An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind -- Ghandi
Indeed, this agrees perfectly with the teachings of Jesus Christ:
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:38-39)...Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. (Matthew 5:38-44)
But I wonder...
There are people who advocate violence against those who believe in the teachings of Jesus and Ghandi. They appear on national network television shows and advocate the genocide of the followers of Jesus and Ghandi. They have nationally-syndicated radio shows. These are not Islamic mujahdeen. These are not atheistic liberals who are calling for the extermination of all Christians. These are "respected" conservative pundits like Rush Limbaugh (a.k.a. "Drug-addled radio host"), Ann Coulter (a.k.a. "scary blond pundit"), Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham, and of course Michelle "Darky in denial" Malkin.
When confronted, they say "Hahah, just joking!". But advocating that all followers of Jesus and Ghandi be interned in Gitmo ("I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo." - Her column December 21, 2005) is hardly a joke. Saying that the New York Times building should be blown up is hardly a joke. It is a plan. It is a plan for exterminating all who do not think like them, act like them, believe like them. It is a plan that Osama bin Laden would applaud, if he claimed to be "Christian" rather than claiming to be "Muslim".
What to do, then, with people advocating extermination of others? Jesus and Ghandi have an answer there -- non-violence on a mass scale -- but I'm not sure that's an effective answer when dealing with those who would exterminate all who do not believe as they believe. But what is the alternative? Violence? Only thugs like violence, and violent revolutions tend to result in rule by thugs in the end (the only reason the American Revolution did not end up like that is because it WAS NOT REALLY A REVOLUTION -- it was a successful attempt by those who already had power in the American Colonies to retain said power, in the face of attempts by the English crown to strip that power away from them). I cannot see a violent revolution resulting in a United States worth living in, whereas a non-violent revolution... one that unplugged the microphone of those who preach hatred of their fellow Americans and relegates them to lone voices shouting crazy thoughts on a street corner... might stand a chance of success.
But is it happening? No. Because we allow fear to control our lives, without realizing that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. A people who do not fear are a free people, because there is literally nothing that can stop them, not even death. But finding people who do not fear here in the Land of the Unfree and the Home of the Coward is hard... even on my own iceberg.
- Badtux the Thoughtful Penguin
and unfortunately, most of their followers agree with them. Most of the time, I think the followers don't know how to think for themselves and feel that their heroes must be right because they're their heroes.
ReplyDeleteYeah, If I wasn't such a coward, I'd be blogging under my own name, with my picture promenently displayed. Considering that in Nazi Germany, handing out pamphlets that spoke out against the excesses of that govt got you the death penalty, and Halliburton is building huge concentration camps, I prefer to think of my cowardice as being of the "come back to fight again another day" variety, but somehow I wonder if we will end up needing a few who are willing to give it up for liberty....
ReplyDeleteWhere is FDR when we need him? ("The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.")
ReplyDeleteMaybe there'll be a new FDR that will arise from the ashes? And, maybe that new FDR will be known as BadTux?
Dave
christianity is the biggest hypocracy in the world. They claim all these other 'fringe' religions are violent and evil... forgetting their own history of things like the Crusades and the Inquisition.
ReplyDelete