This is a little piece I did for my friends over at Ace News Room….please if you, my readers, would like a fresh look at world affairs may I suggest a visit and see what the other side of the news is all about….
There are too many people that allow social media to dictate what they know about any given subject or issue……especially when it comes to religion……but there is more going on in the Middle East than just what the misinformation sites want you to believe…..
All I ask is that the reader approach this with an open mind….I know that can be difficult for some….but try it…it will not kill you.
This post should prompt all kinds of responses……most of which will have nothing to do with the link or the premise of the piece but rather rants about the terrorists are coming for your…
Source: How Religious Are They? | Ace News Room
If you would like to respond to the findings then fine….but if this is to be used to condemn a whole people for the acts of some then please do not waste our valuable time.
I ain’t saying nothing….grin
except this…..
Too Stupid for Science?
Try Religion!
Or try this…
Patrick Cockburn again…
An ode to the religion of money…though not lyrical.
In Yemen, our intervention has given al-Qaeda the upper hand..
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/thanks-to-uk-and-us-intervention-al-qaeda-now-has-a-mini-state-in-yemen-its-iraq-and-isis-all-over-a6986086.html
If a black and white spotted dog rushes out from a wooded area and clamps its teeth into my ankle, draws blood, causes me to have to take 17 shots to prevent rabies over a period of weeks and causes me excruciating pain and anguish over whether I might get rabies from the bite and die …. you can be pretty well assured that I am going to be on my guard and the red flags are going to go us whenever I see a black and white spotted dog of the same or similar breed.
When I go into a restaurant with a friend to order chicken nuggets and french fries and there is a lady standing there garbed from head to toe in a certain style of Mid Eastern dress with an oversize hand-bag draped over one shoulder raising a ruckus with Management over something and I see other people asking waiters and waitresses to change their seating arrangements so they can have a little more peace of mind while eating their meals you had better beleive I am going to think twice about even remaining in that restaurant much less sitting there and trying to enjoy a meal with a friend. Why? I think it is absolutgely insane to hear all the stories of terror attacks, death and destruction and carnage at the hands of suicide bombers going on around the world and sitting still in a place and thinking to myself, “It is not going to happen to me.”
I am sure there are a lot of people who might still be alive today if they had not have had such a cavalier attitude about political correctness and regardless of any rhetoric to the contrary I am not ready to become some fanatic’s Jihadist statistic today, thank you.
For one I am sick of the term political correctness….I did not think that you would see anything positive in the post…you may remain as you are…me I will not succumb to fear and I will not blame a whole people for the acts of some….since my mother is Apache I could blame all white people for their actions toward her people….but I will not stoop to that low brow thought.
The difference is that White People are not now engaged in those actions toward your Mother’s People that you are speaking about and if they were I am going to venture your outlook might be a bit different. The heathen who are going about doing these terrible acts are alive and active and are committing their carnage in real time … in our time … right now …not at some distant time in the past.
You need to visit a Rez…..there is still the hatred there was in 1870…..it may be distant past for you…but not for the Apache….and that cannot justufy the carnage done just like no one can justify the carnage created by the tools in ISIS and AQ…nope I still will not blame all for the acts of those around the Rez….it is easy to dismiss it when it has not happen to someone…..
Billy Johnson was a close friend of mine who tried to live among the Shewanakwa/Waschitu for a while and got so disillusioned that he went back to the rez and remains there. Billy hated no one. From Mother Earth Billy came and he knew back to Mother Earth he would return and that all are brothers .. men, women,cats,dogs,birds,rocks,logs,flowers,trees — all living, all children of Kisheleumekong.
If I see one of the burkha-clad I shall be extra wary because I enjoy living. Sorry about that.
That is good for your friend….but he is not typical….many Sioux are not happy…Apache and even the Navajo are not really happy with their treatment…how enjoyable can it be looking over one’s shoulder all the time?
How necessary is it to be hysterical enough to feel one has to look over their shoulder all the time. Billy enjoyed Life and Living. His soul could be seen in the burning light of his eyes and his soul was itself a light to many … me included .. “Typical” or not Billy was one of “The People” and nothing more is needed.
I must remind the “People” who are tempted to look over their shoulder all the time that all Wasichu are not the same and that only a few among them are guilty of causing the suffering of their ancestors.
Ummm — where have I heard this line of reasoning before?
Maybe I heard it in the fire by the riverside or perhaps a tree whispered it to me ….
I open my mouth too much…..
I try not to be rude …coz I ain’t particularly p.c..but sometimes, I say it like it is..
Unsolved murders of indigenous women reflect Canada’s history of silence
http://gu.com/p/4a4qe/stw
I am not a lover of Jihadist’s or Saudi….that is where the problem started, followed by U.S & U.K. intervention..
I sure ain’t a lover of the burka.
As for selling weapons….
So much…. for the time’s they are a changing…
Dear penniewoodfall … Thank you for your comment today. It is sincerely appreciated.
Why thank you….the ripening wanderer..
by the by why did you choose that title?
“Times they are a changing”…One of the saddest lyrics of “my” generation! BUT, just because it CAN happen to ME doesn’t mean I have to LIVE as if it will. Religion makes me queasy; religion as an excuse for bad behavior, makes me queasier; Faith can be sublime but not evidently for me. “Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile!”
Kurt Vonnegut
When I look up i do see; Muslims, Negros, Latinos, Catholics, the ‘effing Tea Party, Trump, Hillary, scary men, idiotic women, people I may believe want to hurt me; people i believe like me; Pigs – Polliticos – pussy / pissy people …and everyone else but, in my opinion, it is not how THEY act but how i do that matters to me. NO not counts; hardly anything counts but matters. THE GOLDEN RULE is what I fashion my life around. (Best thing that Nazarene with the GREAT PR guy ever said and I’m really not sure he said it.)
Let us come to terms with HOW WE ACT and stop pointing fingers. No, I don’t actually believe “we can all get along” but I DO BELIEVE it is worth the effort to try. dru
dru…that was great! I see we think alike…..well done my friend chuq
And to you too. me
In looking over the comments on this, I believe I will pass on any comments on religion, or those who choose to fiddle around with any of them (Okay, one word: delusional). I will say, this was an excellent article, even-handed and clearly presented, which is, obviously, more than anyone will get on TV.
I’ll add two short observations…
First, it is an unfortunate human habit to generalize, from the specific to the general, i.e. ISIS is Islamic, therefore all Muslims are terrorists. (We also do this in the other direction, just not as glibly, or with the same facility). This, of course, is a ridiculously ignorant way to approach life, as it denies one’s own ability to reason, and, projects that onto others.
Second, I think it was Paul Simon who wrote, “People hear what they want to hear, and disregard the rest.”
How accurately does that describe humans? Pretty damn accurately, I’d say….
gigoid, the dubious
I’d say so……chuq
Dear Chuq — Allow the Ripening Wanderer to do a little reveal here ….. and I quote myself …. “I have Lenape in my Heritage . . Lenape from the Pennsylvania Region ( a People also sometimes referred to as “The Delaware” (Dele-Wah”) – – a name given to the People by the Shewanakwa (a.k.a. “Wasichu” and I have been honored at one time a long time ago by the Thunder Mountain Lenape by being called a “Grandfather.”
My first “Sweat” was under their protection.
I am also close friends to Chief Laughing Bear, a Cherokee and have been friends also with another Cherokee Lady in Tennessee called “Many Horses.”
Other than that if you would meet me in person all you would be able to see outwardly is my “Onglaise” appearance.
My face is from The Europeans and my heart is of The People.
Thank you for asking. You honor me by asking.
And when I see one of these I shall walk the other way because I enjoy living. I would far rather burn sage and sing a song for the departed than to walk in the land of shadows with them for lack of common sense. When I go I want to go because Creator has called; not because some fanatic with a boner for kordite wants to obtain the services of a 72-year-old virgin.
Yeah there is a lot about those virgins, huh Thing is they are not mentioned in the Quran….virgins are but the paradise thing is sadly missing. Commonsense is in short supply everywhere….my mothers taught me to not judge people and to respect all…until they prove to be bad…I have always lived by that and I refuse to snap judge anyone.
So you plan to wait for the incident to occur before you intend to acknowledge what is happening. Is that the case? I hope you are never tested in that way.
There is nothing happening, at least where I live. I have been tested many times and I have confidence in myself and my reactions.
Very commendable. I am happy for you.
Hahaha…….’some fanatic with a boner for kordite wants to obtain the services of a 72-year-old virgin.’
The truth is, it is accepted by some and judging by the number of suicide attacks they believe it to be true…but… but.. maybe it is because ‘they’ are so desperate….we glorify our martyrs even in the christian tradition …just look at that poor fellow jesus still hanging on the cross….hair vests or wot? wot a negative image!
‘Each region creates their own religion…..Desert regions contain little water…..searching for and obtaining water was an ultimate priority for the early desert tribes…their lifestyle & ideology began from this search..
2 fundamental characteristics of the religions originating in the desert,such as Judaism,Christianity and Islam are that there is a demarcation between man and God and that man can never become God.
In contrast,the religions that originated in the water rich lands of Southeast Asia,Buddhism for example ,teach that man can become Buddha. True also in Hinduism,Taoism and Shintoism…Man can become God’.
Ah,the blessing of rain….(but not oil) grin
‘In those regions,abundant rain falls at regular and specific times of the year,there is much fruit and food.
They experience the external life force of nature and the universe.with which they live in harmony.People are raised and nurtured within this life force and recognize the working of God through the continual manifestation of this abundant nature,Everything is essentially God.’
In the regions of the desert……v.different.
‘Living alone in an environment as harsh as that of the desert entails great difficulty,and people banded together in tribal communities….for the communities to function…rules had to be established,the most fundamental of which are the 10 commandments.Those who broke the rules were severely punished by ‘patriarchal’ authority.’
So,you see how it all starts….
I hugely respect the Aboriginal culture ..they managed to co-exist with the desert and their ‘dream time’ is exquisite…
My mother was Australian…with mixed blood…I spent time there…..I saw how the whites treated the indigenous people…they destroyed them.
My ‘beef’ with ‘bin bag’ country is ‘patriarchy’ no more no less….
Go and see the ‘dead woman walking’ also fundamental sects in Israel.
Patriarchy ….that is my beef…as they say.
To push this further…a quote..
‘I believe that the evolution of a globally-oriented religio-philosophical system will be supported by scientific enquiry and by transcendental spiritual principle.’
Our spiritual evolution does not enslave women…..or anyone……religion enslaves,alas. Mysticism is the key to understand the cosmos.
Man’s possible evolution?
Long way off…
Meantime,I will go and attend to Mother Nature and hug a tree…male of course..grin.
All conceptual religion has Mysticism at its core. I do believe that Trancendentalism is superior to pure philosophy and that both can be construed to be compatible with scientific inquiry although I think sometimes that the thought we humans call “Science” have little to do with spirituality but is trapped in the miasma of theory, theorem and presumption of fact once all other conscious elements are ruled as supportive and not antireactive to the original proposition in the experimentation under consideration by the scientific mind at any given time.
I do some tree hugging myself — as it were — having some heritage of the Lenape Peoples somewhere in this complexity of self but I was drawn at an early age to the words of Lobsang T. Rampa, a kind of Mystic Guru who wrote a book called, “The Third Eye” and from that point forward my whole spiritual conceptualization took off into the ether and blended with the eternal magnificence of Divine Mind and some of the more nuanced essences of the spiritual nature and I have been more or less vibrating in those spheres for all this time … with a heavy emphasis upon what I consider to be a kind of “Purist” attempt at applying Christian Principles … Principles which I try to keep focused and at the center of all I profess to believe … although I am far from perfect in the application of it.
Lobsang,eh?
Now we are going back in time…grin….
We are all far from perfect….in our application…..
‘Would you see the Devil?
Look in the mirror.
Best to acknowledge our shadow side first ….once embraced we move on and on and on….
for the realization of our ignorance is the beginning of our wisdom…
The Gnostic’s had ‘it’ right….a heretical movement…..I stay away from the other Christian concepts…and all so called religions.
Thank you for your thoughts…the ripening wanderer….don’t ripen to much,you might just burst! 😉
Losang, Tibetan monk….good choice….he other books were excellent also….
Or …. I might …. “Bloom.” Eh? LOL
Dear Penniewoodfall …. You asked me why I chose the name, “The Ripening Wanderer” for my blog.
First of all I think it fits my persona. I am old (78 now) and if that is not a ripening old age I do not know what it might be. That’s the first reason. The second reason is that I got into a program that automatically generates random words and “Wander” and “Ripe” were among the choices that came up. I was looking for a catchy title and one that would pass the “Nobody else has a blog like that copyrighted yet.” test.
I searched all the search engines to see if anyone had chosen the name “The Ripening Wanderer” yet and I couldn’t find any so I used it for a couple of reasons: (1) Like I said it fits me as an elderly man getting a lot more elderly as time rolls by and (2) It seemed to describe my natural inclination to search, to explore, to discover — I have, of course, been privileged to have covered most of this old globe through travels in my short time on the planet …. and so … it seemed the right thing to do .. just use the title and see if it would stick. It seems to have worked out thus far.
I thought that might well be your reply……
I have never gone by anything but my own name….
I earned it you see……the hard way!
At 78,you still have a lot of dancing to do……whether you can move or not…smile
p.s.
Pennie,will do….other than that Penelope……a Greek name you see…I love the myths.
gigoid the dubios calls me lady P. but then again he calls all women ‘lady’
sulk.
I like a gentleman’s quality……not many of them left….too many Frogs and not enough Princesses to kiss them.
I also love humour…lightens the load somewhat…
the sicker the better…
That’s me…somewhat……
pps
Got dragged around the world at a young age……saw a lot….felt a lot..
Nothing like getting a ‘good’ education and then trying to make sense of it!
I suppose there are frogs out there who prefer other than Princesses so I am certain the emotional needs of the Frog World are probably well met.
To my ripening ‘sky’ wanderer…..
A gem for you…
“There I was, hunched over office desk,
Mind an unruffled pool.
A thunderbolt! My middle eye
Shot wide, revealing – my ordinary self.
– Layman Seiken, 11th Century
Zen Poems of China and Japan,