About those dimwitted Americans
A few folks are upset with me because I labeled as "dimwitted" those Americans who still believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Too bad. They are dimwitted. And, contrary to what some believe, I am not saying that because...
Subscribe
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
First: "honest politics" is an oxymoron. I think it was P. T. Barnum who said nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the public. Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater with his commercials of a little girl blowing a dandelion puff and then putting an image of a nuclear explosion on the screen. The NY governor, Dukakis, was defeated because his opponent convinced the public that they could expect criminals to be pardoned and set loose on a defenseless public if he were elected. Dirty tricks, lies, and inuendo are standard operating procedure in politics. The only way to combat this is to teach people to think and analyze what they are told instead of unquestioningly accepting. This goes against the whole philosophy of our culture. The advertising industry wouldn't be able to exist if people could really think. Obama has a bigger threat to deal with than the Muslim accusation. The National Rifle Association is out to defeat him. They managed to defeat Hillary Clinton, who was sure she had been guaranteed the nomination. Fear sells things.
*********************************************
Some Americans still racist deep in the bone
*********************************************
That reader you quoted above saying the country will be in trouble if Obama elected.
Did this reader consider that McGain will continue Bush's butchered regime and worse? or may be this reader doesn't have children like those sent who are killing close to Million people in Iraq, getting killed there or coming home without legs and arms? McGain says that the US will remain in Iraq for undetermined time, he is a liar caught on many occasion regarding his economical background.... All that doesn't matter?
I think the Muslim issue is to hide another thing for Obama, being black. But the pastors and priests can't say that publicly so they use the other accusation.
And, these same Christians elected Bush for 2 terms, and are going to try to elect McGain..what kind of God are you guys worshiping? a racist , hatred, criminal God? I wonder...
Peace
Mounir
Love and Hate Determine your Faith
Right on Mr. Walsh. Some of us more conservative cowboys who still like the ranchers way of life with all the hard work and beautiful sunsets agree with you.
We still love riding the horses, mans other best friend, these majestic creatures never seem to amaze this aging hard edged cowboy.
I tip my hat off to you, and remember to put on some Willie Nelson soon. It will do you good.
This is Menthol Slim signing off.
correction:
these majestic creatures never[cease]not seem, to amaze this aging hard edged cowboy.
-Slim
Not only can we as Americans be "dimwitted" we can be stubborn as well.. Point well Made Neale..
Hello Neale.
It is a gift. It truly IS a blessing to be reminded of that which we need to leave behind.
I too used to believe that some people were stupid.
But, in truth, there is no such thing as stupid (or dimwitted)- it is just our fear that we ourselves may be perceived by another as stupid.
For stupid is a judgment, and in truth, and God's kingdom, there is no judgment. Remember?
I've discovered, through different self growth methodologies: hypnotherapy, meditation, integrative bodywork combined with past life insight, that I choose to come here believing that people on earth were stupid, and how dare I have to deal with them again, (insert blame God here) so that I would wake up to the reality that I am pure love, and God, and so are others. Period. No stupid. Ever.
This was my soul's greatest lesson- yes, that it (I) took on, not 'given' by God- because the remembrance of this truth is imperative to be teaching the New Spirituality. You are love/d. Yes you are.
I don't really know about Obama being a muslim but I'm pretty darn sure that he is the Easter bunny.
My word of choice would not be dimwitt, I prefer the word dullard.
I guess a political post is as good as any for me to respond to with thanks to you for your Socratic approach on the issues you are bringing to our attention. That is a wonderful way to create meaningful dialog.
I would ask that you consider how your words could be twisted if quoted out of the context you present them in. That is how the wisdom and truth in much scripture (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc) gets caricatured. If you are going to quote scripture, I hope you will put it into its proper context.
The same guy who said "love your enemies" cursed whole cities during His ministry. He said "He who is not against you is for you" in one place and "He who is not with me is against me & he who doesn't gather with me scatters" in another place. The context makes all the difference in seeing how these awkward translations are not really contradicting each other.
Not that the Bible (as the collection is called) doesn't have real contradictions in it despite the heavy censorship by Paul's followers who, like Paul, claim to be more in tune with Jesus than Peter and James and others who walked His corporeal path.
Just a small example: In the NIV version Acts 1:18 Judas spontaneously explodes when he lands after jumping head-first into the same field that he bought with the same money that he threw back at the Jewish leaders in Matthew 27 which they used to purchase a field as a burial place for indigent and foreign citizens. Thus we have the miracle of taking it with you after throwing it away and two different ways that the Field of Blood got its name.
Context...please keep it in mind and share it when you know...
It helps to read Plato and Aristotle as well as Gibran and Rumi and Joseph Smith. Were any of these not as "inspired" as the apostle Paul?
How about Marshall McLuhan? How about eons of orators never documented? Or what we lost in the destruction of Alexandria?
I think you are correct in observing most of the sheep are dimwitted.
Socrates would have liked you.
Neale,
I'm sure you'll agree with me that there are worse things in the world today to get worked up about than that Obama was called a Muslim by some people. You and I both know that calling him a Muslim isn't going to make him anything less or more than he already is, much like calling him a donkey won't make him any less a human being. If some people decide not to vote for him for this reason, I think we can safely conclude that they were never going to vote for him at all - for I may be wrong, but I'm sure religion isn't a big part of his political agenda.
Moving beyond Obama, I would like to respectfully disagree with Wendy Mewhort's assertion that "stupid is a judgment." From where I sit, calling someone stupid, or dimwitted, is not a judgment, but rather an observation. Deciding that stupid is "wrong" or "bad" -- now that's where judgment begins.
Stupid is inherently no better or worse than tall or short or fat or thin, in my view.
The challenge, as I observe it, is that many of us have decided that stupid IS bad -- after all, we get rewarded for being smart; plus our ego relishes using our intelligence. But I also observe that this stupid-bad/smart-good decision, by its very nature, is a judgment many of us have collectively embraced -- so much so that we don't even realize we're superimposing the judgment on the observation.
"Tomorrow's God" says: "To say that it is raining outside is not the same as saying that rain is bad." We might *decide* it is bad if we had planned an outdoor picnic and thought the rain would spoil it. But we might be thrilled it's raining if we ran a movie theater and thought the rain would increase the number of moviegoers.
Thanks Neale. No one's noticed my being fascinating in days.
Well, ya know Neale, some people will say anything at all to push themselves closer to money and power. And some people will believe it, because it is damn near impossible in this day and age, no matter what you read, to find out what the actual truth is.
Is it, however, the truth that Obama has the Islamic religion in his family background? Because reading such authors as Nonie Darwish will convince you that that culture does see things a lot differently than ours.
Perhaps someone more familiar with that culture will be able to bridge the gap more effectively that the current administration.
But then again, probably anyone would be able to bridge the gap more effectively than the current administration...
Neale,
I cant remember which president it was who said "the vast majority of our citizens are too ignorant to govern themselves", but he was so correct.
I personally thought you were being generous when you used "dimwitted".
The sad truth is that in our country there are many pathetic people who call themselves "christian", who derive a great deal joy and satisfaction from gossip and slander. They are totally oblivious that their actions are in conflict with the teachings of Christ they claim to follow. Or, perhaps they arent. God save us from "christians". (note the little 'c' that sort of rhymes with little minds)
My dear friends Americans, as a European living in a multicultural region (Flanders-Belgium), there's only one word to use in the discussion about "Muslim Obama": you all have FEAR. You all suffer from paranoia since 911. Wake up because you're still dreaming George Orwell Bush Big Brother's Nightmare.
In my region there's a fascist party (Vlaams Belang-Flemish Interest) having 25% of all votes in Flanders. They say the Flemish should fear the Muslims, the Walloons (French speaking people in Belgium), that left liberal teachers should be followed by the State Security)...
Would you like to have that (I think you also have these nutcases, weird nazis, racists and fundamentalists, haven't you?:-))
Think about it, you once liberated us as the land of freedom from Hitler and his Swastika Club. Regain your pride and cherish our multicultural diversity upon which your Founding Fathers built a new nation...
Okay, okay "Light can`t keep blog thought to self."
Heres a double sized whopper for everyone.
What if McCain is the reincarnation of Hitler?
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH MY GOD!
SEE FOLKS -
thats just as much true as Obama being muslim!
Such "thinking" is very dimwitted, indeed.
---------------------
Havent we learned as mass energy that the next President will BE EXACTLY THAT, WHICH WE MAKE OF HIM USING OUR ENERGY FOR EACH OTHER?
Does that above statement not make you want to "think" about all the wonderful things the next president CAN DO FOR ALL OF US? ....
Instead of choosing to direct the energy we have towards the OOOOOOOOH MY GOD he`s evil thought, we the people of the world should practise in the "loving thought for all mankind".
DIRK - YOU are awesome!
Thank you for your post:
USA regain your pride and cherish our multicultural diversity upon which your Founding Fathers built a new nation... Not arrogance, but PRIDE IN BEING A LOVING NATION and SHOW THE WORLD YOUR LOVE. BE AN EXAMPLE FOR ALL OTHERS TO FOLLOW!
Thats all it will take. Its that simple.
Light
Well said Dirk!
"There is nothing strange about fear: no matter in what guise it presents itself it is something with which we are all so familiar that when a man appears who is without it we are at once enslaved by him."
Henry Miller (1891-1980) American author.
Fear creates selfishness, cruelty, and arrogance.
And it is personified. Satan is no myth.
"There is no passion so contagious as that of fear."
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592) French philosopher and essayist.
Though I think that if Obama is elected, that in itself is a revolutionary thing -a black man in the US Presidence!, almost an utopia!-, we don't have to be ingenuous...
USA is not governed by Presidents, by elected representants, or much less, the people... USA is governed by corporations. Specially three: War, Energy and 'Healgh Industry'. We may add one else: Drugs and narcotrafic...
So, any candidate always represents and is managed by those interests... That's the way it is... Obama is not the exception...
Unless he is...
But for he be what he could be, he'd have to know that we KNOW, what we know...
Things like this, for example: (an excerpt from an article)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20257.htm
"The Audacity of Imperial Airbrushing:
Barack Obama’s Whitewashed History of U.S. Foreign Policy
By Paul Street
09/08/07 "Znet." -- - The United States has a solution for avoiding discussion of the many crimes it has committed against weaker nations: denial. “It never happened,” say the Americans, when confronted with the facts. Barack Obama is as skilled in the denial arts as anyone, and so are his advisors. “In Obama's world view, as in that of his Harvard friend and former foreign policy adviser Samantha Power, American crimes generally don't exist. They didn't happen.” Denial is serious business. “Candidate Obama's foreign policy pronouncements have been loaded with promises of future criminality under an Obama administration.”
Under the rules of "mainstream" political discourse in the United States, crimes are committed by evil others, never by noble "America." Bad things are done by "them," but not by "us." "They" often have malevolent intent but "we" are fundamentally good, driven by the highest and most noble objectives: peace, democracy, and liberty"
All this vision comes from the 'god'of coercitive power, from religions of fear, dominion, and hegemony... USA, the nation under 'god'...
But of course, Obama would have to win... At least, there is some hope of a turning point... If US people drives him...
With Mc Cain, we'd have the same maniacs of Bush administration...
Please, save the world from that...!
@ Victor... ROFL .... Quote: "a black man in the US Presidence!, almost an utopia!-, we don't have to be ingenuous..."
There ARE MANY MANY BLACK PRESIDENTS governing around the world, theres even WOMEN PRESIDENTS ... If the majority of the voting white men & women in the USA would open their eyes to the real world out here, and stop being blinded by the hype, then they would see that "a black president" nor a "woman president" is nothing whatsoever NEW to the rest of the world....LOL...
So basically the rest of the world is probably asking itself this question:
"Why the friggin hype over something that has no bearing on the qualification"?..LOL... In my oppinion the canidates whom ran aside Mr. Obama are simply OVER-QUALIFIED! Mr. Obama shows himself to be "qualified" on the level which the USA needs right now, not later, not yesterday : RIGHT NOW!
It is certainly time that the USA votes "a president" which has LOVE for his country and LOVE for the world.
Frankly I would care less care if Obama is black, white, green or pink... FOR IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. Theres blind people voting for Obama and have never seen him but have heard his soul speak.
So it doesnt matter what he/she is, but rather what matters is "what the president is going to do to pull us all back together instead of leading us astray, hurting and hating each other and other nations thru arrogance, lies and personal greed".
Obamas Tour abroad to other country leaders most certainly has shown that HE IS WILLING TO NEGOTIATE ON A LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING FOR TODAYS BENEFITS OF THE COUNTRY.
He is reaching out getting the support of the world for the benefit of the USA.
This man loves the USA to do something like that, lets face the facts: HE ISNT PRESIDENT YET, someone overseas could have killed him and end the story for the election 2008 but he "went on tour in the name of all americans and made a wonderful love filled speech to all whom would listen". That takes ALOT of guts to do, considering what taste Mr. Bush had left in the mouths of most europeans, Mr. Obama has a lot of messes to clean up around the world. He`s doing it though.
MC Cain "could have done so and still can" if he would have wanted to, but he didnt, hasnt and wont. Vote for McCain and you`ll find most of his term being spent in Camp David in the Wellness section using (y)our taxmoney to pay the utility bills and his company will be the Clan of Family Bush fine dining every night there long after election is over. He hasnt done very much for anyone other than talk about what he`d do - if - .
Obama has already found lots of people around the world willing to reach out and support the USA again. Its thats simple, the man is exactly what God wanted for the USA and no matter what any of us think or say right now. He`s thumbs up!
My oppinion - my right.
Light
Linda,
Obama has never denied that he has Muslim family members. His paternal grandfather (whom he never met) was a convert, and his own father while raised as one was an atheist by the time he met Obama's mother. And culturally Muslims have a different set of views on what makes who what...BUT OBAMA WAS NEVER RAISED as a Muslim, and he was certainly never raised by his father's side of the family. Culturally he spent more time being reared in Christian settings.
What I find "dimwitted" is the idea that many Christians seem more willing to believe a death row inmate's conversion to Christianity then Barack Obama's. I find it dimwitted to think they can believe that Obama's wife, maternal grandparents, relatives, and his own young daughters have somehow managed to hide his "secret" Muslim beliefs from the public so well.
Some people have a general kind of fear and are susceptable to crap. It fits in with their attitiude and belief system.
Most Muslims are moderates, and there are probably some Muslims who would just make a great president.
The U.S. is a country like any other Country. It's got it's good and it's bad. However for a presidential candidate to say that the US is just OK, rather than to say he is "Proud" would ensure that he lost.
Worse still, if he was to admit that some of the problems of the US were their own people's doing (like being overly materialistic and running up debt) would not go down to well either.
To win an election you need to be of the agreed religion, be heterosexual and either a) be a liar (or good at dodging questions) or b)not know where things are really at, so that you speak honestly, like George,
At the moment you have a (b) type president.
Good debates - but who knows exactly what a persons beliefs are, or what they will change to tomorrow? The President of America really does not have much to do with decisions, and neither do the people... The Supreme Court - those who you never get the chance to vote for or against are those with the greatest control. The President waging battles against the commities is mostly a front - the decisions go on elsewhere with little control from that which is evident. That is merely my "dimwitted" observation because I am just a "dimwitted" human... At least I KNOW I am a "dimwit" and that comforts me, because when I am wrong, I have a good excuse!
Does anyone realize that when they vote, they vote for the best manipulator - the most greedy self-serving rich person, not the best person? My vote goes to the one who offers to serve without compensation - serve, and the one who will cut the wages of all those in government who are doing a terrible job at running this failing business they call America. Really - with the debt we have, those people would be fired from any other business and a new system would be adopted.
my thoughts are that
Barack is the Highest Thought we have
in our nation's political process at this
moment.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.