[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: blogger



Fred, I knew you didn't I had been offensive.  I was just giving you a hard 
time. ;-)

>On Thu, 6 Dec 2001, Alfred B Johnson wrote:
> > The lit nerds (inc. me) all sort of sigh about Oprah, at least a few
> > times; then we realize that there are a bunch of good books that she's
> > giving big time exposure.

All I have to say on that is that Oprah, as far as talkshow hosts go, is a 
classy lady.  (please note the qualifier.)

> > >>>"M@ Mesina" wrote: One quick thought- if Bin Laden is so opposed to 
>us
> > for moral/spiritual
> > reasons, why didn't he target and bomb Hollywood?  Ask that to anyone 
>who
> > tries to tell you the love of religion is the root of all war.<<<

Fred replied:
> > Actually, I'd reverse this question.  Whatever else bL thinks, he sure
> > thinks our culture is decadent and threatening to him and "his"
> > people.

Rhys added:
>this is a classic fundamentalist viewpoint. the thing about islam
>it'strying to do in 50 years what it took the christian religion/faith 300
>years to move frmo burning people at the stake to this current idiom.

Yeah, every major religion seeems to undergo a Medeival period.  Even Bill 
Maher recognizes this.
>
>fundmanetalist groups are present in all three of the most common faiths
>(judaism, christianity(including catholic), and islam.  characterised by a
>fear of losing the real truth, that the modern world is a threat. and so,
>fundamentalists (all of them) react to this with fear. their fear and
>insecurity cause them to lean harder on the harsh elements of their faith
>in order to protect the weaker (ie the ones about love and kindness and
>peace towards people). this justifies in their mind the use of force (be
>it physical or verbal or whatever) to protect themselves.

Absolutely.  We also come up with notions such as "Creation Science" in 
reaction to fear of losing sight of the truth, to recall things I'd said in 
a debate of last summer.  It's a natural, human response.

>attacking money instead of film? highly useful.
>
>attack the economy. economy slides.
>attack the white house/pentagon - weaken the country

100% agreed.  I undertsand all that, really.

Back to Fred:
> > And he doesn't see the root of the threat in our entertainment
> > industry: he sees it in our economic and political culture.

Nail on the head, Fred.  "Political culture".  "Economic culture".  The 
point of my question above was simply that.  Religion is NOT the true 
motivation for these attacks.  The true reasons are political and economic.

I am painfully aware that there are people who loathe religion, and are apt 
to blame all the world's problems on it.  I simply wanted to help arm the 
listees with a question that would incite discussion with such individauls 
regarding bin Laden's true, secular impetus for retaliation.

I think we underestimate the affects Hollywood has on the rest of the world. 
  Peter Garrett, one of Australia's National Living Treasures, gives a 
foreigner's perspective here:

http://www.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/12/garrett.transcript/index.html

That got me thinking.  As a Christian, if I were truly morally outraged 
enough to attack the American culture/way of life, and crazy enough to 
regard myself as the personal instrument of God's wrath, I'd go straight for 
the reprobate media.  MTV, Fox, ABC, movie studios, etc., not to mention 
abortion clinics.  (Note, I'm not calling bL "crazy".)  These would be where 
I'd focus my efforts, were I acting on purely religious/spiritual grounds.  
Therefore, I believe that anything else betrays a desire for revenge, or 
jealousy, or political motivations, if only to a small degree.  Small is 
enough, though, to demonstrate that religion, distorted or not, is not the 
true or exclusive culprit here.

That should be self-evident, but some people vision is, sadly, clouded by 
prejudice.

that, as you'd say, is all,

Matt

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/OtR/