ardath

by referring to the group of people behind the most recently planned wave of terror attacks in the uk as 'islamists', we are all lending such cold blooded murderers a certain amount of justification, as if they have a religious mandate to cause untold carnage on the streets.
it is about time we dropped the all too common use of this word by the media and politicians alike and told it like is, inasmuch as these people are cold blooded murderers, in the same league as harold shipman, fred west, philip huntley, and the yorkshire ripper.
their garbled alliegance to a holy text is only to be taken as seriously as the lunatic ramblings of the man who shot john lennon outside the dakota building in new york believing him to be an imposter!
not only is the use of this word lending these people justification for their heinous acts, but giving certain far right groups the ammunition they need in their crusade against muslims.
so lets start calling a spade a spade, and not an islamic tool for digging up the dirt!

NightWarrior

Well, as soon as Christians start bombing and killing innocent people we can then call them "Christians". Oh wait, they don't do that in the name of God.

memento_mori

Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966), also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American anti-abortion and anti-gay extremist and domestic terrorist [2][3] who committed a series of bombings across the southern United States, which killed three people and injured at least 150 others. He declared that his bombings were part of a guerrilla campaign against abortion, what he describes as "the homosexual agenda," and perceived support for it from the United States government. He spent years as the FBI's most wanted criminal fugitive, but was eventually caught. In 2005 Rudolph pled guilty to numerous federal and state homicide charges and accepted five consecutive life sentences in exchange for avoiding a trial and the death penalty. Rudolph was "connected with the Christian Identity movement, a militant, racist, and anti-Semitic organization."[4]; today, he self-identifies as a Catholic.

Eric Robert Rudolph - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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ardath

sorry, but didn't bush once say that god told him to go to war with iraq, and doesn't he pray before every meeting with his defence chiefs?
also, what about the oklahoma bomber, wasn't he allied to a far right christian fundamentalist movement in america?
and yes, before you suggest it, so called islamists quote the koran in support of their heinous acts, but any holy text can be twisted to support wholesale slaughter of innocents.
i do not subscribe to any organised religion but sympathise with those muslim communities now living in fear, not just of the terrorist bombs - because yes they are as prone to die in a terrorist attack as any other faith - but because far right groups supported by those with a limited knowledge of the situation may use this as an excuse for muslim-bashing!
these terrorists should not be glamourised by the press but shown up for what they are, thugs and godless criminals!

ardath

forgot the IRA. remember them, as christian as the pope! they bombed mainland uk for countless years, causing numerous injuries and fatalities.
and ETA, the basque seperatists.
shall i go on...?

NightWarrior

Absolutely. Talking shit always is fun to read.

ardath

hmmm. were you referring to your own contribution?
also, didn't mean to infer that the IRA represented christianity.
no religion supports the use of violence.

GuesSAngel

where did all of this come from?

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ardath

the attempted terror attacks on the uk?
have you been sleeping? or are you in the US?

GuesSAngel

both. i've been sleeping. and i'm in the US. I really don't watch the news, it seems to be the same thing everyday. it gets old.

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ardath

ok. but you know this is the 'politics/current affairs' forum.
are you in the right place?

ardath

actually i am probably in the wrong place.
if this a forum frequented mainly by those from the US, i must sound as if i am from another planet.
the sad fact is that if someone breaks their big toe nail in idaho, it makes the headlines in the uk. but three foiled terrorist attacks in the uk, london paralysed, glasgow airport closed, and major uk airports on high alert, i mean come on, if it aint in the states, it just aint!!!!!

alleycat

Oh dear god... errr... allah! LOL
go hang out with michael moore or something.

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Boomer

stop using the word 'islamists'!!!!!!


no....

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groundpounder

We as Americans do tend to be blissfully self-centered. That's why this place is so great to live in - we have so much great stuff going on here that we have a tendency to inadvertently cut ourselves off from the rest of the world and come off as self absorbed. It's not intentional isolationalism for the most part, but the perception is EXACTLY that, unfortunately, by those who don't live here or care to know more about us as individuals.

It's not a bad thing, mind you, but it's another reason why so many outside the US don't like us. I'm thinking there could be a lot worse things than having so much going on inside your own country that you don't have time to notice what's going on outside of it.

People like me tend to be the exception to the rule, where they keep up on foreign events. That doesn't give me a shred of moral authority on the subject, just a different perspective.

I know I cannot be considered objective in this since I am an American and proudly so, but I won't hesitate to point out the warts of America, her administration, her policies (foreign and domestic), military strategy and execution, laws and behavior as a whole.

We tend to bully, but when we do, we'll pick up the ass that we just kicked, dust it off, prop it back up and say, "Now that we've kicked your ass by swatting a fly with a baseball bat, get back in there and make something of yourself. Here's a few billion to get you started. Don't fuck it up or we'll beat your ass again. Then give you more money to get yourself right."

We're not monsters. America's made up of wonderful people who care for people of all nations, creeds, religions, orientations and the like. We can't help it if either a) truly evil people (islamic terrorists) or b) people who've never been here (99% of the world) or c) narrow-minded people who already make up their minds about us given what they "think they know" think that we are monsters. What can we do? They don't know us!! We're good people, by and large. There are rotten apples in every barrel, and we have our fair share, but no more than any other country, dammit, and it's time that the world starts recognizing that.

We're rich. So what? We work for it and we have the freedom and the laws to make it possible for those who want it.
We have food. So what? We are just taking advantage of our resources, both natural and financial. We make it happen. There's not a third world county on the Earth that wouldn't do the same if given the same.
We're powerful. So what? 231 years ago this week we were nothing but a bunch of ragged nationalists fighting for freedom from at the time the most powerful nation on the whole fucking planet. And we won. And 231 years later, our collective leadership, collective laws, collective freedoms, collective military power, collective native and imported intelligence and collective policies have made us into the most powerful nation human existence has ever seen. And we're not screwing it up, for the most part. We're not perfect, but who is??
We have the freest country in the world. We're supposed to apologize for that? We're FREE!! Come join us!! Just learn the language, obey the laws and don't blow shit up. Stick to that, people will pretty much leave you alone.
We're arrogant. No we're not. We just have a great country and we know it, so like I said we tend to be self absorbed, but not proactively, just by circumstance. That does NOT make us arrogant - just ignorant. Yeah, we should pay closer attention to what goes on around us, but is that any reason to hate us?

Please share your thoughts. They are welcomed here.

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