Here is a copy of my response to Rick...I really enjoy these debates!
First off, let me apologize if you took any personal offense to my response. I was frustrated at the original author, not at you for forwarding. I probably should have clarified that! I value your opinion & friendship and do not want to jeopardize that in any way.
I completely agree with you that we must be aware of the world around us. I understand that most Americans have no idea of the hate & anger that many people in the world, particularly the Muslim world, have for the U.S.
I think you are 110% correct that we need to be “aware”. Awareness is circular, however. To be aware you must understand all sides of an issue, i.e. understand where your enemy comes from. I also think awareness comes from differing points of view. I have seen you forward many of these “Islam is evil & wants to take over the world” emails but there are other Muslim voices & the trick, IMHO, is figuring out the dynamics between both and how significant the threat is on a global scale.
I too do not want to lose America . However, a strong America is not necessarily an America with troops all over the world & navies sailing the seas. Did you know our battle fleet is larger than the entire navies of the next 13 largest naval countries combined? Plus, 11 of those 13 are our allies. The cold war is over…lets take the billions & billions we spend each year maintaining that battle fleet and invest it in education & infrastructure in the middle east…that’s how you win hearts & minds of the people…not parking a Nimitz class carrier off the coast & flying “show the flag” missions along their border.
That’s not to say we don’t need a strong military…we do & we must have a deterrence force that is robust & real. Nevertheless, the United States has a $277 billion defense budget which accounts for 37% of the world's total. I bet we could still spend 20% & rule the world while we spend that saved money on better things.
My issue with the mass emails is that many, many people take what they read as the truth. It took me over 2 hours to research & write my original email. Very few people (ok, no one but my geek ass;) are willing to do that. But if you don’t, you end up believing Dr. Hammond and developing assumptions based on complete falsehoods. That’s scary!! That’s how stereotypes continue to grow & strengthen.
I am realistic that the world is changing & we must change with it. People love their freedoms…why do we preach freedom but not allow it when it doesn’t suit us? Remember the Hamas elections in Palenstein a couple of years ago? We said loud & far that we wanted the people to have democratic elections to choose their own fate. The Palestinians did & we dismissed the elections because Hamas won the majority. That appears hypocritical to everyone else in the world. By the way, the reason Hamas won the elections was not that the Arabs want to rule the world & love war. They won because for the 6 months before the election, they worked in the local neighborhoods developing the infrastructure by getting power, food & water to areas that needed it…they achieved results that benefited people’s lives…that’s what got them elected.
I feel that religion, as a whole, is the choice of everyone. No one religion has the right to impose its will on another or have a say in the affairs of state. Of course, Islam is and always has been intertwined with the state in Muslim countries. Since that is the culture, I don’t know how you change that (I don’t think you can). A country dominated by Islam should not infringe on other religions freedoms…and vice versa. I will say that Christianity does not have a long history in many parts of the world so I think it is hard to stabilize due to the already established cultures and religions in place.
No problem on the forwarded email to everyone…my religious views have changed…I am now agnostic & I especially dislike organized religions. However, I like to think that my values have not changed…in fact I hope that they have matured and improved. While I was religious in my youth, I have to say I was not the best person I could be. My wife & children have helped me realize the importance of life & how your actions reflect you as a human being. I believe that you do not have to be religious to be a good person or to have values…
I agree with you on the beheadings…but I am sure a Muslim would say that he can’t stand to watch another errant American bomb or bullet kill an innocent person. Or the humiliation of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. Indignation is usually in the eye of the beholder…
I seriously doubt that the United States will ever slip into Sharia Law. The risk of an open society such as ours is that we are tolerant of others…but I can not conceive of a scenario where we embrace Sharia Law. By the way Sharia Law has four main schools of thought or versions (like our Baptist & Lutheran) & only has to do with Sunni Islam…not Shia:
-Hanbali: This is the most conservative school of Shari'a .
-Hanifi: This is the most liberal school, and is relatively open to modern ideas
-Maliki: This is based on the practices of the people of Medina during Muhammad's lifetime.
-Shafi'i: This is a conservative school that emphasizes on the opinions of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Only Hanbali is ever quoted in the west…it’s the extreme world-domination one…but not all Hanbali followers endorse Bin Laden’s interpretation of the Koran in this way. Sharia law is intended to be only applicable to Muslims. Christians and other non-Muslims are supposed to be exempt from the provisions of the law; this is a provision that is not universally followed.
Finally, I do agree that the God in public places debate is stupid…the majority of Americans are Christian and having religious symbols in public does not bother me. Interestingly, “In God we Trust” on our money was only added by Eisenhower in the ‘50s…so we do not have a long history of God on our money…but I do agree that trying to strike God from any public place is a waste of time.
So those are my thoughts so far…I enjoy the debate so feel free to jab back at me or dismiss it all…
Take care…Jon
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Discussions, discussions
I recently psoted my response to an email I recieved on Islam & its threat to the world. Rick, my old friend from high school (who sent the message) took the time to share his thoughts on my pithy comments...
Jon, I have known you longer than most. I have kept my head in the pacifist sands of America. I too have enjoyed the peace of not knowing what is going on outside our borders.
If this came acrossed as a hate spewing message then I missed my mark. What I am saying is that we need to be "aware" of the world around us. If Hamas and Al-Qeuda are the minority and will not have influence on us I will be greatful.
You have always been my most political friend with a love of political science. I need your help in this. I don't want to become the generation that lost america under our watch.
I admit that most of my references were sent to me by others and that I can not vouch for any of them but I can tell you that we do not see all that is going on. Some things I know come from people that are paid to know the activity of the world.
I am angry with things that are going on in this world. I can tell you that the hard work that my grandmother did abroad is being destroyed because christianity is no longer acceptable in those parts of the world.
I love to travel to natures wonders but recognize that it is not "safe" to travel as an american. I guess my request and the intent of this letter is to get the facts straight so I can do right by my children and also for the generations of my family that have proudly served the military because they believed in this country.
I simply can't watch another beheading in the name of islam without doing what is "right" by my family and our country. I figure you will give the most unbiased basis for whether we are alowing our country slip into this "Sharia Law" or just being paranoid. I stood by idle as they have slowly removed "God" from government and public places.
I don't believe you have changed that much to believe that was necessary. I will await your response. You found the information to be unacredited. I ask that you can take that same energy and find out if perhaps this threat that does or doesn't exist.
Please help, your dearest friend,Rick
Jon, I have known you longer than most. I have kept my head in the pacifist sands of America. I too have enjoyed the peace of not knowing what is going on outside our borders.
If this came acrossed as a hate spewing message then I missed my mark. What I am saying is that we need to be "aware" of the world around us. If Hamas and Al-Qeuda are the minority and will not have influence on us I will be greatful.
You have always been my most political friend with a love of political science. I need your help in this. I don't want to become the generation that lost america under our watch.
I admit that most of my references were sent to me by others and that I can not vouch for any of them but I can tell you that we do not see all that is going on. Some things I know come from people that are paid to know the activity of the world.
I am angry with things that are going on in this world. I can tell you that the hard work that my grandmother did abroad is being destroyed because christianity is no longer acceptable in those parts of the world.
I love to travel to natures wonders but recognize that it is not "safe" to travel as an american. I guess my request and the intent of this letter is to get the facts straight so I can do right by my children and also for the generations of my family that have proudly served the military because they believed in this country.
I simply can't watch another beheading in the name of islam without doing what is "right" by my family and our country. I figure you will give the most unbiased basis for whether we are alowing our country slip into this "Sharia Law" or just being paranoid. I stood by idle as they have slowly removed "God" from government and public places.
I don't believe you have changed that much to believe that was necessary. I will await your response. You found the information to be unacredited. I ask that you can take that same energy and find out if perhaps this threat that does or doesn't exist.
Please help, your dearest friend,Rick
Monday, February 23, 2009
I passed!!
So I got my AEPA test results back today & I passed both! I really thought I would fail at least one if not both...but I got lucky.
This means I only have to get my Master's in Education & I can be certified to teach anywhere in Arizona.
I am considered highly qualified for charter school purposes now so I do not have to worry about my job next year (I hope)...
This means I only have to get my Master's in Education & I can be certified to teach anywhere in Arizona.
I am considered highly qualified for charter school purposes now so I do not have to worry about my job next year (I hope)...
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Ignorance
I sent this email out today because I just get pissed when I see ignorant discussion by people too lazy to research the facts!!
I usually just delete this type of rubbish but I'm confused...
Why is a quote from Leon Uris, a Jewish-American, who never visited an Arab country and was known for his pro-Israeli views used? 'The Haj' is a fictional book written by Uris in 1984 about Palestinian Arab family caught up in the area’s historic events of the 1920s-1950s as witnessed by Ishmael, the youngest son. Uris is known for researching his fictional books well but I have would hesitate to quote Arab stereotypes from a fictional book written by a Jewish-American!
According to his own website, Dr. Hammond is a christian minister in South Africa that has spent many years fighting christian oppression. In his article "What Islam isn't" he cites the CIA world fact book as his source for the percentages he uses. Here is a brief summary of what the fact book actually covers...
The World Factbook…is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world...It provides a two- to three-page summary of the demographics, geography, communications, government, economy, and military of 266 U.S.-recognized countries, dependencies, and other areas in the world. (Source-Wikipedia)
My question is this...why would a reference almanac that specifically shows demographics, geography, communications, government, economy, and military of 266 U.S.-recognized countries have anything about a religion's population percentage and its corresponding destabilization rates?!?!
Remember, Islam is a religion, not a country. So a refence almanac that has information on countries would not have this type of information. True, it would have Islamic religious population percentages but nothing more.
To check, I went to the CIA world factbook and ran every keyword search I could think of from Hammond's article...and found nothing!!!
Here's what Hammond did...he took Islamic population percentages (he could have got those from many sources including wikipedia & you guessed it...CIA factbook!) from various countries & used those figures to support his theory...and then he throws in the CIA tag to make it appear "factual" and "legitimate"!!
Don't get me wrong...I am not a pacifist that wants a weak America & I fully realize that there are many, many people that want to see America fail.
However, this type of hate-spewing about an entire religion is ignorance & makes us no better than the radical Islamics that should be rightly gotten rid of.
Lets act like the greatest nation on earth and have informed discussions about the world...not this crap!!
Jon Larson
From: RICHARD L KIRKLANDSubject: RE: Response to Terrorists
'Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world and all of us against the infidel. – Leon Uris, 'The Haj'
for those who prefer to read rather than watch a video, here is the article link http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=4DE15EF9-A76C-4DD4-81E2-75683AEED74D My challenge is this: if we are a nation of morally sound people and believe in providing a future for our children and the American way of life- what are we doing or perhaps what can we do to ensure that our children and this nation have that opportunity of freedom. Our parents and grand parents fought for their nation "Under God" because they had a belief in ther nation. We have allowed our nation to make laws to protect the little guy which allowed opportunity for terrorist infiltration. we stand by idle watching as our country squabbles over the right to gay marriage and 14 children without a job, does any of that matter if the sleeping giant begins training their children to be-head the infidels at age 6? My wife and I have focused our lives to teaching our children everything that is important to us- our constitutional rights including freedom to succeed on our own without the crippling hand- handout of the government. to stand up to adversity when it means oppression of our ideals and beliefs. We moved from Utah because our daughters weren't getting the opportunity to become their best. That was a choice based on religious and individual differences- A "choice" that is protected by this great nation as much as the choice we made to move to Utah to learn the meaning and ways of family values. That is what made America great, the right to choose and practice freedom of religion. When a religion outwardly attacks other religions for the goal of "Sharia Law" then it loses it's right of protection under the U.S Constitution. If individuals spend every waking moment training to change us to their beliefs or destroy us to achieve their goal we can not run away from them. We can not hide in our television or our less important squabbles without recognizing the resolve that is already in place to end our freedoms. This article is only a beginning of what the rest of the world has been dealing with while most of us, including my self wasted our time with reality television and the latest hip-hop rave.
This is a warning of what could become-"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."~Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (April 23, 1770).
Awareness is the first step.I have to believe that the greatness of this nation starts at the foundation of each family. perhaps we need to evaluate what "the Haj" learned at nine and teach our own to be aware. it's a start anyway..............
I usually just delete this type of rubbish but I'm confused...
Why is a quote from Leon Uris, a Jewish-American, who never visited an Arab country and was known for his pro-Israeli views used? 'The Haj' is a fictional book written by Uris in 1984 about Palestinian Arab family caught up in the area’s historic events of the 1920s-1950s as witnessed by Ishmael, the youngest son. Uris is known for researching his fictional books well but I have would hesitate to quote Arab stereotypes from a fictional book written by a Jewish-American!
According to his own website, Dr. Hammond is a christian minister in South Africa that has spent many years fighting christian oppression. In his article "What Islam isn't" he cites the CIA world fact book as his source for the percentages he uses. Here is a brief summary of what the fact book actually covers...
The World Factbook…is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world...It provides a two- to three-page summary of the demographics, geography, communications, government, economy, and military of 266 U.S.-recognized countries, dependencies, and other areas in the world. (Source-Wikipedia)
My question is this...why would a reference almanac that specifically shows demographics, geography, communications, government, economy, and military of 266 U.S.-recognized countries have anything about a religion's population percentage and its corresponding destabilization rates?!?!
Remember, Islam is a religion, not a country. So a refence almanac that has information on countries would not have this type of information. True, it would have Islamic religious population percentages but nothing more.
To check, I went to the CIA world factbook and ran every keyword search I could think of from Hammond's article...and found nothing!!!
Here's what Hammond did...he took Islamic population percentages (he could have got those from many sources including wikipedia & you guessed it...CIA factbook!) from various countries & used those figures to support his theory...and then he throws in the CIA tag to make it appear "factual" and "legitimate"!!
Don't get me wrong...I am not a pacifist that wants a weak America & I fully realize that there are many, many people that want to see America fail.
However, this type of hate-spewing about an entire religion is ignorance & makes us no better than the radical Islamics that should be rightly gotten rid of.
Lets act like the greatest nation on earth and have informed discussions about the world...not this crap!!
Jon Larson
From: RICHARD L KIRKLAND
'Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world and all of us against the infidel. – Leon Uris, 'The Haj'
for those who prefer to read rather than watch a video, here is the article link http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=4DE15EF9-A76C-4DD4-81E2-75683AEED74D My challenge is this: if we are a nation of morally sound people and believe in providing a future for our children and the American way of life- what are we doing or perhaps what can we do to ensure that our children and this nation have that opportunity of freedom. Our parents and grand parents fought for their nation "Under God" because they had a belief in ther nation. We have allowed our nation to make laws to protect the little guy which allowed opportunity for terrorist infiltration. we stand by idle watching as our country squabbles over the right to gay marriage and 14 children without a job, does any of that matter if the sleeping giant begins training their children to be-head the infidels at age 6? My wife and I have focused our lives to teaching our children everything that is important to us- our constitutional rights including freedom to succeed on our own without the crippling hand- handout of the government. to stand up to adversity when it means oppression of our ideals and beliefs. We moved from Utah because our daughters weren't getting the opportunity to become their best. That was a choice based on religious and individual differences- A "choice" that is protected by this great nation as much as the choice we made to move to Utah to learn the meaning and ways of family values. That is what made America great, the right to choose and practice freedom of religion. When a religion outwardly attacks other religions for the goal of "Sharia Law" then it loses it's right of protection under the U.S Constitution. If individuals spend every waking moment training to change us to their beliefs or destroy us to achieve their goal we can not run away from them. We can not hide in our television or our less important squabbles without recognizing the resolve that is already in place to end our freedoms. This article is only a beginning of what the rest of the world has been dealing with while most of us, including my self wasted our time with reality television and the latest hip-hop rave.
This is a warning of what could become-"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."~Edmund Burke (1729-1797), in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (April 23, 1770).
Awareness is the first step.I have to believe that the greatness of this nation starts at the foundation of each family. perhaps we need to evaluate what "the Haj" learned at nine and teach our own to be aware. it's a start anyway..............
Zombies!!
I have been playing World at War Nazi Zombies on the PS# the past few weeks & I have to admit I'm hooked!! Loren comes over & we play to the wee hours trying to get to the next level. Its insane & I love it.
I haven't played video games since high school & had forgotten how relaxing they can be...my current work-school schedule is hectic & its nice to stop thinking & just kill something once in awhile!!
AEPA results soon!
Hi all...sorry I have been away for so long. My work-school schedule is getting the best of me. I barely have time for Sunday golf every week...okay, okay I do get that in!
I took my AEPA tests on January 24th...an 8 hour marathon of 2 tests that I must pass to be a "highly-qualified"(HQ) educator. The two tests were content-based & professional knowledge. I only need to pass the content-based one to become HQ at my charter school so I spent all my study time getting ready for that one. I feel that I did really well on the test...which of course means I completely flubbed it will fail miserably!
Regardless...I get the results Monday the 23d...getting nervous!!
I took my AEPA tests on January 24th...an 8 hour marathon of 2 tests that I must pass to be a "highly-qualified"(HQ) educator. The two tests were content-based & professional knowledge. I only need to pass the content-based one to become HQ at my charter school so I spent all my study time getting ready for that one. I feel that I did really well on the test...which of course means I completely flubbed it will fail miserably!
Regardless...I get the results Monday the 23d...getting nervous!!
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