Saturday, April 01, 2006

The art of......

In a quote usually attributed to Otto Von Bismarck, we are often
told that 'politics is the art of the possible".
 
Faith, we are told, reminds us that through belief all things are possible.
 
One-ness is the awareness that the impossible already is, it is simply
for us to draw it into our consciousness and translate it into our actions.
 
"If you want to fool the world...tell the truth" also Otto Von Bismarck
 
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Beyond Religion and Politics ?

U.S. President George W. Bush offered humanitarian aid Friday to the quake victims, while noting that relations between Iran and the United States are strained.

"I do want to offer my country's assistance to the people affected by the recent earthquakes in Iran," Bush told a news conference in Cancun, Mexico, where he was meeting with Canadian and Mexican leaders.

"We, obviously, have our differences with the Iranian government, but we do care about the suffering of the Iranian people."

I guess there are a lot of cynics out there who will simply say that such a gesture is simply
backdoor American Imperialism.......

"There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal, as human beings, to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death."  Russell-Einstein Appeal pub.1955

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Friday, March 31, 2006

The Defence of Truth?

The World Trade Centre atrocity has, more than anything else, concentrated thought and debate world-wide about Islam. I cannot remember any other event in my lifetime that has so 'thrust to public attention' the issues faced by modern Islam. Unfortunately the unbelievable horror of Beslan did not get the media coverage and was further confused by 'internal political overtones'. However, in both these cases Muslim terrorists killed...and killed innocent Muslims in outright contradiction to the teachings of The Prophet Mohammed and the Koran.

The latter half of the 20th century saw a Richter-scale shift in the dynamics of the Muslim faith. "Not all Muslims are terrorists,but unfortunately it seems all terrorists are Muslims" wrote one leading article in a Middle Eastern newspaper.The seperation of Church and State, the target not only of Sayyid Qutb's influential 'In the Shadow of the Koran' work + other works and it's subsequent inspiring effect upon the Jihad movement, is clearly delineated in the pressures for the institution and maintainance of Sharia Law in nation states.

For a non-Muslim (like myself) however, it is extremely difficult to comprehend the repeated contradictions inherent in many of the major religions, Islam included. I mean, is God all-powerful or not? If all powerful, what's all this talk about devils waging wars and devlish armies that could overturn the 'will of God'. Such talk is not a statement of belief, it is a statement of a lack of belief! What's all this talk about an individual who should be executed because they have chosen to worship the ONE God with a different dialect or through a different tradition? Is God so 'power-less' that we imagine we can take over the role of deciding upon life or death? How can terrorists, who betray the principles of their belief system, come to be regarded as 'martyrs?'

How is it possible, even allowing for intellectual gymnastics, to equate the threats and promises of punishment inherent in Sharia Law with this:

"Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clearly from error".
This is not from the Old Testament, nor the New Testament, nor the Sayings of the Bhudda, nor the
words of Christ.

"Compulsion" = force, threat, blackmail, constraint.

"Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clearly from error".
The Koran at sura (chapter) 2.256

Hey, and just be careful about being too judgemental if you belong to another religion,Christianity or Judaism for example. I am sure we can find unending reams of blog material by applying our insights and investigations to these areas also. The reason this blog is not currently doing so is that the confusion and contradiction of beliefs in Islam is 'stealing life'.
Life! Now is that God-given or what?


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Thursday, March 30, 2006

PS. Broken Promise

In this blog Tuesday, March 21, 2006 I wrote about
The Broken Promise of a great religion in response to an
article quoting Dr Abdullah al-Amiri, a prominent member
of parliament in Sharjah emirate.
 
This gentleman was attempting to convince everyone that
'gay relationships' were not now,nor ever, a part of
Islamic society. My debate is not about sexuality, my
debate is about accuracy especially in respect of religion.
 
In favour of accuracy, may I respectfully refer the presumably
learned gentleman to historical record - try a visit to:
for a more accurate picture on this issue.

 
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The price of progress - £50

Yesterday my new printer arrived - an Epson D68, very nice and very
nice (low) price (from www.cheapink.com). Ordered and delivered
within 3 days by post.My 3 year old printer had been giving ink
cartridge problems. It got very frustrating.
 
In restrospect the frustration is a symptom of my/our incredible urge
for 'Great Expectations'. We often seem to forget just how amazing,
incredible,mind-blowing is the technology that is at our fingertips.
Hey, that is not to say we shouldn't keep expecting,for the drive of
human progress has done much to enhance the lives of so many and
inform the world where the lives of so many others was so
appalling,prompting international aid and response.
 
However, there is also nothing wrong - and maybe everything right -
with sometimes stepping back and viewing the amazing wonders with
which we surround our existence in this life's walk. We take so very
much for granted, huh?
 
Blogging,for example!  The power of mass communication extended to
every person with access to a pc and the internet. The opinions of the
individual circulated around the world and viewable by any who choose
to do so. This 'extended freedom' can be a counter-balance to
oppression/repression by 'greater' powers and systems - whether
governments, criminality or even religious organisations.
 
My new printer is amazing:colour,photo quality,high definition (5760 dpi),
low cost ink cartridges (now that's progress,hehehehe). It is just one of those
countless yet still truly incredible aspects of modern life.
 
Yet, if we listen to some and bury ourselves in ancient traditions or
un-progressed concepts/philosophies/religions we can have back the
 'good old days'. The answer to our fears for the future does not lie in
the false security of a dead past, rather it lies in setting aside our
fears in favour of full commitment to the adventure of life and life's
progress.
 
Hmmm... do you think I should print this out.........  :):)
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Wednesday, March 29, 2006

One-ness contentment

One-ness is the acceptance of what is, of what already exists.
It is not some idealised religion or philosophy of what might be,
of what could be.
 
When you come into this acceptance of One-ness, you arrive
at a vantage point that has a completely different view of the
meaning and relevance of life and all the interactions that occur
within it.
 
Your own thoughts and actions have a relevance previously
denied and an importance previously ignored.
 
When we realise that we are an integral component of each
other, it impacts upon our relationships in the most positive
of all ways.
 
Truthfully, what we do to another we also do to ourselves.
 
The old adage of 'Do unto others' holds the corollary of 'doing
unto yourself", for that which we do unto others is a statement
of who we perceive 'our self' to be.
 
It is a statement,an energy, we emit that states the kind of
experience we chose to feel at any given moment in time.
 
 
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Monday, March 27, 2006

Qumana and backups BLOGS

Hmmmm.. I must be getting nerdish :):)
 
This is a trial of an offline Blog editor which has many
very nice features to help us write our blogs...especially
I also solved another little problem today with my blogging.
Over the 5 years I've been blogging I've had 2 harddisk
crashes...one caused by an (at the time) undetected virus
which finally managed to physically destroy a new 80 gig
HDD.
This gave me something of a headache or two, as a lot
of my blog backups also disappeared. Today I grabbed
a free opensource website copier that also copies BLOGS.
Beautifully :):)
 
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BORED?
While a lot of people,young and older,
complain of being 'bored', some folks
just get on with doing something....

"For years, scientists have been working
to find what can kill E. coli. Well, finally,
someone found it. It turns out there is a
good bacteria in yogurt that secretes a
protein that kills E. coli. We know this
now because a very smart, hard-working
researcher discovered it...........at the ripe
old age of 13". (CNN report)

I wonder what could happen in this world if
each one of us 'surrendered' just one hour
of 'boredom' to, for example, contributing
energy to solving the problem of clean
drinking water for everyone.