Having received the following on one of those eternal forwards, I thought I'd respond by parsing the document - just so people know I actually read it instead of just assuming I'd agree with whatever it said. My comments are in brackets, I've removed loads of asterisks that seemed to have no point and / marks and addresses of previous recipients, but otherwise it is intact.
THIS IS SO VERY TRUE! Immediate alert: the presence of a multitude of exclamation marks is usually a sign of poor thinking ahead. Shouting loudly that something is true does not make it so.]
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR POLITICS ARE OR IF YOU BELIEVE IN THE WAR OR NOT. YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER 9-11-01. [Yes, I was correct. To begin with, if I happened to be a radical Islamic Fundamentalist, my politics would certainly matter, but even not being an extremist, when discussing pretty much anything of this sort the politics and beliefs of the reader matter very much. So far, the writer is not impressing me. Nor do I have to remember anything; I know far too many people who cannot remember many events in their lives.]
Subject: "Angry Woman"
Letter from one "Angry Woman" I don't know who wrote it but they should have signed it. Some powerful words. This woman should run for president. Written by a housewife from New Jersey and sounds like it! This is one ticked off lady. [Impossible to tell how much of this is fact, but being angry has little to do with being intelligent or rational; the opposite is more likely true. Nor are housewives noted for being experts on international politics.]
"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? [Good question, but not the rhetorical one that is presumed. For many people, myself included, the term “war on terror” is an oxymoron, since terrorists are often created by the deaths of their relatives in wars. That's why the Middle Eastern countries have been battling for decades, if not centuries.]
Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? [Depends on who you ask, but probably not, After all, at the very least this current conflict goes back to the invasion of Kuwait by American troops in 1992, and some would say it goes much further back, even before the creation of Israel by forcing Palestinians from their lands in n1947-49. This is a continuation of an ages-old conflict; 9/11 was merely the first time a significant strike against an Israel-supporting country, the USA, was made.]
Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they? [That people died is obvious; the question is whether it was an act of war by a country or an act by a group of individuals - and, if an act of war, which country is most responsible? If not an act of war, then shouldn't the individuals directly responsible, not all those who believe in the same religion, be held responsible? Should all Christians be held responsible for the acts of Adolf Hitler, or for the Inquisition, or the Salem witch burnings? Christians have committed millions of atrocious acts throughout history, and for that matter, still are committing them - in our own country, teenagers have been murdered by Christians because they were born gay. Why is bigotry okay if it's against another religion, but not yours?]
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?..Well, I don't. I don't care at all. [Don't expect you to. I don't think religion deserves any special respect at all - any religion. I see no reason whatsoever to give delusional fantasies a special place in our world because delusional people believe them. And I'm sure she'll have no problem with that, since she believes in fair treatment like any good American should, right?]
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 911. [I don't see what one has to do with the other. Osama no more represents all of Islam than Pat Robertson, Fred Phelps, Jesse Jackson, or Al Sharpton - all Christian ministers - represent all of Christianity.]
I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia. [Now this is interesting. Yes, Saudi Arabia, more than any other Middle Eastern country, is directly connected with the 9/11 terrorists - so why aren't we fighting a war against them? Why are people supporting a president who won't offend Saudi Arabia because his oil profits might be affected?]
Any respect I had for your opinions was lost when you mocked a man for having been stricken with Alzheimers. Any respect for your intellect was lost when you questioned the historical existence of Jesus: there are no serious scholars who hold this view.
#2 by Ninth Sense, Apr 5, 2008
My mocking of Reagan had nothing to do with his Alzheimers, but with his lying under oath and claiming not to recall what he clearly knew. And I don't know who you consider serious scholars, but I suggest looking beyond theology departments that exist based on continued superstition.
