COMMENTS ON WORLD AFFAIRS

Comments semi-regularly updated. Latest at the top and dated. Send your comments to Jovial Atheist: <dubious@ntin.net> or copy and paste. Make Subject line: (Comments) Please give your city and state. Thank you.

Subject: The Election.

11/10/04

The election is over. Won or stolen it doesn’t matter. Kerry (or was his name Kelly) would have simply continued the same things Bush began. In the words of that lesser known practical philosopher, Pogo, “We have discovered the enemy and he is us.”

At least half of the voters in this country were not fooled by the tools of the Bush people. So we have hope. Look at the tools used by this administration and realize how faint that hope really is.

What are the tools this enemy used on his own kind? First there is ignorance, ignorance of history, ignorance of philosophy, ignorance of the English language, Ignorance of critical thinking, ignorance of morality, ignorance of economics, ignorance of science, ignorance of honesty, ignorance of our Constitution, ignorance of our Bill of Rights, ignorance of basic civility, ignorance of their self declared enemies, ignorance of the difference between facts and fictions, ignorance of the attitude of the rest of the world and ignorance of their own beliefs.

Next there is gullibility. Gullibility means one will believe what he is told, if he is told by someone he accepts as an authority. In other words, if he believes the authority is one of “us.” Believe me (or check up on me) our so-called present authority is one of them. To them he is one of “us”. Gullibility is not just a form of ignorance; it is best described as a form of faith or belief. To these people faith and belief is a virtue.  To the rest of us, belief is a slave trait and that is what half of the people in this nation are becoming. They are becoming, if not already, slaves (mentally and physically.) If they are told by their authorities that slavery is a good and honorable patriotic thing to be, they will gladly become slaves and die defending that right.

The third tool used by this administration is lying and propaganda. Since the administration and its people own the media in this country, there is no voice of decent or of truth. Repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat again the lie and the believers will believe it. While we have the Internet we better use it.

The fourth tool used by this administration is the “Boogy Bear” syndrome, which they call terrorism. 9/11 could only have happened with inside help by portions of this administration. Anyone who lightly researches the subject will be amazed at the necessity of inside help and maybe instigation. In addition the “Boogy Bear” will soon be applied to the Internet, which will seek to control it by using crime, pornography, hate, anti Semitism, terrorism, Spam and what have you. The “Boogy Bear” will be applied to travel, commerce, banking and even to voting and family life. The “Boogy Bear” will spy on you and know your whereabouts at all times. He will know what you buy and sell, what sickness you have and such. And since the administration is primarily interested in money and power, they will allow all type of businesses to have access to your private life.

Yes, the so-called election is over and the rest of “us” all await our guilty verdict and our punishment. We should not have voted against the administration. Woe is “us”.

 

Subject:  Answer To Your Letter From the Jovial Atheist

12/10/03

Hello again, Mike:

I will try to speak to some of your concerns, which I have gleaned from you letter. They are:

1. The tendencies to revert to religious concepts at times in our new logical thinking lives.
2. Can the majority of people ever become clear and logical thinkers and reject religion?
3. Can aliens help us in our cultural evolution?

On the first matter, it is the conscience of people that tells them what is right or wrong. So let us define conscience: "It is the motivation or conviction deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions. It is conformity to one's own sense of right conduct, a feeling of shame when one does something which he thinks is immoral." In other words, the conscience is a cultural (learned) thing.

We are not born with a conscience. The conscience is developed within us by what we are taught by our accepted authorities as being the truth. It is reinforced by punishment, the threat of punishment and of reward. Our conscience is simply "Pavlov's dog." So the fear, guilt and self congratulations believers heap upon themselves is based on their earlier religious and ethical teachings.

The only way to overcome and unlearn the harmful earlier teachings is to examine the matter at hand in light of facts, clear thinking and wisdom. Learning to be a clear thinker and honest doubter demands that we make our decisions based on the facts as we understand them. That takes courage. So it takes courage, honest doubt and logical thinking to turn our backs on unfounded religious promises and threats, which have sunk into our conscience. Once you have done this a few times and find lightening did not strike you, nor did your heart stop beating, your conscience will begin to redevelop in light of the truth you are learning. The only true conscience will tell you "First, it is wrong to do to others what you would not wish done to you. Second, always leave everything better than you found it." Do those things and no God could condemn you though many believers will curse you.

On the subject, can a majority of people forsake religion and become clear thinkers and honest doubters? The answer presently is, of course, “NO”. But, there is hope. We must do all we can to get our government to rid itself of religious favoritism. Here is where we need lots of clear thinking lawyers and judges to get the symbolisms of religion removed from our government, educational system and business. We need to institute tax laws to tax religion when it enters politics or publicly endorses a candidate. We need to remove tax exemptions for supporting a religion. We need to make religion prove its claims if it uses public media to make those claims (just as we do products of other businesses). Then we need equal time on radio, TV and newspapers to rebut the claims of religion. We need to show that only those who want something for nothing are sucked into the religious claims. If and when we can do that then down the line maybe half of the people will learn to think and question all the claims presented to us.

There is also the need of a secular religion to do all the good work the church does without all the guilt and fear they presently force on us. Maybe you could start a movement like that some day.

Now, about the aliens. Science is the biggest practical enemy of religion. Advanced science can do and does things, which were considered miracles earlier. My conclusion is, some of the aliens are helping us in this area. This may or may not be true. It is also possible that some aliens passed themselves off in earlier times as gods and lords and gave us some of the ethics and morals along with the civilizing concept (government and laws) of passed generations. Whatever, the aliens are too far advanced in every way to be anything to us or with us except to be the BOSS. The best we can hope for is that they will be advisors to the smartest people of this earth. These smart people most likely already know what needs to be done but the powers of superstitions hinders that advancement.

That is about it, Mike. Thanks for writing.

Thomas

10/02/03

THE ISLAMIC TRAP! THE MIDDLE EAST TAR BABY.

Everyone except the Christians now admit that we are in a war with the Islamic religion and their political concept. And what is the Islamic concept of government? It is that the Muslim religion is the final and last word on what is right and what is wrong (in both their public and private lives). It is that the people (the Muslims) are to be ruled over by their leaders, the Muslim clerics. There is no room for democracy, no room for the will of the people to be carried out and no room for a vote on anything except to vote to accept the Muslim and Islamic rule in their life.

All the Islamic nations and tribes are now committed (overtly or covertly) to sucking the United States into a trap in Iraq. They plan to do this slowly so as not to arouse the people of the USA and cause them to recognize the trap. They are moving their aircraft, tanks, missiles and troops slowly into place. In the mean time, they attack our troops a little every day to get both the military and the American people use to the idea of troop loses. They are also keeping most of the oil, from flowing out of the country by blowing up pipelines and sabotaging the equipment and infrastructure of Iraq.

In addition to this they are working with great haste to secure nuclear weapons. Saudi Arabia is the treasury and Pakistan is furnishing the know how. But, the greatest weapon they have and are starting to use is GOLD. The leaders of the fundamental Islamic Jihad have constantly said they seek to destroy the economy of the USA and the western world. That is one reason why they hit the Twin Towers. But what they are now doing is using GOLD to make the dollar nearly useless. They are presenting the world with an economy based on gold and silver instead of paper IOU's which are only backed up by more paper IOU's. Add control of most of the oil in the world and a billion and a half of people who would rather die for their god and religion than submit to the USA and we have a formidable enemy who holds more high cards than does the USA.

The Islamic nations are not yet agreed on whether they will attack Israel first, at the same time or later. My guess is they will first bog the USA down militarily and economically and will not directly attack our troops until we attack them. The USA will probably shoot down a Syrian or Saudi airplane and escalation will begin.

Does the Bush people know all this? Yes, but they do not believe it. They believe the USA is invincible and is defended by Almighty God and two hundred and seventy five million patriots who will sacrifice their money, their children and themselves to the Bush administration's war on terror.

Even if the Bush's are voted out of office they will still not be out of power. They will leave us stuck to the Tar Baby, to his commitment to fight against the Islamic world, to an economy based on useless IOU's, to a nation gutted of its manufacturing ability, to smart but jobless men and women, to an infrastructure falling apart in our cities and to an insane religion which believes you can get something for nothing from the sky.

THE TAR BABY IS COMING!
THE TAR BABY IS COMING!
 THE TAR BABY IS COMING!

07/08/03

The Lost Bush

A Bush is just a Bush
no matter how much
it seeks to be a Tree.
The more of the Bush I see
the smaller it seems to me.

The lack of depth,
the tangled roots,
the lack of shade,
the thinness of leaf,
from a bad seed made.

Misplaced at best,
poor fruit it bears,
a heaven for pests,
confine this branch,
to some Texas ranch.

Thomas Blaylock

04/12/03

Iraq falls (maybe), Saddam is dead (maybe), Democracy takes center stage (maybe), Iraqis rejoice (maybe), the USA and UK are victorious (maybe), the oil wells are saved for the benefit of the Iraqi people (maybe), The Kurds are happy (maybe), the Muslims are happy (maybe), the UN will render medical and economic aid to the Iraqis (maybe), The USA and UK will restore order (maybe), a new government by the people and for the people will emerge in Iraq (maybe). Iraq's debt to the western world will be forgiven (maybe). Iraq's debt to China and North Korea will be forgiven (maybe) and maybe the Christian God and the Islamic God will set down and declare peace in the Middle East.

Look who is happy about this war. The Bush administration is happy. Israel is happy. All the rest of the world is unhappy and AFRAID. Think about China and North Korea being unhappy. Think about Iran and Turkey being unhappy. Think about France, Germany and Russia being unhappy. Think about Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, the African Islamic nations, the Islamic nations of the former Soviet Union being unhappy and don't forget Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia. Don't forget Mexico and Canada. These nations are very unhappy and AFRAID.

What is the rest of the world AFRAID of?

The world is AFRAID of the intentions of the USA and the UK. They are afraid they will have to come to the USA and the UK with their hats in their hands and beg for oil. They are AFRAID the USA is trying to build an economic empire, which will control the wealth, water and food of the world. These nations are so AFRAID they are considering joining with their traditional enemies in order to destroy the USA. No tree is so tall that it cannot fall.

Thank you Mr. George W. Bush for invading the Middle East and turning our friends into enemies. And thank your God for giving you the wisdom to destroy the freedoms and human rights granted to us in our Constitution. But especially do I wish to thank you for establishing a police state with in the United States with its dissolution of our personal security and freedom. Now I have a question. Who will save us from you and your fellow Republicans? Must we look to the unhappy nations of the world for OUR salvation and liberation? Please change your mind, quit listening to your God or the world will long remember your administration for its:

                    Arrogance:    We are always right.
                    Dictatorship: So you must do as we say.
                    Tyranny:         Or you will be punished.
 

04/06/03

It has been a long time since I updated "Comments". Baghdad is under siege by the USA and UK. In the USA and around the world people are protesting. Most of the protesters are not conservative Christians. In fact, the protesters in this country are mostly what we would classify as liberals and liberals are not conservative Christians (as a rule). Else where in the world, the protesters are either fundamentalist Muslims or political and religious liberals of one sort or another.

More and more this war (on terrorism) is becoming a clash between two cultures. Now, cultures are the outgrowth of the beliefs of a people. The beliefs of the USA are dominated by the Christian philosophy and especially by the conservative Christian philosophy. The cultures of those we classify as enemies in the Middle East are the outgrowth of the Muslim philosophy.

The Christian philosophy focuses on the individual and his freedom to make decisions for himself (to be good or bad according the various doctrines). While the Muslim philosophy focuses on the individual as a part of Islam. Thus, the Muslims teach that man is only to be a follower of the Islamic faith and the Islamic faith is also the government. That is, Islam and the state is the same thing. In a state like Iraq where the government is not run by the Islamic philosophy only harsh and brutal methods can keep the people in subjection.

So, if the Islamic people see the terrorist government overthrown and they are free to choose their own government - they will choose the Islamic state government. To try to force a democratic government on these Muslims will again require harsh and brutal methods - this time by the USA. These Muslims can only be controlled by terror or fervor (terror and fear for their lives or fervor for their Islamic faith). To free the Muslims is like freeing a tiger. Before the present, the tigers had no one to feed on except themselves - thus, the many tribal wars. Now the tigers have an enemy, in fact two of them, Israel and the USA.

This is just the beginning because if you are not controlled by the Muslim faith and an Islamic government then you are a heretic or infidel. If you are not with Islam then you are against it (haven't I heard this some place before?) As such you are not only the enemy of Islam, you are also the enemy of GOD. And Islam is pledged to stamp out the enemies of God even if it cost them their lives.

This is just the beginning because if you are not controlled by the conservative Christian faith and a democratic government then you are a heretic and infidel. If you are not with Christianity and democracy then you are against it. As such you are not only the enemy of Christianity, you are the enemy of GOD. And Christianity is pledged to stamp out the enemies of God even if it cost them their lives.

Here is my plan for peace. Let those Christians and Muslims (who have lost their abilities to reason) fight to the finish for their imaginary gods.  The world will be destroyed and in a million or so years life will begin again with little tiny moving things struggling to find something to eat. In a billion or so years thinking animals will emerge. Soon farms will be developed, civilizations will begin, gods will be invented to control people and insanity will have a second chance.

Isn't it time to give SANITY its first chance? Heaven on earth would be a world without religion.

03/03/02

Many have written e-mails to the Jovial Atheist. I am in the midst of moving to Texas and this will keep me from answering many e-mails. I will maintain the present e-mail address for sometime. However, I will do what I can to answer you.  I will have a new e-mail address sometimes this summer.

Several Universities and Seminaries are assigning the Jovial Atheist web site to their students. I receive e-mail from: "What a bunch of crap." to: "The best most informative, comprehensive, philosophical web site on the internet." I take both with a grain of salt. You can help by bringing the Jovial Atheist web site to the attention of professors and teachers of religion and philosophy.

The Jovial Atheist can be reached through the Google search engine. Simply type "Jovial Atheist" in the search block and hit "GO".

Both Google and Yahoo have given the Jovial Atheist web site five stars. Some scholars have written and corrected a place here and there and I always try to incorporate these new bits of information.

You can also find much information on the Mithraic religion by simply typing in "Mithra" or "Mithraic Religion" on many search engines.

Well, where is the world today? Nothing is better! We have lost many freedoms since 9/11/01. If I wished to take over the United States (and had some first class help) I could not have come up with a better plan than that which is now in operation. What amazes me is, the "PLAN" is getting about 80 to 85% approval from the American people. Are we so FEARFUL and IGNORANT that we approve of the loss of our Constitution and our Freedoms? The terrorists are nothing more than common criminals but they have been painted as almost limitless and invincible. They are fanatical in their religious beliefs and that makes them dangerous as it does with the Christian religions.

ALL BELIEFS are dangerous to peace, freedom and the civilizing process of mankind. All beliefs are right and all other beliefs are wrong and a threat to world peace. Therefore, we must destroy all the other beliefs so we may have peace and freedom. In order to accomplish this we will give up our lives, our freedom and our peace and destroy the "OTHERS".

THIS IS A RELIGIOUS WAR!

This is a war between Christianity and Islam spurred on by Judaism. The Jewish leaders know if Christianity and Islam can destroy each others power base then the most powerful people and religion in the western world will be Judaism. Would helping start this war be to the benefit of the Jewish people? Would they stoop to such policies? Do they approve of this war? THINK!

9/26/01

The world's pot is boiling.
The fires of war are hot.
The war makers are toiling
But peacemakers are not.

I predict that the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City will soon be looked upon as the very mild start of the Third World War. I am not by nature a doomsayer, but when I look at the hatred, fear, lack of preparations, infiltration, horrible weapons, interdependence of our society for food and water, our vulnerable life style dependent on phones and Internet, our residences miles from our work place and our dependency upon our cars and electricity, the softness of our own bodies, our dependency on an already under staffed medical system and a thousand more observations - we are ripe and ready to be plucked.

Who are the pluckers? Of course, they are, first, those people abroad who have felt the injustices, humiliations, terror and murders which our government, allies, banks, businesses and products have visited on these people. People who lived in ease and at peace in their villages now live in poverty, hunger, disease, fear, humiliation and war. They see their oil, wealth and raw materials leave their country. They see imported from the USA guns, planes, rockets, ships and other means of war. They see food which they used to grow themselves now packaged from abroad and sold for money which they do not have. So they line up to get free food from the handouts of the USA. Do they want to bite the hand which now feeds them? You bet!

Second, there are pluckers who were born in the USA. Their fathers and grand fathers were born here. These American pluckers saw their farms stolen from them by an unjust economical governmental system which enriched the "haves" at the expense of the "have nots". Their toil, sweat, loyalty and patriotism has been laughed at by their government. They watched as the government financed huge one crop farms and at the same time using taxes and unjust laws forced the small farmer from his land. And what happened to that confiscated land? It became a part of the huge one crop farm systems.
Russia did this with a gun. Our government does it with a ball point pen.

Then there is this highly immoral war on drugs. Millions of innocent Americans are suffering the brutality and tyranny of this injustice. Thousands and thousands of people are in concentration camps (jails) even though they have hurt no one, killed no one, stolen from no one, defamed no one, lied to no one and committed no crime except to possess some pot on their person. For a full account of these people see the article on drugs.

There are millions of Americans who watched their jobs shipped abroad. There are millions of Americans who live in poverty waiting for the hand which feeds them to drop a few crumbs into their soup bowl and plate. There are millions of Americans who are deeply in debt because of the immoral interest rates of the credit card industry and the banks. There are millions of citizens of this nation who have seen their one vote violated. There are millions of people who are sick but have no means of paying for the exorbitant cost of even treating a cold much less a dangerous medical condition.

In addition, there are the powerful and numerous Nazis among us who seek to use this time to take away the freedoms of the citizens of this country in order to institute their concept of a New World Order in which we will all be subjects to THEIR concept of what is good for mankind and what is to be considered as traitorous. Their immoral morality is that all of us must submit to their political and economical control. That control removes ALL of our freedoms except the freedom to be slaves to them and their system or the freedom to be traitors (and to suffer the consequences of our freedom).

But, worst of all, there are millions of Americans who see this tragedy as an opportunity and means of enforcing their religious beliefs upon the rest of the American people. Sometimes, this religious belief conforms with the aims of the New World Order. Certainly, the New World Order will have the support of many of the religions in this country because it will offer them a place of power (temporarily).

Then there are millions more who reject the immoral beliefs, methods and rules of the religious minority and the New World Order.

The pot boils and the spoon of greed is stirring the pot. The fires of injustice and immorality burns hotter and hotter under the pot. Soon this concoction will be pored out on our plate. Will we eat it? Or will we reject it?

OR SHOULD WE TURN OFF THE FIRE OF INJUSTICE AND IMMORALITY?

The Jovial Atheist

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