I thought long and hard today about responding to you. The first thing I should like to say is this: if you feel you would like to defriend me, you certainly may. But I would like you to know who I am first, since I think you are making false judgements about me.
These are my core beliefs. They flow from the fact that I am (1) a Catholic, (2) an American, (3) a woman, and (4) of Irish descent. As a Catholic, I believe we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. It is wrong to have prejudice or hate for *anyone* merely because of their race, sex, religion or lifestyle (assuming that lifestyle hurts no one else.) Any government which bases itself on prejudice of any kind is therefore also wrong. Again as a Catholic and a woman, I believe the role of government is to allow people to live their own lives in freedom and security, and also to help people provide for each other. I think it is true that a society is judged by how it treats its weakest members, and for that reason I do consider myself a socialist/democrat. I'm fairly left wing. But I also believe, as an American, that government is a necessary evil, because power corrupts. Therefore it is important that the power of the government be limited. It is not only our right, but our duty as Americans, to question our government constantly. If what it tells us does not make sense, or if it intrudes on or threatens us, we have both the right and the duty to overthrow it - so said Thomas Jefferson. Finally, as an American *and* as a Catholic, I believe theocracy of any kind - Christian, Muslim, Jewish or an Atheist 'structural theocracy'/cult of personality like Stalin's Russia - is the most harmful and dangerous type of government possible. I believe very strongly in the right to dissent and in the separation of Church and State. Now to the question I did not bring up in the above post-
Iraq. What the *hell* (if you will pardon my language) are we doing there? If the official story is to be believed, we were attacked by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi extremist operating out of Afghanistan. There seems to be no reason to disbelieve that story - didn't we all hear and see bin Laden boasting about the attacks? But,five years later, and the Taliban (my idea of a truly evil theocracy) is again resurgent in that country, and Osama bin Laden is apparently still threatening us. Why? Why attack Iraq, a secular state (however truly awful Saddam Hussein was and is) which had not attacked us and was no threat to us? Our government knew, or should have known, that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that there was no alliance with Al Qaida, and that Iraq was no threat to us. We went to war anyway, and hundreds of thousands of innocents are now dead, including about as many Americans as died on 9/11. I still am in shock about 9/11. Most of us are, and most of us would like to know that the people who did it have been brought to justice. But that has not happened. Instead of focusing on capturing bin Laden and stabilising Afghanistan, we are in Iraq. Why should I trust the government that got us into a bloody awful mess like that based on lies?
So that's who I am. That is the thought process that led to the above post. I feel that you have condemned me as an antisemite and a crackpot. That, of course, is your right. I think I would be happy if you defriended me, actually. I don't really feel comfortable as a friend of someone who makes such judgements about me.
no subject
These are my core beliefs. They flow from the fact that I am (1) a Catholic, (2) an American, (3) a woman, and (4) of Irish descent. As a Catholic, I believe we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. It is wrong to have prejudice or hate for *anyone* merely because of their race, sex, religion or lifestyle (assuming that lifestyle hurts no one else.) Any government which bases itself on prejudice of any kind is therefore also wrong. Again as a Catholic and a woman, I believe the role of government is to allow people to live their own lives in freedom and security, and also to help people provide for each other. I think it is true that a society is judged by how it treats its weakest members, and for that reason I do consider myself a socialist/democrat. I'm fairly left wing. But I also believe, as an American, that government is a necessary evil, because power corrupts. Therefore it is important that the power of the government be limited. It is not only our right, but our duty as Americans, to question our government constantly. If what it tells us does not make sense, or if it intrudes on or threatens us, we have both the right and the duty to overthrow it - so said Thomas Jefferson. Finally, as an American *and* as a Catholic, I believe theocracy of any kind - Christian, Muslim, Jewish or an Atheist 'structural theocracy'/cult of personality like Stalin's Russia - is the most harmful and dangerous type of government possible. I believe very strongly in the right to dissent and in the separation of Church and State. Now to the question I did not bring up in the above post-
Iraq. What the *hell* (if you will pardon my language) are we doing there? If the official story is to be believed, we were attacked by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi extremist operating out of Afghanistan. There seems to be no reason to disbelieve that story - didn't we all hear and see bin Laden boasting about the attacks? But,five years later, and the Taliban (my idea of a truly evil theocracy) is again resurgent in that country, and Osama bin Laden is apparently still threatening us. Why? Why attack Iraq, a secular state (however truly awful Saddam Hussein was and is) which had not attacked us and was no threat to us? Our government knew, or should have known, that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that there was no alliance with Al Qaida, and that Iraq was no threat to us. We went to war anyway, and hundreds of thousands of innocents are now dead, including about as many Americans as died on 9/11. I still am in shock about 9/11. Most of us are, and most of us would like to know that the people who did it have been brought to justice. But that has not happened. Instead of focusing on capturing bin Laden and stabilising Afghanistan, we are in Iraq. Why should I trust the government that got us into a bloody awful mess like that based on lies?
So that's who I am. That is the thought process that led to the above post. I feel that you have condemned me as an antisemite and a crackpot. That, of course, is your right. I think I would be happy if you defriended me, actually. I don't really feel comfortable as a friend of someone who makes such judgements about me.