common term in evangelicalism and in Christianity but they have some unique approaches and some unique spins on this that distinguish them from other groups."

On the topics at Rick Perry's rally

"The major topics at these events [are] anti-abortion, anti-gay rights and the conversion of Jews in order to advance the end times," she says. "And this was very visible at Perry's events as these Apostles led all of these different prayers and repentance ceremonies at [his rally].'"

Have a listen here. Rachel Tabachnick is an expert on the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which is the Dominionist Movement. Tabachnick was raised a Christian Fundy but converted to Judaism because of marriage.

I still strongly believe that the Religious Right is a marginalized group, so once an actual GOP candidate is announced, and if the ticket includes either Bachmann or Perry or Palin, I believe that Obama will win be a landslide. What bothers me is that I could be wrong.

No matter what, it seems Perry and Bachmann are on a mission. The idea of converting Jews to fast track the second coming is really disturbing.

Rick Perry, Typical Anti-Science GOP Candidate

Here is goes with the evolution is just a theory crapola:

No one really knows how old the earth is....it is really old though. 10,000 years is pretty old to Perry most likely.

On evolution and creationism:
"I figure out you are smart enough to figure out which one is right"
Obviously Perry isn't smart enough.

He doesn't even know that creationism isn't taught in his own state of Texas...but he said it is. Wow. And this guy is one of the GOP faves?

Not only the age of the earth and evolution, when it comes to global warming, he believes it is a scientific conspiracy as scientists are out to make a fortune from it:


He seems to be patting himself a lot on the back regarding job creation. Seems that in the past 4 years 47% of new government jobs in the USA were created...in Texas. I thought the GOP's platform is there is too much government.

One more thing. He might be another one of those GOP anti-gay closet homosexuals:


Is Rick Perry a hypocritical homosexual? I report, you decide:

If I Openly Vandalized A Business, I'd Expect To Be Shot

What is going on in Britain right now is ridiculous. If rioters were raping or murdering in the open, they would be warned and then shot at. To me, there is no difference when it comes to vandalizing and looting a business.

Warn and shoot. It might take a couple of dead youths, but the riots would stop very quickly.

I'm a major proponent of deterrents. I especially believe they work well on the "devil made me do it crowd," but I'm also sure that it keeps the odd atheist from doing stupid things too.

Muslim Prayer In Ontario Public Schools

When I first read about the Muslim prayer controversy at the Valley Park Middle School in Toronto the first thing that struck me was "wow, a public school in Toronto that has a Muslim population of at least 80%."
Of course, most probably most of these kids and their families believe that Jews coming to Israel and becoming a majority there was something that had no business happening. And of course, they don't see the hypocrisy.

Now here are my major problems with this. It is a public school, when I grew up at least 80% of the kids in the school were Christian. It would have been terrible for me or any non Christian kid to have to have gone to a school with the knowledge that there was a special time set aside for most of the school's population to go to so that they can pray to Christ. It was hard enough at Christmas to be sort of an outcast because my family didn't celebrate the mythological Christ's mythological birthday.

Secondly, again, since it is a public school, tax dollars are involved. And tax dollars should not be spent on any religion (yeah I know that Ontario has a deal with the devil: The Catholic Church, that seems very binding). The fact that this prayer is organized and also happens during class time, is at best a misuse of funding.

Third, I don't buy the excuse that kids come back late from the Mosque, if they come back to the school at all. If they can't get the lunch prayers done on time, and come back late, they should be penalized in the same way any kid who is consistently tardy or truant is. Religion is no excuse for this. If you are taking advantage of the public system, play by the rules.

Fourth, because it is held in the cafeteria, anyone who wants to be there should be allowed. Apparently they ban non Muslims from entering the cafeteria during prayer.
This is too organized. Empty classrooms should be used, and the amount of kids in a room should be reduced to what is allowable by the fire code. If you can't get enough volunteer Imams to show up....too bad.
I have no problem with Christian groups, Jewish groups, atheist groups, etc. to have their own clubs after school....yes, after school. But the meetings need to be held in class rooms that are not going to be used or needed by anyone else in the school.

Fifth, to the people upset about menstruating girls having to be at the back of the prayer room....Get over it. Islam is a misogynist religion. This complaint is meaningless in the scheme of things, and has nothing to do with the fact that this type of organized prayer should not be allowed to happen during school hours.

Finally, there are two solutions. Turn Valley Park into a private school, and let the families pay for their kids education, or, ban religious prayer during class hours. If Muslims need to pray on Fridays, keep it to themselves, find unused classrooms at lunch or after school, or forget about it.