Gullibilty and reasoning

Norm

The latest horrible events in NY and Washington has rightfully shocked the entire world. It is a deed that will go down in history as monumental as the Holocaust and other atrocities.

The only superpower in the world was powerless and unable to stop a handful of dedicated and fanatic persons from inflicting such a horrific blow to the nation. They struck right at the financial and military center of the superpower.

In the wake of such an event it is interesting to watch the various comments from the US politicians, the President and military. The speakers of the bipartisan meeting in Washington the other day did little but spout a lot of the usual clichés, “Great Nation”, “American people”, “Stand Firm”, “Be Proud”, and last but not least, the usual standard order: “God bless America”.

You never hear a US politician who doesn’t order “God” to bless America. In light of the above mentioned gruesome event, how has God blessed America? As we know, the US intelligence, all the law enforcement officials, every American citizen, and 99% of the citizen’s of the whole world would have done everything in their power to stop something like this from happening, right?

As it turns out we, the humans was unable to do anything about it. God on the other hand which according to all believers is all knowing, all powerful, omni whatever etc. Apparently couldn’t care less and let the fanatics go ahead and carry out the evil deed, much like he didn’t do much when Hitler was carrying out the Holocaust.

Either he was sleeping of the job and was looking the other way at the moment. Whatever God was doing he wasn’t very busy “Blessing America”.

Do the religious believers stop for one second to ponders such obvious problems?
Nope - no way. What do we see? Well, the usual mindless drivel. We should all pray!
PRAY is the watchword. Yeah sure. Pray to whom? To the God, which according to those same believers claims are the only one who could have prevented the very thing from happening in the first place? If this wonderful God of yours didn’t care enough to stop your loved ones from being killed in the first place, why do you think he would care for your prayers afterwards?

Do you people ever, ever engage your brain before spouting the clichés that seems lodged in your very spines?

And don’t give me that emotional crap about that I hate God, I don’t even believe he exist. What I am really upset about is the incredible stupidity of the “true believer”. What does it take to make you people think?

Norm.

Cassiline

Norm,
Would you please expound as to whom you were directing you comments?
JW, exJW, christians, etc.?????
I'm a little confused. I am new here and am not used to everyones style of writing yet.
Thanks

C

When the pain of being where we are, becomes greater than our fear of letting go...we will risk and heal and grow.

Introspection

Althought prayer typically refers to an external, objective personal God, not everyone who prays believes in such a God. An interesting example is some buddhists who pray, and they do not believe in a subject/object duality.

larc

C,

Norm is directing his comments to those who of all races, creeds, and cultural backgrounds to learn to think for themselves. People who don't want to be slaves to what they are told. Now, his focus here is on people who share a common heritage, i.e., the JW cultural heritage.

Norm, did I get that right?

Teirce

"As we know, the US intelligence, all the law enforcement officials, every American citizen, and 99% of the citizen’s of the whole world would have done everything in their power to stop something like this from happening, right?"

No. Absolutely not. Europe is horrified by the lax airport security in America. Why is it that way? Because we want it that way. We still "want" it that way, even if we now recognize we need more. But that is the heretofore glory of America: All freedom, All the time. We will soon have to comply with more stringent procedures, and I for one am all for it. Plus, the army had drawn up scenarios of planes crashing into the buildings, but there was no action plan for it. Pilots and airlines were completely unprepared for somehting of this innovative magnitude. The Towers were also built higher than and outside of fire code, thus creating a more lethal situation that is only being blamed on the attackers. Anyone to blame for that? No- it's the American materialist way to have more than one can hold, whether from our consumer spending, to our stock exchange, to those un-code corporate monuments. Everything's bigger in Texas. It is that commercial ability to suck in, to assimilate, to globalize, that is the enemy of the attackers. They don't necessarily hate Americans as bodies bearing English names; they hate the globalization fomented by our commercialized way of life.

"the humans was unable to do anything about it." I'd agree that heretofore helplessly consumerist Americans have been unable to step back and see a need for change, but now they will be able.

"Pray" - As far as I know, the only people who effectively pray are those who audibly meditate to their inner consciousness and draw upon hidden energies of self-actualization, and when and if their prayer and desire comes true, it's because they made it happen. A "true believer" is one who believes in their own power to affect their future positively, a positive thinker. (I'm not a positive thinker, so my girlfriend tells me, so, I side more on the 'realistic optimist'..)

I also don't hate God. I hate the idea and myth that there is any One people, One leadership of any One people, that can know and authorize God's word. God, by himself/itself, is a beautiful and beautifying concept. It's the filter that makes him cheap and unreasonable. (I also don't believe in God except as the asthetic belief of many.)

MacHislopp

Hello Norm,
thanks for the post.

Just two comments:

these words:

"In the wake of such an event it is interesting to watch the various comments from the US politicians, the President and military. The speakers of the bipartisan meeting in Washington the other day did little but spout a lot of the usual clichés, “Great Nation”, “American people”, “Stand Firm”, “Be Proud”, and last but not least, the usual standard order: “God bless America”.

should make us think a bit deeper!

Second:

God has nothing to do with those cold-blood
premeditated atrocities and killing of thousands and
thousands of innocent people. Those - persons- who did
it, are the criminals, the "terrorist ", and in mho
the result of - religious fanatism -pushed to its
extreme: the indiscriminate destruction of innocent
lives even at the sacrifice of their own.

In conclusion, any kind of religion or if you like
form of worship which can produce these kind of
fanatics ,are the REAL danger for all the freedom
lovers 'people and nations of all the world.

Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp

Zep

I've used prayer every now and then over the last year. Its a sort of meditation thing.But I haven't prayed once during this WTC disaster...not for anyone. I can't do it. I think i'm finally convinced that i'm an Atheist. I use to fight the idea.Now, it just makes so much sense.

I hear all the yankee's going on about 'God bless America'. The Muslims say 'Praise be to Allah'. I cant stomach any of this God shit.

Englishman

Norm,

You make a good point. I was speaking to a semi-religious person yesterday, she said that she had stopped saying her prayers. She said that she could not ask God to bless her day or to relieve her aches and pains when there were so many thousands of people in the world who were besides themselves with grief.

Englishman.

..... fanaticism masquerading beneath a cloak of reasoned logic.

Norm

Hi Larc,

you said:

Norm, did I get that right?

You know Larc, I do belive you did

Take care,

Norm.

Hmmm

To some people, "God bless America" is just a saying. People say "bless you" when someone sneezes; this was originally a request for God to bless the person, especially in plague-torn times/lands, when a sneeze in Act I of a Shakespeare play meant the person would be dead by Act III. When someone sneezes now, are the majority of us asking some Supreme being to intercede and miraculously cure them of the Black Death? No, we're just being polite.

Regardless of your personal beliefs, you have to be cognizant of those around you. I often wonder how much our Presidents really believe in and worship God/god. It doesn't really matter, because it's all about PR nowadays. If you suddenly became President of the US tomorrow, you'd be saying "God bless America" at the end of your first speech, or you wouldn't be in office long enough to give a second speech. It's an empty phrase that shouldn't be taken so literally.

Hmmm

Gullibilty and reasoning

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