guillaumeb

guillaumeb's Journal

October 10, 2017

Intolerance in action: Austria burqa ban: Man dressed as shark falls afoul of new law

From the article:

Austrian police issued a fine to a man dressed as a shark under new anti-burqa laws, Austrian media reported on Monday.
The mascot was standing outside a new outlet of the McShark electronics store in Vienna when he was asked by police to remove his shark head. When he refused, he was issued with a fine, which can be up to €150 ($176).
The new laws aimed at prohibiting people from covering their faces in public came into effect at the start of October. The rule came as part of legislation approved in May.......

To read more:

http://www.dw.com/en/austria-burqa-ban-man-dressed-as-shark-falls-afoul-of-new-law/a-40872491?utm_content=buffera19a6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Austria does have a history of intolerance. Another example.

October 10, 2017

What is a "true notion of "morality"?

This post is inspired by a response that I received in another post. The poster responded, in part, as follows:

You, on the other hand, have an insurmountable challenge in trying to reconcile any true notion of "morality" with the kind of god you believe in.

Is there, can there be, a true notion of morality, (as opposed possibly to a false notion of morality), and if so, who exactly defines what this true notion of morality encompasses?

Or is the position expressed in this phrase instead a logical fallacy?

Your thoughts please.

NOTE: The bolded portion of the quote was my highlight.

October 9, 2017

AGs religious objection order undercuts LGBT protections

From the article:

In an order that undercuts federal protections for LGBT people, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a sweeping directive to agencies Friday (Oct. 6) to do as much as possible to accommodate those who claim their religious freedoms are being violated.

October 8, 2017

Good news: North Carolina imam urges Congress to celebrate difference

From the article:

“As the Creator of all, you made us different,” said Antepli, whose prayer opened the day’s proceedings. “Enable us to understand, appreciate and celebrate our differences.”.....

“He’s a remarkable interfaith interlocutor,” said Price of Antepli. “He strives for full acceptance and appreciation of other traditions, not simply wanting mere tolerance but to really engage and talk about the substance of one’s faith.”

October 8, 2017

Here he stood: Lutheran pilgrims travel to Germany on Reformation anniversary

From the article:

The irony of a Luther pilgrimage, given that it was one of the Catholic spiritual practices Luther himself was bent on reforming, was not lost on the Rev. Patrick Shebeck, pastor of St. Paul-Reformation.
“For all of Luther’s vehemence against the veneration of relics, that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Shebeck said.

October 7, 2017

Top 5 Signs Donald Trump Might Be an Effing Moron

from the article:

Carol E. Lee at NBC reported Wednesday that last summer Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, called Trump a “f*cking moron.” The remark came after a number of incidents in which Trump had contradicted Tillerson on policy, and directly after Trump made salacious remarks to a crowed of boy scouts. Tillerson at one point had led the Boy Scouts.
The justice of Tillerson’s remark is obvious. Here are some examples:

To read the examples:

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/10/05/top-5-signs-donald-trump-might-be-effing-moron

Which is the worse sign:

That GOP voters elected a moron to be President?, or
That Trump won the GOP nomination at all?

October 7, 2017

From a Concert in Las Vegas to a Funeral in Yemen, We Must Stop Mass Murder

From the article:

While Americans are mourning the mass shooting in Las Vegas that so tragically took the lives of over 50 concert-goers, people in Yemen will be marking the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that took the lives of over 140 people who were not at a concert, but a funeral. The Las Vegas carnage was a crime against humanity carried out by what seems to be a crazed lone wolf. The bombing of the funeral home in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, was a war crime carried out by a close US ally, Saudi Arabia, with the indispensable help of the United States. While we try to steer the domestic conversation to the need for gun control, we should also be seeking to end the massive flow of US weapons to Saudi Arabia that is wreaking such carnage. A new resolution in Congress, HR Resolution 81, would do just that.

To read more:

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/10/05/concert-las-vegas-funeral-yemen-we-must-stop-mass-murder

There is no difference in state directed mass murder versus individual mass murder, save that state mass murder is on a much larger scale. But the violence of the state is reflected in the individual violence. And that violence, and the willingness to tolerate that violence, is a defining feature of US society.

October 6, 2017

If someone says "I will pray for you", how do you feel about it?

1) Do you take it as an insult?

Personally, I do not use the phrase unless I know that the person with whom I am speaking is a person of faith. And if the person is a person of faith, they will know that my expression is intended as an expression of sympathy and support. A recognition of a certain commonality of belief.

2) Do you interpret it as an attack on your beliefs?

Suppose that you tell a co-worker about a difficult situation in your life, and they respond at some point "I will pray for you". Unless the subject of faith has previously been discussed, and unless they are aware that you are a non-theist, would you automatically assume that their intent was to give offense? If so, please explain why.

We are aware that religious feeling and belief is shared by the overwhelming majority of humans, so sometimes an assumption is made that all parties to a conversation have faith as a common attribute. Absent direct knowledge that another is a non-theist, why would an assumption be made that insult is/was intended?

Would anyone feel the same about the expression "Merry Christmas"? It too implies and references religious belief.

October 5, 2017

Where were all the good people with guns in Las Vegas?

NOTE: This was originally posted in July of 2016, but it could have been posted 272 times this year alone.

So, to repeat myself, Where were all the good people with guns in Las Vegas?

You know, the "good people with a gun" who are the only thing that can effectively respond to gun violence.

The NRA gun fundamentalists love to state that the only defense against a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun. They say this nonsense after school shootings, after theater shootings, after every type of mass shooting. So what happened in Las Vegas? How do we explain this utter absence of response by the mythical "good person with a gun"?

Some thoughts:

1) There apparently are no good people with guns in Las Vegas?

2) The good people with guns were paralyzed with fear and unable to respond?

And if a good person, or many good persons, had pulled out weapons when the shooting started, what would have been the outcome?

1) Would there have been many more murders because a general shooting free for all would have ensued?

2) Or would a good person with a gun have instantly found the bad person and neutralized the threat?

What is incredible, and not at all surprising, is that NRA apologists and paid shills can continue to make the same argument when all the evidence shows that there simply is no protection conferred by carrying a gun, nor is there any statistically significant effective response to this violence by an armed civilian.

How soon before I can repost this again?

October 5, 2017

Seattle challenges the "40 Days" (Abortion rights)

From the article:

SOME 100 pro-choice activists gathered to defend a Seattle Planned Parenthood clinic on September 30, the kickoff weekend for the anti-choice fanatics "40 Days for Life" this fall.
Usually, this clinic is besieged during 40 Days for Life,........... but when Seattle Clinic Defense organizers and supporters started their defense orientation, the two lone anti-choice demonstrators present were overwhelmed.

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Member since: Mon Jan 26, 2015, 06:15 PM
Number of posts: 42,641

About guillaumeb

bilingual, bipedal homo sapien

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